Volleyball: Women's
Under the Lights: Penn State at Nebraska
Let's take a look at the highlights, lowlights and what's in the spotlight after the Nittany Lions' 3-2 loss to Nebraska on Wednesday night.
Highlights:
Ariel Scott: The sophomore middle hitter had a game and career-high in kills with 23 kills and hit .360 on 50 swings. Scott seems to be getting more comfortable offensively. After a shaky start to the season, she has led the Lions in kills in the last two matches. She also assisted on four blocks and had five digs in Penn State's defeat.
Resiliency: Wednesday night was the third time this season that Penn State has trailed a top-10 opponent 0-2 this season. And every time they've been down 0-2, the Lions have fought back and forced the match to go to five sets. Though they only won one of these matches (Aug. 27 vs. USC), forcing five sets and not getting swept by highly ranked teams should boost this young team's confidence a little bit and prove to other teams that they won't go down without a fight.
Lowlights:
Nia Grant and Maddie Martin: With Nebraska's defense keying on Deja McClendon, Penn State needed another hitter to step up and get some kills to help Scott. But Grant and Martin couldn't do it and were essentially non-factors on offense. The duo combined for zero kills on eight swings and each recorded a hitting error.
Service errors: The Lions gave away 12 points on serves against the Huskers and it was not something they could afford in a highly contested match. Kristin Carpenter had four service errors while Micha Hancock, Ali Longo and Martin each had two. In a five set match, surely Penn State would love to have those lost opportunities back.
Spotlight:
Deja McClendon: Nebraska's coach John Cook called McClendon "probably the best left-side hitter in the country" earlier this week, but she didn't perform as such against the Huskers. McClendon was second on the Lions in kills with 16, but had 10 errors on 55 swings and hit .109. It seemed like Nebraska had two blockers in the way almost every time the sophomore outside hitter swung at the ball. She did account for 13 digs, but McClendon will have to be more efficient offensively if the Lions want to beat good teams like Nebraska.