The Penn State Women’s Volleyball team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championship Tournament over the weekend for the 10th straight year, defeating Binghamton in the first round, and Bowling Green in the Round of 32.

On Friday, Penn State overpowered Binghamton (13-19) 3-0 (25-11, 25-3, 25-9). The Lions weren’t challenged one time all night. During the second set, setter Micha Hancock served an astonishing 21 points in a row to spot the Lions a 21-0 lead. The streak fell one serve short of the NCAA record of 22 straight, set by Mercer’s Chelsea Gebben in 2006. Hancock also had a 13-point run to start the 3rd set, and finished with a school-record 10 aces. The match was over so quickly, one could argue that the most entertaining moment of the night wasn’t even on the court.

On Sautrday, the Lions faced more of a challenge in Bowling Green University (22-12), but still came away with a convincing 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-15) victory. Ariel Scott led the way with 8 kills, and Hancock continued her hot streak with 5 aces. Penn State didn’t trail at all in the first two sets, and Bowling Green’s largest lead of the 3rd set was 2 points, as the Lions easily took care of the Falcons.

Overall, the Big Ten has had the strongest showing of any conference in the NCAA Tournament. The 7 Big Ten teams are a combined 13-1, with only Ohio State falling in the second round to #16 Kentucky.

Penn State plays in the West Lafayette (Purdue) regional semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m. against Kentucky. The winner of that game will go onto play the winner of the Purdue/Minnesota match on Saturday at 4 p.m. All of the matches this weekend will be streamed on ESPN3.com, and the regional championship matches will be aired live on ESPNU.