Aug. 31, 2012
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The No. 9 Stanford women's volleyball team fell at No. 4 Penn State, 13-25, 27-25, 23-25, 25-23, 13-15, Friday, in the Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic at Rec Hall in State College, Pa. The Cardinal drops to 2-2 overall, while the Nittany Lions move to 4-0.
Freshman outside hitter Jordan Burgess led the team with a double-double for the third consecutive match. She finished with 13 kills and 20 digs to go with three blocks. Freshman outside hitter Brittany Howard also tallied a double-double, the first of her career, with 12 kills and 19 digs. Sophomore Morgan Boukather added 11 kills, while junior Rachel Williams recorded 10 kills and five blocks.
Stanford's offense was controlled by its two setters, senior Karissa Cook and freshman Madi Bugg. Cook registered 21 assists and 10 digs for her second double-double of the year, while Bugg posted 28 assists and 15 digs for her first collegiate double-double. Sophomore libero Kyle Gilbert set a career high with 23 digs.
Penn State jumped out to an early lead and held on to capture the first set, 25-13. Stanford pulled within four at 16-12, but PSU outscored the Cardinal 9-1 down the stretch to seal the victory. The Nittany Lions recorded a .382 hitting percentage while holding the Cardinal to .138. Burgess led the team with three kills in the set. Junior Ariel Scott led PSU with seven kills ad two digs.
Stanford answered in the second set, edging PSU 27-25. The Cardinal pulled ahead 20-12, but the Nittany Lions responded with a 9-0 run to take the lead. It remained close for the duration of the set as there were six tie scores and four lead changes. Neither team hit well offensively as Stanford posted a .148 attack percentage, while PSU hit .125. Burgess continued to lead the Cardinal with five kills and four digs in the second. Williams added four kill, while Howard put down three. Scott registered five kills and two digs to lead the Nittany Lions.
In the pivotal third set, Penn State came out on top 25-23. The score remained close throughout as there were 14 tie scores and two lead changes. The Nittany Lions held the Cardinal to a .149 attack percentage in the set. Sophomore Morgan Boukather and freshman Inky Ajanaku led the Cardinal with three kills apiece. Burgess and Gilbert anchored the defense with nine and eight digs, respectively. Scott tallied nine kills to lead PSU.
Stanford forced a fifth set, winning the fourth 25-23. The Cardinal led the majority of the way, holding on to a two-point lead late. Stanford hit .217 and collected 26 digs in the set. Howard and Boukather paced the team with four kills each. Howard also registered nine digs in the fourth. Penn State's Katie Slay was 4-for-7 with two blocks to lead the Nittany Lions.
The Cardinal fell behind early in the fifth and was unable to fully recover as PSU pulled out a 15-13 win. Trailing 13-7, Stanford reeled off five straight points, including two blocks by Ajanaku and Williams, to cut the lead to 13-12. After an attack error by Howard gave PSU match point, Boukather answered with a kill, but the Nittany Lions scored on the next point to end it.
Stanford closes out the Nike Big Four Classic on Saturday, Sept. 1 against No. 18 Florida. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT at Rec Hall.