Volleyball: Women's
Under the lights: Penn State at Purdue and Indiana
No. 9 Penn State won two matches over the weekend, the Lions picked up a 3-1 win over Purdue on Friday, followed by a 3-0 victory over Indiana on Saturday night. Let's take a look at the highlights, lowlights and what is in the spotlight after the weekend.
Highlights:
Deja McClendon: Entering the weekend, McClendon was in a slump offensively, but the sophomore showed signs of breaking out of it against Purdue and Indiana. McClendon led the team in kills in both matches and hit over .350 in each.
Nia Grant (vs. Purdue): On Friday, Grant registered 10 kills, hit .389 assisted on two blocks and had four digs. The freshman also picked up her first ever service ace against the Boliermakers.
Lowlights:
Nia Grant (vs. Indiana): Though she did assist on five blocks, Grant was essentially a non-factor on offense on Saturday against the Hoosiers. With just one kill on six swings, combined with three errors, Grant tied for her career-low in hitting percentage with a -.333 clip.
Service errors: Serving was an issue all weekend for Penn State, after having 13 service errors against Purdue, the Lions accounted for seven against Indiana. Penn State did have 14 aces in the two matches, but it will tough for this team to win close games if they keep giving away a lot of points on the serve.
Spotlight:
Dominique Gonzalez: The freshman defensive specialist has been getting a lot of playing time lately and coming up with some digs in the back row. After having seven digs and starting against Purdue, Gonzalez didn't start against Indiana, but dug six balls. The question is now, how much playing time will Gonzalez get in the coming matches?