After a dominating win in the season-opener against Buffalo, the defending National Champions took on Stony Brook for the second game of the Penn State Classic at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions continued where they left off Friday night as they dominated the Seawolves in a three-set sweep.

How It Happened

Just like their season opener, the Nittany Lions finished off their opponent very quickly. With the game only lasting an hour and three minutes, Stony Brook couldn’t do anything to stop the defending National Champions.

The Seawolves started the first set 1-0 thanks to an attack error by Taylor Wilson. From then until the middle of the third set, the Nittany Lions took control of the lead and wouldn’t give it up. The combination of  Aiyana Whitney, Ali Frantti, Megan Courtney, and Haleigh Washington was once again too much to handle for their opponent. Washington was a part of the first two blocks of the game for the Nittany Lions, joined by Courtney and Bryanna Weiskircher on each one. Courtney led Penn State with five kills in the first set, which came at crucial times to help take the set, 25-13.

The second set was a block party for the No. 1 team in the country as Penn State combined for 8.5 blocks. The defensive presence in the second set was mainly led by Heidi Thelen, who was a part of the first 7.5 blocks. The defense was so prominent that Penn State scored three straight points because of blocks by Thelen and Whitney. The Nittany Lions led the entire set and started with a 7-2 run and kept that pace throughout. They would go on and win the set 25-13 over Stony Brook and were looking for the sweep.

The third set was more competitive as Stony Brook took its first lead of the match since the very first point of the day. With the score being 9-8 in Stony Brook’s favor, the Seawolves were threatening by staying within two points for the majority of the third set. However, Penn State seemed to be in control the entire time and took Stony Brook down with a much closer score of 25-20, and left Rec Hall with its second sweep in as many matches.

Player Of The Game

Megan Courtney gets my nod for player of the game with her exceptional performance. She had 11 kills, nine digs, and contributed on defense with four of the team’s 11.5 blocks. She gave Stony Brook a hard time with her all-around game and was the prime example of the caliber of Penn State women’s volleyball players.

Takeaways

• The block party was the most dominating factor in the sweep over Stony Brook. Not only did it show numerically how dominant it was, but also by the reactions of the Seawolves. Every time Stony Brook would attempt a kill they would be on alert and hesitant to strike the ball hard as they attempted more loft shots later in the game.
• Bryanna Weiskircher was all over the court as she had 30 assists and was one of the main reasons for the sweep. After auditioning for the lead setter role yesterday, she stepped up in this match. Stay tuned to see if Russ Rose continues to go with her or if he gives Wilma Rivera the nod tonight.

What’s Next?

Penn State finishes off the Penn State Classic with the second game of a double-header tonight at 7:30 p.m. against Villanova. Afterwards, Penn State stays in Happy Valley to take on Colorado in the first game of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge next week.