Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
13-3, 3-2
Penn State
16-2, 4-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern | 20 | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| Penn State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
No. 24 Northwestern Falls at No. 5 Penn State
10/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
University Park, Pa. -- The defending national champions protected their home floor Wednesday night as No. 5 Penn State downed No. 24 Northwestern at Rec Hall, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-17). The Wildcats dropped to 13-3 on the season with all three defeats coming against teams ranked 15th or better in the AVCA top 25 coaches poll.
The Wildcats, which came into the night hitting .273 as a team, but they were hampered by 22 attacking errors against the Nittany Lions, including eight that were blocked by the home team.
The first set was a close one, but Penn State's early blocking effort was too much to overcome. The Nittany Lions notched half of their eight blocks on the night in the first frame as they chiseled out a 25-20 triumph. Northwestern had no answer for PSU's Megan Courtney in the first set as she buried seven of her 10 kills for the match at that time. On the other side, Maddie Slater and Katie Dutchman teamed up to post three kills apiece, accounting for half of NU's output in the opening game.
Northwestern opened up the second set by scoring three consecutive points, including two by the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, Symone Abbott. Penn State soon tied the score at 5-5 and later grabbed the lead for good at 7-6 on a Wildcat serving error, one of six for the match. The defending NCAA champions grabbed a seven-point lead at 21-14 before eventually winning by a final score of 25-17.
After the intermission, NU snared a two-point lead out of the gate thanks to a kill from Dutchman and a service ace by Kayla Morin. With the score later knotted at six, PSU went on a 6-2 run to go up by four and it did not look back. Northwestern trailed by 10 points late, 24-14, before a last-gasp effort tightened things up. Back-to-back kills from Morin and Abbott, plus a block by Morin and Slater, made it closer at the end before Nia Grant slammed home her seventh kill of the night to secure match point for Penn State.
Abbott had a team-high nine kills Wednesday, while Dutchman, Morin and Slater collected six apiece. Slater paced the 'Cats with four blocks, while Northwestern's Caroline Niedospial tallied a match-best 15 digs.
The Wildcats will be back on the court Saturday, Oct. 11 when they visit the Ohio State Buckeyes at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The contest will be televised live on the Big Ten Network at 5:30 p.m. CT with Mike Wolf and Audrey Flaugh on the call.
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