Penn State Crushes Competition to Open 3-0, Leath Named MVP

Penn State Classic

• University Park, Pennsylvania
• Aug. 24-25, 2018

Penn State did not allow any of its foes more than 21 points in a set during three opening weekend sweeps. The Nittany Lions hit .300 or better in wins over Eastern Kentucky, Maryland-Baltimore County and Navy, while limiting foes to under .100 in each match.

Two-time All-ACC outside hitter Taylor Leath made an immediately impact in her first weekend in the blue and white, following a transfer from North Carolina. The graduate transfer was tabbed as the Most Valuable Player of the Penn State Classic.

• vs. Eastern Kentucky: 9 kills, 7 digs, hit .231
• vs. UMBC: 7 kills, 6 digs, team-best six blocks, hit .300
• vs. Navy: team-leading 15 kills, eight digs, while hitting .387

Redshirt senior outside hitter Nia Reed was tops offensively in the opening match, before finishing just behind Leath against Navy with 13 putaways, en route to all-tournament team honors.

Penn State went 3-0, followed by Navy (2-1), UMBC (1-2) and EKU (0-3).

The full list of results and recaps from the Penn State Classic are below.

Friday

Navy def. UMBC 3-0

• Box Score
• Navy Recap / UMBC Recap
• Navy outhit UMBC .312 to .009 and outblocked the Retrievers 8-3.

Penn State def. Eastern Kentucky 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-15)

• Box Score
• Penn State Recap / EKU Recap
• Penn State put up 11 blocks to limit EKU to a .060 hitting effort. The Nittany Lions had their lowest hitting efficiency of the weekend at .305.

Saturday

Penn State def. UMBC 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-8)

• Box Score
• PSU Recap / UMBC Recap
• Penn State allowed UMBC just 16 kills in the match and held the Retrievers to a -.036 hitting effort.
• Jonni Parker led all hitters with 11 kills, while also adding eight digs and two aces

Navy def. EKU 3-0

• Box Score
• Navy Recap / EKU Recap
• Navy outserved EKU 7-1 in aces
• Navy’s Maddi Sqattoni notched a 10-kill, 10-dig double-double, while EKU’s Rachel Woody tallied 18 assists and 13 digs.

UMBC def. EKU 3-0

• Box Score
• UMBC Recap / EKU Recap
• UMBC’s Carmen Freeman led the way with 19 kills and 14 digs. EKU’s Cassie Knutson just missed a double-double with 13 kills and nine digs, both team highs.

Penn State def. Navy 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-11)

• Box Score
• Penn State Recap / Navy Recap
• Navy committed 21 errors in the match, hitting just .059 with help from seven PSU blocks.

The full list of weekend honors is below.

All-Tournament Team
Taylor Leath – MVP – PSU
Nia Reed – PSU
Kendall White – PSU
Maddi Sgattoni – Navy
Katie Patrick – Navy
Carmen Freeman – UMBC
Krystia Negron – UMBC
Lindsay Wilkins – EKU