Penn State, Cal Reach NCAA Title Match

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 16, 2010) – Penn State University and University of California-Berkeley will meet in the 2010 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship title match at 7:30 p.m. Central Time on Dec. 18 after both teams captured semifinal victories at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 16.

Penn State (31-5), the tournament’s three-time defending champion and No. 4 seed in the 2010 tournament, snapped No. 9 University of Texas’ 19-match win streak with a 25-13, 25-13, 25-22 victory in the semifinals. In the process, Penn State has now won 23 consecutive NCAA postseason matches. Texas concludes the season at 27-6.

In the all-Pac-10 national semifinal, No. 7 California (30-3) earned a 25-14, 25-17, 25-20 victory over No. 6 University of Southern California (29-5). During the regular season, Cal lost to USC in both Pac-10 matches but won the key match in the postseason. In its five NCAA postseason matches in 2010, Cal has not lost a single set and will play in its first title match.

Penn State has ended California’s season in each of the last two seasons in the NCAA regional finals. The Golden Bears’ only other trip to the national semifinals was in 2007. Cal Head Coach Rich Feller was named the 2010 AVCA Division I National Coach of the Year earlier today, but he will need to pick up a win over Penn State Head Coach Russ Rose and his 1,032-career victories in the NCAA championship match on Dec. 18 to yield the Golden Bears’ first volleyball title.

Penn State defeated Texas in the 2009 NCAA Division I title match after coming back from two sets down to become the first school to win three consecutive national titles in NCAA Division I history. Overall, the Nittany Lions have won four NCAA titles (1999, 2007, 2008, 2009).

The Nittany Lions will now have an opportunity to win a fourth-straight NCAA Division I title to match unprecedented streaks set in two other collegiate volleyball divisions. Penn State seniors Blair Brown, Arielle Wilson and Alyssa D’Errico will be attempting to leave Penn State with four NCAA titles apiece. Earlier this year, Concordia University-St. Paul won its fourth consecutive NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship, while Fresno Pacific University captured the NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championship for the fourth time in as many years.

The NCAA title match will air on ESPN and ESPN3.com.

Penn State vs. Texas

Penn State senior Blair Brown contributed a double-double of 12 kills and 10 digs to go with three aces and two block assists. Freshman Deja McClendon hit at a .733 efficiency with 11 kills on 15 errorless attacks, while totaling three block assists and an ace. Freshman Ariel Scott chipped in 10 kills and three block assists in the victory. Katie Slay provided a match-high six block assists to go with three aces on six errorless attempts. Senior Arielle Wilson added six kills on 13 errorless attacks with three block assists on defense. Senior Alyssa D’Errico charted two aces and 11 digs for the Nittany Lions. Kristin Carpenter handed out 38 assists to set the Penn State offense to a .365 hitting efficiency with only seven attack errors, while added three individual kills, two block assists and nine digs.

Texas was led by senior Juliann Faucette’s 14 kills and seven digs, while junior Amber Roberson added seven kills and two block solos.

Penn State, with an 8-1 service ace advantage in the match, held the Longhorns to a .131 hitting efficiency. The Nittany Lions won the defensive battle as well with a 9.5-3 team block margin and 50-47 dig advantage.

Penn State opened the first set against Texas with a 6-0 lead as Brown pounded consecutive points to open the match, while McClendon tallied a kill and two blocks after a Texas error. The Nittany Lions jumped their advantage to 10-1 with back-to-back Scott kills and a McClendon ace leading to a Longhorn timeout. Penn State then cruised to the 25-13 victory.

After Texas scored the first point of the second set, Penn State rattled off four straight points to take a 4-1 advantage. Texas battled back to within one point at 6-5, then tied the set at 7-all on consecutive kills from Faucette and McNeal. McClendon and Wilson scored back-to-back kills after a Texas service error to resume a three-point cushion at 10-7. Penn State extended the margin to nine points at 19-10 with six consecutive points including two blocks. The Nittany Lions rolled off the final five of six points for a 25-13 victory.

Faucette slammed a kill to lift Texas in front 2-0 to open the third set and the Longhorn advantage stretched to 4-1 on a Penn State error. Back-to-back plays with Longhorns in the net and a D’Errico ace tied the set at 4-all. Carpenter served an ace at 9-8 for the Nittany Lions for their first lead in the set. Slay gave Penn State a two-point advantage at 11-9 with a block, but Texas came back with three unanswered points for a 12-11 lead. Carpenter dumped a kill on the second contact for a 14-13 Penn State lead, then Brown served an ace and Wilson combined with Scott for a block at 16-13. Brown hammered a kill off the Longhorn block forcing Texas to call timeout down 17-13. Texas scored consecutive points to narrow the deficit in half to 23-21 leading to a Nittany Lion timeout. Penn State traded points out of the break for a 25-22 victory, capped by a Scott kill.

California vs. Southern California

Cal senior setter Carli Lloyd set the Golden Bears to a .297 team hitting efficiency while adding two kills, 16 digs, a block assist and ace. Junior Tarah Murrey notched a match-high 23 kills with a .413 hitting efficiency to lead California, while also providing 14 digs for a double-double. Freshman Adrienne Gehan contributed 14 kills and two block assists in the victory, while sophomore Shannon Hawari charted six kills and three block assists.

Junior Alex Jupiter paced USC with eight kills and 12 digs, while freshman Falyn Fonoimoana added six kills and two blocks. Junoir Lauren Williams recorded six kills and three blocks for the Women of Troy.

The Golden Bears held a 60-46 dig advantage to offset a 7-5 Women of Troy block advantage. However, USC was held to a .107 team hitting efficiency with 19 attack errors.

Cal started the opening set with a 3-0 lead that included a Lloyd block and Brown ace, the Golden Bears jumped their advantage to 8-2 with four unanswered points prompting a Women of Troy timeout. Out of the break, Cal added to the lead with a USC attack error, Golden Bear block and Gehan kill at 11-2. Gehan put up a block at 14-4 to cap a 3-0 scoring run. The Golden Bears rolled to the 25-14 first set victory ending on a Murrey kill. The Women of Troy committed hit negative as a team in the opening set with 10 attack errors and just nine kills.

USC started the second set strong with the first two points. The Golden Bears came back with five unanswered points on the serve of Lloyd with three kills from Murrey and a Hawari block to force a USC timeout down 7-3. Fonoimoana served an ace and Cal hit wide to close the Women of Troy to within one at 8-7. Golden Bears rattled off seven unanswered points with two consecutive USC errors and three straight Gehan kills to take a 15-7 advantage. After the Golden Bears led by nine at 20-11, U SC strung three straight points to move back to within six at 20-14. Cal ended the set at 25-17 on a service error.

USC came back from a 3-1 deficit in the third set to take a 4-3 advantage following a Fonoimoana kill. Gehan returned Cal in front at 5-4 with a kill and pushed her team to a two-point cushion at 7-5 with another kill. Cal stretched its margin to 10-6 with a Murrey kill and USC attack error. Fuller connected for a kill to allow the Women of Troy back to within one at 11-10. A Cal block at 13-10 led to a USC timeout. Out of the break, USC scored the next two points with an Olgard kill at 13-12. After Cal went up 15-12 on the next two points, the teams traded the next eight points through to 19-16. Murrey broke the streak with three consecutive kills to inch the Golden Bear lead to 21-16. Gehan provided the final point with a kill off the block at 25-20.

Tags: college, college volleyball, NCAA