Just a Plain Ole W
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Just a Plain Ole W

Penn State beat Northwestern in a 3-0 sweep Wednesday evening, but they didn’t win with smiles on their faces (25-20, 25-17, 25-17). They didn’t win with smiles or frowns or really any emotion at all.

Rec Hall appeared pretty packed for a Wednesday night game. The Nittany Lion was jumping around, the band played loud and proud, and fans waved their “ACE” signs high above their heads.

Aiyana Whitney proved to be the MVP of the game with 12 kills, seven blocks and one dig. She was the team’s top scorer with nearly 15 points. Whitney might also qualify as the team’s most improved player since last week’s games. She showed progress in her blocking game, which was a key component for the win against the Wildcats.

Whitney’s stats are fantastic and her performance was top notch, but perhaps the one thing that really set Whitney apart was her energy. While her teammates played the game with blank faces.

A missed dig or a bad call and there were no looks of defeat or anger. A stellar block or a swift kill and the team celebrations were subpar at best. After the second set, the crowd was more excited to get in front of a BTN camera than actually watch the game.

Without a little help from Northwestern, who knows what would’ve happened. Northwestern recorded 14 errors throughout the three sets while Penn State only had seven. Take away some of those Wildcat errors and the Nittany Lions could’ve found themselves in serious trouble.

On a brighter note, it was a conference win that put Penn State at 16-2, 4-1 in the Big Ten. Even without the emotion, PSU got the job done. Hopefully next game fans can watch the team combine the two—winning and energy.

Saturday, October 11 at 4 p.m. the Nittany Lions will return to Rec Hall to play Illinois. After practice with Coach Rose over the next few days, the team should be ready to put on a better show.