Five in a Row
The football team wasn’t the only Penn State team with a win this past Saturday. The volleyball team’s victory over Wisconsin puts their record at 14-2 and this was their fifth straight conference win (5-1). Although it only took three games, the scores were close and the energy high in Rec Hall. The win also puts head coach, Russ Rose, one win away from tying for second in the all-time career wins list.
In the first set the score tied a total of seven times, both teams held their ground and longed for an opening set win. A rally from Penn State broke the close score, but Wisconsin wasted no time to bounce back. At 24-22, Penn State secured the set with the match point off of an attacking error by the Badgers (25-22).
With one in the bag, the Nittany Lions went into the second match with a comfortable lead. Maybe a little too comfortable, the team dropped behind seven points at the beginning of set two. After a few kills, blocks, and even more attacking errors on Wisconsin, Penn State climbed their way back to the top with a final score of 25-17.
The third set was similar to the first, lots of tied scores, a rally from Wisconsin, Penn State answered, and so on. Towards the end once again, the Badgers struggled with hitting errors, which led to Slay’s final kill and a score of 25-21.
Senior Ariel Scott led the team with 13 kills; this was her eighth game in double digit kills. The 6’4” senior plays right side hitter and her name booms over the loud speaker in Rec Hall just as much as Katie Slay and Deja McClendon. Freshman year she started in two of the twenty games she played in, her final kill count that year was 143. Sophomore year she was the AVCA coaches poll Third Team All American. As a junior, she made her way onto the AVCA coaches poll First Team All American, named Big Ten player of the year, and achieved many other prestigious awards in the world of volleyball. This year as a senior was named Unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten and is a candidate for Senior CLASS Award. Ariel studies public relations and business at Penn State, and is still working on a plan for after graduation.
The Lions’ next two games are on the road in Illinois. The first is against Illinois on Friday, October 18th at 8 p.m. with live coverage on the Big Ten Network. Then they face Northwestern on Sunday, October 20th at 2 p.m.
In the first set the score tied a total of seven times, both teams held their ground and longed for an opening set win. A rally from Penn State broke the close score, but Wisconsin wasted no time to bounce back. At 24-22, Penn State secured the set with the match point off of an attacking error by the Badgers (25-22).
With one in the bag, the Nittany Lions went into the second match with a comfortable lead. Maybe a little too comfortable, the team dropped behind seven points at the beginning of set two. After a few kills, blocks, and even more attacking errors on Wisconsin, Penn State climbed their way back to the top with a final score of 25-17.
The third set was similar to the first, lots of tied scores, a rally from Wisconsin, Penn State answered, and so on. Towards the end once again, the Badgers struggled with hitting errors, which led to Slay’s final kill and a score of 25-21.
Senior Ariel Scott led the team with 13 kills; this was her eighth game in double digit kills. The 6’4” senior plays right side hitter and her name booms over the loud speaker in Rec Hall just as much as Katie Slay and Deja McClendon. Freshman year she started in two of the twenty games she played in, her final kill count that year was 143. Sophomore year she was the AVCA coaches poll Third Team All American. As a junior, she made her way onto the AVCA coaches poll First Team All American, named Big Ten player of the year, and achieved many other prestigious awards in the world of volleyball. This year as a senior was named Unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten and is a candidate for Senior CLASS Award. Ariel studies public relations and business at Penn State, and is still working on a plan for after graduation.The Lions’ next two games are on the road in Illinois. The first is against Illinois on Friday, October 18th at 8 p.m. with live coverage on the Big Ten Network. Then they face Northwestern on Sunday, October 20th at 2 p.m.
