Senior Blair Brown paved the way with 24 kills for the Penn State women’s volleyball team to beat Oklahoma 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-15) on Friday night in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

The first set started quickly, and the fast pace was maintained. Senior Alyssa D’Errico hit two serves to give Penn State a two-point advantage, but Oklahoma battled back with their first block of the match to tie it at 19. It was then their turn to take a two-point lead, but the Nittany Lions were able to make a comeback. Freshman Katie Slay and junior Katie Kabbas got Penn State’s first block of the match to tie it at 21. The Nittany Lions went on to win the close first set, 25-23, to the delight of the home fans.

Sophomore Kristin Carpenter got things rolling for Penn State in set two with a great dig, giving the Nittany Lions an early lead, but this set, like the first, remained tight. Tied at 13, freshman Ali Longo hit an ace to spark a 5-0 Penn State run. Oklahoma did not go down easily, but the Nittany Lions pulled out of set two at 25-23.

In the third set, Penn State played some great volleyball, with Brown leading the way. Brown’s ten kills in the set paced the Nittany Lions to a comfortable 25-15 win to finish out the sweep.

Along with a .583 hitting percentage, Brown’s 24 kills were nearly half of the team’s kill total. Brown also had six digs, three blocks, and a service ace. Senior Arielle Wilson was second on the team with nine kills, while Carpenter had three kills, eight digs, and 45 assists.

With this victory, Penn State moves on to the fourth round of the NCAA Tournament against the 12-seed Duke. The Nittany Lions play the Blue Devils on Saturday at 6:30 in Rec Hall. The winner of this match-up will move on to the semifinals against either Purdue or Texas next Thursday.