MATCH STATS
- No. 2 Penn State def. Maryland 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-23)
- Penn State moves to 15-1, 5-1 B1G; Maryland falls to 13-5, 2-4 B1G
- College Park, Maryland
- Attendance: 3,545
- Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Penn State put up 12 blocks and hit at a .301 clip in a road sweep of Maryland to move to 5-1 in Big Ten play.
Both teams managed 34 kills, but PSU committed just nine errors, hitting .301, while Maryland tallied 20 miscues for a .133 effort. Penn State also won the block (12-4), the serve (6-4 in aces) and the backcourt (42-33 in digs).
Senior middle blocker Haleigh Washington accounted for a team-best 11 kills, while hitting at a .588 clip and notching a match-high seven blocks and two aces. Senior outside hitter Simone Lee added 10 kills and four blocks, while hitting .444. Senior right side Heidi Thalen also notched four blocks, while senior outside Ali Frantti posted a team-high 12 digs, four aces and four kills. Senior setter Abby Detering followed with eight digs.
Freshman outside Erika Pritchard and sophomore outside Gia Milana downed nine kills apiece for the Terrapins, while freshman outside Samantha Drechsel added six putaways. Milana served up two aces, while Drechsel notched three blocks. Junior libero Kelsey Wicinski pulled up a team-best 13 digs followed by sophomore setter Samantha Snyder‘s eight.
Penn State hit at a .345 clip in Set 1. The teams tied six times in the early goings, last at 8-all, before PSU vaulted ahead with a 5-1 run, including three Washington blocks. The Nittany Lions pushed the advantage to six at 18-12 on a Washington ace. Back to back blocks, one by Tori Gorrell, and one by Washington and Thalen, made it 22-15. Two more Washington putaways gave Penn State its first set point try at 24-16 and a Maryland service error capped the set at 25-17.
The Nittany Lions made just one error, while hitting .500 in Set 2. Penn State scored 10 straight points to race out to a 15-4 lead. Five Terp miscues and kills by three different players aided the run. Maryland scored six of the next 10 points, but couldn’t stop a final 5-0 PSU run. Frantti served up three aces in the final stretch, including the final two points.
PSU hit just .184 in the final set, but took advantage of seven Maryland miscues in the win. Maryland took the early 8-4 lead as Drechsel put up back to back blocks and Milana served up an ace. Two more kills and a block by Dreschel lifted the Terps to an 11-7 advantage. Penn State turned the tables with an 8-1 run. Washington notched three kills and the Nittany Lions capitalized on three UM miscues in the stretch. The Terps answered with four straight points, including two Pritchard kills to go up 16-15 . The lead changed hands four times, leading to a 23-21 Maryland edge. Penn State scored four straight, the last three on Washington stuffs to close out the win.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Penn State Athletics
The No. 3 Penn State women’s volleyball team sweep Maryland, 3-0; 25-17, 25-11, 25-23, in a road Big Ten contest on Saturday evening at the XFINITY Center on the campus of the University of Maryland.
For the second-straight match and the third time in the last four matches, Haleigh Washington(Colorado Springs, Co.) was the offensive leader for the Nittany Lions as the senior middle blocker put down a game-best 11 kills on a clip of .588. She also added a team-high seven blocks and tallied three digs and two service aces.
Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) joined Washington in double figures as she put down 10 kills on an efficient .444 hitting. She tacked on six digs and four blocks defensively.
On the backline, Ali Frantti (Spring Grove, Ill.) led the Nittany LIons with 12 digs while dishing out a career-best four aces.
As a team, the Nittany Lions hit .301 during the match and held the Terps to just .133 for the match. A large factor in that number was the blockings by Penn State. PSU out-blocked UMD, 12.0-4.0.
Penn State is now 15-1 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play.
The Nittany Lions return home to take on No. 14 Michigan State (12-3, 5-1) and No. 22 Michigan (12-6, 2-4) on Oct. 13 and 14, respectively. Both matches are at 7 p.m. ET in Rec Hall on Penn State’s campus.
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