Nittany Lions Dig Out of Gopher Hole for 3-1 Win
We don’t know what Coach Rose and his staff had to say to the Penn State Women’s Volleyball team after game 1 (which the Minnesota Gophers won 29-27, hitting an impressive .359 in the set, compared to Penn State’s .277), but whatever it was, it worked, as the Nittany Lions took the next three games 25-13 (hitting .371 to the Gopher’s .000), 25-15 (.290 to -.079) and 25-22 (a back-and-forth affair that had fans of both teams contemplating the possibility of going to five). Minnesota put up a big block throughout, but for the match, Penn State out-blocked the Gophers 15.5 to 9.0.
6-2 Sr. MH Nia Grant had another solid match, leading the team in kills (14), attack % (.429) and blocks (8), with an ace and two digs thrown in for good measure. 6-4 RS Jr. MH/OH Aiyana Whitney was close behind, registering 12 kills on .391 hitting, with 6 blocks. 6-2 Jr. RS/Opp Megan Courtney 12 kills (.250 attack %), 7 blocks (1 solo) and 4 digs.
5-6 Sr. libero Dominique Gonzalez led all players with 26 digs (a new season-high for her). She is now averaging 3.86 digs/set (see updated season stats below). 5-11 Sr. setter Micha Hancock totaled three service aces, four blocks, and five digs, leading the team to a .261 attack % for the match (the Nittany Lions hit .125 in the fourth set). For the complete match write-up from GoPSUsports.com, Click Here.
Match Stats (Courtesy GoPSUsports.com)
B1G Final 2014 Standings (click images for more info)
| Team | B1G W's | B1G L's | All Ws | All Ls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
WI | 19 | 1 | 28 | 2 |
PSU | 18 | 2 | 30 | 3 |
IL | 16 | 4 | 24 | 7 |
NE | 14 | 6 | 20 | 9 |
Purdue  | 12 | 8 | 22 | 10 |
OSU | 12 | 8 | 21 | 11 |
MSU | 11 | 9 | 18 | 13 |
MN | 9 | 11 | 19 | 12 |
MI | 8 | 12 | 13 | 17 |
NW | 6 | 14 | 16 | 15 |
IN | 6 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
IA | 6 | 14 | 14 | 17 |
MD | 3 | 17 | 10 | 21 |
 RU | 0 | 20 | 7 | 26 |
Penn State Season Statistics (9-27-14)
Attack Leaders (9-27-14)
| # | Name | Cl. | SP | MP | MS | K | K/S | E | TA | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 46 | 15 | 15 | 150 | 3.26 | 44 | 319 | .332 |
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 132 | 2.69 | 30 | 299 | .341 |
| 14 | Whitney, Aiyana | 3/RS Jr. | 48 | 15 | 14 | 128 | 2.67 | 28 | 238 | .420 |
| 7 | Grant, Nia | 4/Sr. | 47 | 15 | 15 | 121 | 2.57 | 23 | 202 | .485 |
| 22 | Lee, Simone | 1/Fr. | 42 | 14 | 0 | 99 | 2.36 | 33 | 249 | .265 |
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 61 | 1.24 | 11 | 116 | .431 |
| 15 | Washington, Haleigh | 1/Fr. | 8 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 3.12 | 3 | 41 | .537 |
| Team | n/a | 49 | 15 | 15 | 730 | 14.90 | 175 | 1492 | .372 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 49 | 15 | 15 | 445 | 9.08 | 270 | 1416 | .124 |
Setting Leaders (9-27-14)
| # | Name | Class | SP | MP | MS | A | A/S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 563 | 11.49 |
| 4 | Gonzalez, Dominique | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 0 | 41 | 0.84 |
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 33 | 0.67 |
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 46 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 0.22 |
| 33 | Fuller, Lacey | 4/Sr, | 49 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 0.24 |
| Team | n/a | 49 | 15 | 15 | 667 | 13.61 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 49 | 15 | 15 | 420 | 8.57 |
Serving Leaders (9-27-14)
| # | Name | Class | SP | MP | MS | SA | SA /S | SE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 54 | 1.10 | 48 |
| 4 | Gonzalez, Dominique | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 0 | 13 | 0.27 | 18 |
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 46 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 0.17 | 15 |
| 7 | Grant, Nia | 4/Sr. | 47 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 0.13 | 12 |
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 0.08 | 5 |
| 14 | Whitney, Aiyana | 3/RS Jr. | 48 | 15 | 14 | 3 | 0.06 | 2 |
| Team | n/a | 49 | 15 | 15 | 97 | 1.98 | 127 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 49 | 15 | 15 | 23 | 0.47 | 96 |
Rcpt/Dig Leaders (9-27-14)
| # | Name | Cl. | SP | MP | MS | RE | TA | Pct. | Dig | Dig/ Set |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Gonzalez, Dominique | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 222 | .977 | 187 | 3.82 |
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 239 | .962 | 98 | 2.00 |
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1.000 | 92 | 1.88 |
| 33 | Fuller, Lacey | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 15 | 1 | 58 | .983 | 75 | 1.53 |
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 46 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 105 | .962 | 68 | 1.48 |
| 7 | Grant, Nia | 4/Sr. | 47 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1.000 | 30 | 0.64 |
| 22 | Lee, Simone | 1/Fr. | 42 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1.000 | 17 | 0.40 |
| Team | n/a | 49 | 15 | 15 | 23 | 696 | .967 | 613 | 12.51 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 49 | 15 | 15 | 97 | 1069 | .909 | 502 | 10.24 |
Blocking/Points Leaders (9-27-14)
| # | Name | Cl | SP | MP | BS | BA | TB | B/S | BE | BH E | Pts | Pt /S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 46 | 15 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 0.50 | 1 | 2 | 171.0 | 3.72 |
| 7 | Grant, Nia | 4/Sr. | 47 | 15 | 8 | 39 | 47 | 1.00 | 3 | 0 | 154.5 | 3.29 |
| 14 | Whitney, Aiyana | 3/RS Jr. | 48 | 15 | 2 | 40 | 42 | 0.88 | 8 | 0 | 153.0 | 3.19 |
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 49 | 17 | 3 | 33 | 36 | 0.73 | 1 | 1 | 155.5 | 3.17 |
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 49 | 15 | 3 | 23 | 26 | 0.53 | 4 | 1 | 129.5 | 2.64 |
| 22 | Lee, Simone | 1/Fr. | 42 | 14 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 0.40 | 3 | 0 | 109.0 | 2.60 |
| 15 | Washington, Haleigh | 1/Fr. | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.50 | 0 | 0 | 28.5 | 3.56 |
| Team | n/a | 49 | 15 | 25 | 178 | 114.0 | 2.33 | 20 | 5 | 941.0 | 19.20 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 49 | 15 | 7 | 106 | 60.0 | 1.22 | 27 | 13 | 528.0 | 10.78 |
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Photo Credits
- Gophers in Hole: Scene from the Gopher Hole Museum, Torrington Alberta, Canada, by James P Fisher III, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.