Penn Sweeps Northwestern on Senior Night

Story posted November 17, 2018 in CommRadio, Sports by Nick Mazone

The Penn State women’s volleyball team pulled off a convincing win over Northwestern on Senior Night. Penn State’s success started early and didn’t stop.

The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 10-3 start in the first set and kept the pressure on Northwestern. Penn State was able to emerge from the first set as 25-6 victors.

Northwestern came out a little stronger in the second set and jumped to an early lead. Although the Wildcats did their best to hang around, the Nittany Lions ended up taking the second set with a win by the score of 25-14.

Penn State was able to keep its strong performance going through the third set with a .519 hitting percentage. That strong offensive showcase helped the Nittany Lions close out the match with a 25-17 win in the third set.

A handful of the seniors were able to make their day of celebration even greater by contributing to the win in a big way. Bryanna Weiskircher recorded 30 assists on the night to go along with seven digs, three kills and even got in on the action at the net with two blocks.

Nia Reed and Taylor Leath also got involved by adding a combined 11 kills.

Although it was senior night, freshman Jonni Parker, led the Nittany Lions with 11 kills. Serena Gray, also a freshman, finished second on the team in kills with eight on nine swings.

One big takeaway from the Penn State team was the ability to get multiple players involved in the game while still hitting at a .415 clip. The Nittany Lions also held the Wildcats to a concerning .065 hitting percentage.

With the match being fairly easily won by Penn State, head coach, Russ Rose, enjoyed the opportunity to empty his bench.

“You don’t get that opportunity a lot,” said Rose. “We were scoring well so we had that chance at the end.”

This was Penn State’s 19th sweep of the season and it improves its record to 22-6 on the year.

The Nittany Lions will need to keep their hot streak going as they face off with No. 3 Minnesota on Friday. They will close out their regular season on Saturday with a clash against No. 7 Wisconsin.

With the next two games, Penn State has the opportunity to face some elite talent to help prepare for postseason play.

 


Nick Mazone is a junior, majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email nickmazone@nycap.rr.com.