Cathy Quilico dug a ball in the middle of Friday's match against Minnesota, passing it to Alisha Glass.
Glass quickly set the ball to Megan Hodge who jumped in the air, spiking it over the blockers on the other side of the net to record a kill for the No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball team.
After the play, Alyssa D'Errico turned to Quilico on the court and said, "She just makes it look easy," referring to Hodge.
In the Nittany Lions 3-0 win over the Golden Gophers, outside hitter Hodge had 19 kills compared to 24 total by Minnesota. She now has 355 total kills on the season.
"Her performance pretty much says she was the best player on the floor this evening," Penn State coach Russ Rose said Friday.
"I mean, I don't like the idea of having a setter to have one of our players have nearly 50 percent of our kills, but she was by far our best player. She was good. She's always good."
Hodge had an attack percentage of .429, which was the highest of any hitter on the court. Her 19 kills were also more than double than any of her teammates, with Blair Brown and Darcy Dorton being the next strongest, recording eight each.
Although Rose would have liked to see a more well-rounded offensive attack, he said Minnesota's defense couldn't find a way to stop Hodge's strong presence on the court.
"She's a terrific talent and tonight they were struggling with what she was doing," Rose said of the Gopher's defense.
Junior liberos Quilico and D'Errico said a benefit to Hodge is her height and her comfort on the court. Quilico said her teammate has a good vision of the court, knowing where her defenders are and where the open spots on the floor are, thus making it easier for her to get points for the Lions.
Also, standing at 6-foot-3, the senior is able to hit the ball over the block. D'Errico and Quilico said this is one of Hodge's biggest advantages during a match.
"She's completely on a whole other level," Quilico said. "She's hitting over the block and that makes it harder for the other team to play defense because even if their block is there, it's not any good when she's hitting over the block."
Hodge's efforts were supported by "The Hodge Hunting Lodge," a group of three men sitting in the Rec Hall stands, clad in camouflage and blaze orange hunting gear. Every time Hodge recorded a kill, they would bow down to her, praising her talent on the court.
The rest of the Lion squad share the same appreciation for their teammate.
"Sometimes during the game we set the ball to Megan and you know it's going to be a kill," D'Errico said. "We have so much confidence when it gets set to her that we're going to win the game at some point."
