The #1-ranked Penn State women’s volleyball team opened its Big Ten season Friday night by sweeping Northwestern in Evanston, IL (25-19, 25-12, 25-16). Senior OH Megan Hodge registered a team-leading 16 kills on .414 hitting (Junior MH Arielle Wilson and Junior Opp/MH Brown Blair totaled 13 and 10 kills, respectively), Junior Libero Alyssa D’Errico led the team with 14 digs, Senior Setter Alisha Glass had 45 assists and three blocks, and Junior Fatima Balza led the team with four total blocks. (Click here for the complete match notes from gopsusports.com.)

The much-anticipated Saturday night match with then-#15 Illinois brought much of the same, as the Nittany Lions swept the Illini 25-11, 25-17, 25-17, extending their Big Ten winning streak to 47 matches, and their NCAA record streak to 78 matches. Freshman Darcy Dorton had another outstanding performance, leading Penn State with 14 kills (while hitting .545!), followed by Arielle Wilson (13 kills on .750 hitting!!) and Megan Hodge (12 kills on .407 hitting). Wilson is now hitting a phenomenal .596 for the season — which we assume will continue to lead the NCAA (NCAA statistics will be posted later today), while Hodge, who ranked #5 nationally last week, is hitting .481. Alisha Glass and Alyssa D’Errico both totaled 11 digs, while Megan Hodge and Junior Cathy Quilico had 10 apiece.

For a complete write-up of the Illinois match, Click Here. Below are video highlights from the Big Ten Network:

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We’ll have more on the weekend’s performance, the latest AVCA poll results, and Big Ten and NCAA statiscs (which are available on the toolbar, above) in our next post.