No. 3 Penn State women’s volleyball swept Illinois 25-19, 25-17, 26-24 Friday night at Rec Hall to improve to 12-1 on the season.

Seniors Haleigh Washington and Simone Lee led the Nittany Lions offensively with a combined 21 kills in the victory.

How It Happened

After an up and down performance in last Saturday’s 3-1 win over Iowa, Penn State’s offense hit its stride against the Illini. Washington connected on her first five swings as Russ Rose’s Nittany Lions cruised to a quick first-set triumph. It was more of the same in the second frame.

Abby Detering headed into the intermission with five kills on five attempts to help Penn State take a 2-0 advantage over Chris Tamas’ squad. After falling behind 19-16 to the Illini in the third set, the Nittany Lions rattled off five straight points to retake the lead. However, Illinois would reach set point, 24-23, before Penn State battled back for the win.

Washington, who posted a match-high 11 kills and four blocks, elaborated postgame on her message to the team late in the third set.

“Settle down. Let’s get this one at a time. We need to finish,” she said. “It was still frantic and we definitely didn’t play our best at the end, but we managed to get through it and we’ll rest up and be ready for tomorrow.”

Player Of The Match

Abby Detering | Senior | Setter

The Mentor, Ohio, native did it all for the Nittany Lions, recording a team-high 20 assists, six kills, five digs, and a service ace.

What’s Next?

Penn State is back in Rec Hall Saturday at 7:30 p.m. as it hosts Northwestern after the “Generations of Greatness” football game across campus.