Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Rutgers In Big Ten Opener
Russ Rose’s Nittany Lions got their Big Ten season off to a great start with a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-17, 25-5) on the road at Rutgers Wednesday night.
How It Happened
No. 18 Penn State (9-3, 1-0 Big Ten) enjoyed another impressive outing from junior outside hitter Simone Lee, but classmate Ali Frantti also turned in a big performance in New Brunswick, N.J. Lee and Frantti would lead the match with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. CJ Werneke’s Scarlet Knights were paced offensively by Meme Fletcher and Cole Trimble, who put together seven kills apiece in a rather lopsided affair.
Junior setter Abby Detering kept up her strong play for the Nittany Lions by doing a little bit of everything, as the Mentor, Ohio, native posted 34 assists, six digs, four kills, four service aces, and two blocks. Penn State built an early lead with two back-to-back 25-17 set victories and didn’t look back at College Ave Gym (no, not that College Ave), demolishing the Scarlet Knights 25-5 to seal the sweep.
Juniors Haleigh Washington and Heidi Thelen contributed five kills of their own, while fellow middle blocker Tori Gorrell finished with four to round out the scoring for Penn State. Washington was especially dominant above the net Wednesday, as her five total blocks led the match.
Freshman libero Kendall White continues to show how she was able to build Coach Rose’s trust so quickly, finishing with a match-high 13 digs, one assist, and a service ace. Karysa Swackenberg led Rutgers on the defensive end with 10 digs.
Penn State out-blocked the Scarlet Knights 8-3 and dominated in the kills department 42-29, but perhaps the most intriguing stat of the night was the ladies in blue and white dialing up 10 service aces to none for their Big Ten East counterparts.
Player Of The Match
Abby Detering | Junior | Setter
While you could certainly make a case for Simone Lee, as she’s been Rose’s most consistent player all season, but Detering gets the nod here for her tremendous versatility against the Scarlet Knights.
What’s Next?
Penn State has another away match on the docket this Saturday against Northwestern at 1:00 p.m. ET in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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