A single serve
may have set the tone for a decisive defeat
- #2 Penn State def. #3 Washington 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-16)
- #12 Wisconsin vs. #1 Texas | December 21 | 6:30 PM (Pacific) |Key Arena, Seattle | ESPN2
During the NCAA D1 Women's Volleyball Championships, Volleyblog Seattle is on assignment for ncaa.com. Please follow our coverage at http://www.ncaa.com/sports/volleyball-women/d1
SEATTLE—Sometimes small things turn out to be big things. Friday
night in Seattle, the smallest roll of a volleyball across a net unleashed a
torrent of points that swept Penn State to victory in its D1 Women’s Volleyball
semifinal against Washington.
Washington led 11-9 in the first set when Penn State setter
Micha Hancock’s serve clipped the net and hung in suspension. If it had rolled
back, Washington might have built confidence and a lead. But it rolled forward,
for an ace, and launched an 8-0 Nittany Lion run that deflated what could have
been a home court advantage in Seattle’s Key Arena.
“Micha served really well,” said teammate Ariel Scott. “And
when she does that, it's hard to stop.”
“Micha goes back and hits that jump serve,” said Washington
coach Jim McLaughlin, “and that deflated us.”
As it turned out, Penn State never looked back, dominating
every phase of the match in a surgical 3-0 win (25-14, 25-13, 25-16), that sets
up an all-Big Ten Championship Saturday night against Wisconsin. But
Hancock—who has the Division 1’s second-best ace per set percentage—had been
struggling with her serve of late.
 |
| Washington's Krista Vansant attacks past the block of Katie Slay (16) and Micha Hancock (12) -Bettina Hansen, Seattle Times |
Her coach, Russ
Rose, admitted as much. After the match, he asked Hancock, “when was the last
time I said you played terrific?” Her serve is important, Rose said, because
Penn State “scores more points with her serving than the other rotations
combined.”
In the second set,
Washington trailed 9-6 when Hancock did it again, reeling off another 7
straight points. All season long, the Pac-12 champion Huskies had excelled at
both serve and serve receive, but on this night had no answer for Hancock’s
powerful jumpers.
“She's a lefty,”
said Washington libero Jenna Orlandini. “The ball is coming from a different
curve when you have that kind of pace on it and that kind of speed. You just
have to really get your angle right on it, because usually that's not the way
the ball's coming towards you.”
Penn State passed
as well as it served. “They're a team that you gotta win the serve and pass,”
said McLaughlin, “and we had done that all year. We didn't do it tonight. I think
they missed four passes. That's unbelievable.”
Another PSU
standout was four-time AVCA All-American Deja McClendon, who led all hitters
with 11 kills. But it was her defense—she had 13 digs, many of them
sensational—that crushed any hopes of a Husky comeback.
“Deja's a wonderful
young person,” said Rose. “She's been our best player all year. The things that
she does are the intangibles that coaches recognize more than people who look
at the box score. She's our best passer, our best defensive player, our best
left‑side blocker. And there's times she's unstoppable hitting.”
With McClendon
leading the way, the Nittany Lions were able to all but shut down Pac-12 Player
of the Year Krista Vansant, who complimented Penn State’s unyielding defense.
“They kept the pressure on us the entire time. That's one of the reasons they
were so dominant.”
As Penn State
prepares to try to defeat Wisconsin for the third time this season, it will be
facing a team that shares several traits with Washington: good serving, good
passing, a varied offense. When one of his players started to answer questions
about how Penn State had prepared for Washington, her coach cut her short.
“That’s enough on the scouting report,” said Rose, saying he’s ready to start
preparing to face the Badgers.
“Maybe some people
thought the first match (Wisconsin defeating Texas) was an upset, and maybe
some people don't. I didn't think Wisconsin thought it was an upset.”
See also:
- Badger breakthrough: Twelve-seed Wisconsin relentless in charge to national titlematch
- Huskies volleyball team falls short of national title match (Terry Wood)
There was a pre-match shot on tv of the Penn State and UW locker rooms. Penn State's players were animated, dancing, laughing. UW's players were sitting and deadly somber and serious. It was an interesting contrast.
ReplyDeleteI noticed in warmups that we were serving long, long, long, long. When something that you have done thousands of times is consistently different like that it is usually a sign you are trying too hard. I think the girls just wanted to so much, but didn't know how to accomplish that which they desired.
ReplyDeleteIt's like deja vu all over again. 2003, huskies play a brilliant sweet 16/elite 8 here in Seattle, with an outstanding win over a higher ranked Stanford team, I have never seen our team play like that again. Then they head to the final four at long beach state the next weekend and look like deer caught in the headlights, losing to the golden gophers. Not sure what to make of that. Adding the comment above, an article was saying how Russ Rose has been to so many of these final fours that he knows how to get his players mentally ready. Looks like they were right.
ReplyDeleteTo belabor the obvious, only four teams in the entire division survive to the final four, and all but one of the teams in the tournament end their seasons with losses. Rest assured that the whole Northwest is very proud of this team and have received great joy from watching great volleyball. We are now embarking on a cruel several months of extreme volleyball withdrawal. We are counting the days until the start of the next season!
ReplyDeleteYou can't ride one horse to the championship. We have to find a balanced attack if we want to win it all. That said congrats to KV!
ReplyDelete