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Penn State Sweeps No. 4 Stanford
Three sets at The Palestra, eleven points between the teams in total, and Stanford served eleven more balls out of play or into the net than Penn State did.
No. 12 Penn State beat No. 4 Stanford 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-21) at The Palestra on Friday night, in a building its volleyball team had not played in since 1985.
Eleven points separated the two teams across the three sets. Stanford served thirteen balls out of play or into the net and Penn State served two, which is an eleven-point head start in a match decided by eleven.
Stanford Hit Better and Blocked More
Penn State hit .192 and put down 46 kills, of which Kennedy Martin had 14 with 13 digs, Whitney Lauenstein 11, and the freshman Haley Burgdorf 10 on .450 with nine digs and two aces.
Stanford hit .206 and blocked at six per set, with Julia Blyashov leading it on 10 kills, Ipar Kurt on eight, and Jordyn Harvey on six with eight digs and two aces.
Kevin Hambly changed setters in the second. Alexis Stucky played all three for Penn State with 36 assists and ten digs, and Penn State out-dug Stanford 56 to 42.
Penn State is 5-1 and has beaten the fourth-best team in the country, and Stanford is 4-2, beaten by No. 19 Texas A&M on Wednesday and by No. 12 Penn State on Friday.
Penn State Had Not Played Here Since 1985
The Palestra opened in 1927 and Penn is marking its centenary by booking guests into it. Penn State's volleyball team had last played there on 2 November 1985. Penn says Stanford had never been at all.
Penn State libero Ava Falduto, speaking to The Daily Collegian.
We knew we needed to bounce back pretty quickly because we knew we had a really good Stanford team to prepare for. I think we also knew that what we did against Kentucky wasn't our best and we know we have the higher standard than that.
The Kentucky match Falduto is talking about was outdoors at Wrigley Field. Friday's was indoors on a basketball floor in West Philadelphia.
Haley Burgdorf, the freshman who hit .450, told the same paper that the crowd in a Philadelphia gym was a Pennsylvania crowd.
I think it was just amazing how many people and how many supporters we have throughout just Pennsylvania in general. It really got our energy going and as our energy was going up, their energy started going up too… it just kept us at such a high.
Stanford Plays Sunday in Penn State's Gym
Stanford's trip east is not finished. It plays Ohio at noon Central on Sunday at Rec Hall in University Park, which is Penn State's home court.
Penn State plays Ohio in the same gym on the same weekend and got to stay home for it. Stanford lost to Penn State in Philadelphia and then travelled to Penn State's town to play somebody else.
