Lions Down Spartans (But Here Comes the Cardinal)

WP_20131213_011Memorial Coliseum, Lexington KY

Regional Final: Penn State vs. Stanford

Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, KY

Saturday, December 14, 2013 4:00 p.m. ET

Media: ESPNU; Watch ESPN; CBSsports.com’s GameTracker

 

Penn State Claws Back Against a Very Tough Spartan Team

As I told the players earlier, for some of them, the weight of the match is a really heavy load.  It was even more of a challenge for them the way they lost the first game.  Michigan State certainly played well, and we had to make some adjustments.”  (Penn State Head Coach Russ Rose on Friday night’s 3-1 win over Michigan State.)

I think we need to be loose, and not be so tight  Just relax  If we make an error, bring it in, we’re good, people make errors.  Just try to get to 25 first.  That’s the most important.” (Penn State’s Jr. DS Lacey Fuller, on preparing for Saturday’s Regional Final.)

Some Penn State fans think the Nittany Lions have something like the Friday Night Blues — that they don’t play as well on Friday nights.  We have no idea whether that is true or not (and our slacker staff laughed . . . loudly . . . when we asked if they would look into that for us, saying “It’s Friday night.  We don’t work well on Friday nights!)

We suspect that, as Coach Rose notes in the video below, a lot of last night’s “Friday night” performance can be attributed to how well Michigan State played.  The Spartans are a very good women’s volleyball team.

What we do know is the Penn State seniors came through when it counted.  6-4 Sr. RS/Opp Ariel Scott totaled 15 kills (.351 attack %), with 3 digs and 5 blocks. 6-1 Sr. OH Deja McClendon had a double-double, with 14 kills and 10 digs. 6-6 Sr. MH Katie Slay led totaled 8 blocks and put down 8 kills (.353 attack %).  The underclass Nittany Lions did their part too, as 6-2 So. OH Megan Courtney also came through with a double-double — 10 kills and 14 digs.  5-11 Jr. setter Micha Hancock directed the team to a .283 attack %, posting 47 assists, 14 digs and 7 kills (.636 attack %).  5-6 Jr. libero Dominique Gonzalez was solid with 16 digs, and energy-sub 5-6 Jr. DS Lacey Fuller totaled 8 digs.

 

Stanford Post-Match Press Conference

 

Stat Joust – Differential Equations

 

Lion Cubs - Two590px-Sperandio_savelli,_medaglia_di_francesco_gonzaga_cardinale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stat Joust - Penn State vs. Stanford: Attack (12-12-13)

TeamSPKillsKills/SetAtt
Err
TAHit
Pct.
Penn State
111157014.144393606.314
Stanford104154014.813873692.312
Opponents
Penn State

111117410.586913677.131
Opponents
Stanford
104129012.406433941.164
Differential
Penn State

1113963.56-252-71.183
Differential
Stanford
1042502.41-256-249.148

Stat Joust - Penn State vs. Stanford: Serving (12-12-13)

TeamSPSASA/SetSESE/SetDifferential
SA/Set
minus
SE/Set
Penn State
1111501.352342.11-0.76
Stanford1041151.111821.75-0.64
Opponents
Penn State

111450.411961.77-1.36
Opponents
Stanford
104930.891611.55-0.66

Stat Joust - Penn State vs. Stanford: Blocking (12-12-13)

TeamSPBlock
Solo
Block
Asst.
Total
Blk.
Blks/
Set
Blk
Err
Penn State11192505344.53.1063
Stanford10462505314.53.0265
Opponents
Penn State
11135307188.51.7061
Opponents
Stanford
10443234160.01.5434
Differential
Penn State
11157198156.01.402
Differential
Stanford
10419271154.51.4831

Match Stats: Penn State vs. Michigan State

(Courtesy of GoPSUsports.com)

MSU and PSU