After a team gets pummeled, there's sometimes no better remedy than going out and pounding a few lesser teams.
That's what the Penn State women's volleyball team has done since losing badly to No. 6 Wisconsin on Friday night in Madison. After the Badgers swept the No. 11 Nittany Lions, 30-23, 30-19, 30-21, the Lions went to Evanston, Ill., and swept Northwestern, a team that capitalized on the Lions letdown after the Wisconsin game last season.
Last night, they continued this by cruising past Youngstown State at Rec Hall in three games to improve their overall record to 11-3 on the season. The victory over the Wildcats gave the Lions a 4-2 record in the Big Ten.
Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose spread the playing time around in the Youngstown State game, getting every player in uniform playing time.
"It was a nice match," Rose said. "It was good to get a chance to play Youngstown State. We know a number of players from there who were at our summer camps. It was definitely a step back from the games we played this weekend against Wisconsin and Northwestern."
The Penguins kept it close with the Lions at times. They were within two points late in the first game before the Lions ripped off a 6-1 run to win it 30-23. In the second two games, Youngstown State managed to hang around early, but the Lions ran off big mid-game scoring outbursts of 8-2 in the second game and 10-2 in the third to register victories of 30-17 and 30-20 respectively.
The final statistics showed almost total domination, as the Lions outblocked the Penguins 9-4, and outhit them .423 to .150. Sophomore middle blocker Cara Smith led the Penn State offense with 12 kills, five blocks, and a .556 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Nadia Edwards had nine kills, hitting .750. Senior outside hitter Katie Schumacher had five kills in the first game, the only one in which she played.
The Lions were similarly dominant in their sweep of Northwestern, avoiding the letdown they suffered after the Wisconsin loss last season. Though they were actually outblocked by the Wildcat middle blockers Erica Lange and Sarah Bollag, who rank first and third respectively in blocking in the Big Ten, they outhit the Wildcats .356 to .243, winning each game by six points or more. Schumacher dominated with 17 kills, and junior outside hitter Mishka Levy added 10.
The Lions refused to allow history to repeat itself.
"We knew once we lost we had to bounce back," Cara Smith said. "We knew not to make the same mistake we did last season."
The Lions ran into a buzzsaw in Madison on Friday night. The only lead they had in the first game was a 2-1 advantage, which eventually became a 30-23 loss. The Badgers opened up a 21-9 lead in the second game before going on to win 30-19.
They never trailed in the third game, finishing the sweep with a 30-21 victory.
"I felt at the beginning that Wisconsin was the best team in the conference, and they haven't done anything to change my mind about that," Rose said. "They gave us a pretty thorough waxing. They showed great energy. They're a group that's playing very hard and we were no match for them in that game."
Though the Lions got good swings from outside hitter Mishka Levy, who had 11 kills, and Katie Schumacher who matched her total, they were no match for the Wisconsin attack. Returning Big Ten co-player of the year Sherisa Livingston had 18 kills, and outside hitters Lisa Zukowski and Erin Byrd, who had 14 and 11 respectively, helping Wisconsin out hit the Lions .398 to .222.
The Lions will get a serious challenge against No. 20 Minnesota on Friday at 7 p.m. at Rec Hall. They also host Iowa Saturday night at 7.
