Week Two: Media Wrap
No. 1 Women’s Volleyball Pushes Past UCLA – GoPSUsports.com
PALO ALTO, Calif. – No. 1 Penn State women’s volleyball (4-1) pushed past UCLA (3-2) in straight sets (25-19, 27-25, 25-17) Saturday evening at Maples Pavilion in the Nittany Lions’ final match of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge.
Freshman Ali Frantti recorded her fourth double-digit kill performance of the season, putting down 14 kills on .619 hitting, along with five digs. Senior Nia Grant followed closely behind with nine kills on .467 efficiency, while also logging two aces and a squad-best seven blocks.
Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney posted seven kills on 12 swings without any attack errors, adding two blocks. Freshman Simone Lee finished third on the team with eight kills on .444 hitting, while also tying for third on the team with three blocks. Senior Micha Hancock paced the team to a .442 hitting clip, dishing out 37 assists in addition to four kills, two aces, five digs and four blocks.
For the complete release from GoPSUsports.com, Click Here.
Bruins Drop Three-Set Decision to #1 Penn State
STANFORD, Calif. – Senior Karsta Lowe surpassed the 20-kill mark for the third straight match, hitting the number on the nose, but the Bruins dropped a three-set decision to top-ranked Penn State on Saturday at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge at Maples Pavilion.
The Bruins (3-2) had six aces, but hit just .183 and had only one block. Sophomore Claire Felix produced seven kills and only one error in 15 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage, while freshman Olga Strantzali had six kills, five digs and two aces. Senior Julie Consani recorded 34 assists, sophomore Taylor Formico had 10 digs and junior Karly Drolson added six digs.
For the complete release from UCLAbruins.com, Click Here.
Women’s volleyball shows room for improvement after West Coast trip
Russ Rose wasn’t upset after losing a five-set contest to Stanford on Friday night. The Cardinal are the No. 2 team in the nation, after all. But the Penn State coach knows his team can play better. “I was disappointed with a few people’s performances in the Stanford match,” Rose said. “But we bounced back and played a terrific match against UCLA.” The Nittany Lions competed in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge this weekend and went 1-1. Penn State lost to Stanford, 3-2, on Friday night, but came back on Saturday and took down UCLA in straight sets. . . . [A]gainst UCLA (3-2), Frantti again led the team in kills with 14. She has now led Penn State in kills in all but one match this season. Rose was yet again impressed with the freshman’s play. “We’ll see how many outside hitters hit .400 against Stanford and .600 against UCLA,” Rose said.
For the complete article from The Daily Collegian, Click Here.
Penn State women’s volleyball: No. 1 Nittany Lions bounce back to sweep UCLA, From CDT staff reports: September 6, 2014
STANFORD, Calif. — Led by another impressive night from freshman Ali [Frantti], the Penn State women’s volleyball team got back on a winning track Saturday night. One night after suffering a five-set loss to No. 2 Stanford, the No. 1 Nittany Lions swept UCLA 25-19, 27-25, 25-17 at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion. [Frantti], who had 22 kills against the Cardinal and has been in double figures in all but one match so far this season, led the way with 14 kills on .619 hitting. Nia Grant added nine kills, seven blocks and two aces recorded during the final three points of the match. Simone Lee had eight kills, Aiyana Whitney posted seven kills on .583 hitting, Micha Hancock picked up 37 assists and two aces and Dominique Gonzalez had seven digs.
For the complete article from The Centre Daily Times, Click Here.
Stat Wrap
Attack Leaders (9-7-14)
| # | Name | Class | SP | MP | K | K/S | E | TA | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 17 | 5 | 67 | 3.94 | 10 | 119 | .479 |
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 17 | 5 | 47 | 2.76 | 12 | 100 | .350 |
| 22 | Lee, Simone | 1/Fr. | 14 | 4 | 35 | 2.50 | 15 | 85 | .235 |
| 14 | Whitney, Aiyana | 3/RS Jr. | 17 | 5 | 39 | 2.29 | 12 | 78 | .346 |
| 7 | Grant, Nia | 4/Sr. | 15 | 5 | 33 | 2.20 | 8 | 60 | .417 |
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 17 | 5 | 17 | 1.00 | 5 | 39 | .308 |
| Team | n/a | 17 | 5 | 247 | 14.53 | 64 | 495 | .370 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 17 | 5 | 154 | 9.06 | 97 | 483 | .118 |
Setting Leaders (9-7-14)
| # | Name | Class | SP | MP | A | A/S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 17 | 5 | 196 | 11.53 |
| 4 | Gonzalez, Dominique | 4/Sr. | 17 | 5 | 13 | 0.76 |
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 17 | 5 | 9 | 0.53 |
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 17 | 5 | 4 | 0.18 |
| Team | n/a | 17 | 5 | 228 | 13.41 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 17 | 5 | 147 | 8.65 |
Serving Leaders (9-7-14)
| # | Name | Class | SP | MP | SA | SA /S | SE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 17 | 5 | 6 | 0.35 | 19 |
| 7 | Grant, Nia | 4/Sr. | 15 | 5 | 4 | 0.27 | 7 |
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 17 | 5 | 3 | 0.18 | 5 |
| Team | n/a | 17 | 5 | 19 | 1.12 | 47 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 17 | 5 | 9 | 0.53 | 36 |
Rcpt/Dig Leaders (9-7-14)
| # | Name | Class | SP | MP | RE | Dig | Dig/ Set |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Gonzalez, Dominique | 4/Sr. | 17 | 5 | 0 | 48 | 2.82 |
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 17 | 5 | 0 | 38 | 2.24 |
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 17 | 5 | 5 | 31 | 1.82 |
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 17 | 5 | 2 | 29 | 1.71 |
| 33 | Fuller, Lacey | 4/Sr. | 17 | 5 | 1 | 23 | 1.35 |
| 7 | Grant, Nia | 4/Sr. | 15 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0.67 |
| 22 | Lee, Simone | 1/Fr. | 14 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0.57 |
| Team | n/a | 17 | 5 | 9 | 207 | 12.18 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 17 | 5 | 19 | 157 | 9.24 |
Blocking Leaders (9-7-14)
| # | Name | Class | SP | MP | BS | BA | TB | B/S | BE | BHE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Courtney, Megan | 3/Jr. | 17 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 0.94 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Grant, Nia | 4/Sr. | 15 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 0.93 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Frantti, Ali | 1/Fr. | 17 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 0.71 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Whitney, Aiyana | 3/RS Jr. | 17 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 0.71 | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | Hancock, Micha | 4/Sr. | 17 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0.41 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Lee, Simone | 1/Fr. | 14 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.36 | 1 | 0 |
| Team | n/a | 17 | 5 | 7 | 66 | 40.0 | 2.35 | 8 | 1 | |
| Opp. | n/a | 17 | 5 | 2 | 38 | 121.0 | 1.24 | 11 | 7 |