Penn State repeats as women's volleyball champ

tulsa world ^ | 12-20-14 | N/A

[FlJoePa]

OKLAHOMA CITY — Megan Courtney and Aiyana Whitney each had 11 kills, and Penn State defeated Brigham Young 25-21, 26-24, 25-14 Saturday to win their second consecutive NCAA women’s volleyball championship.

Micha Hancock had 36 assists and five digs for the Nittany Lions. The senior from nearby Edmond won in front of family and friends in her final college match. Her expert setting helped the Nittany Lions neutralize the nation’s No. 1 blocking team.

Penn State (36-3) won its sixth title in eight years and No. 7 overall to break a tie with Stanford for the most titles.

Jennifer Hamson had 14 kills and Alexa Gray added nine for BYU, which had won 12 consecutive matches. The Cougars (30-5) were trying to become the first unseeded team to win a national championship.

The Nittany Lions beat No. 1 seed Stanford in the semifinals, and then defeated BYU for their 20th straight victory.

In the first set, Whitney had five kills and Courtney and Nia Grant had three for the Nittany Lions, who held BYU to a .132 hitting percentage.

In the second set, BYU took a 17-14 lead before Penn State rallied to take it 26-24. Whitney hammered down four more kills with just one error. Gray had six kills in the set for BYU, but the Cougars struggled with their passing game.

Hamson’s service error at 24-all gave Penn State a set point, and a double block by Hancock and Haleigh Washington put the set in the Nittany Lions’ column.

Penn State rolled through the third set, holding the Cougars to a minus-.028 hitting percentage.

[FlJoePa]

Congratulations ladies! There are 331 Division I Women's Volleyball programs. You've won 6 of the last 8 titles. There aren't words to describe how good you are!

Thanks Micha!

Tournament Outstanding Player Megan Courtney:

[GeronL]

news of interest to lesbians

just kidding

[Veggie Todd]

I’m a big fan of their uniforms.

[BenLurkin]

Came for pics

Was not disappointed

[FlJoePa]

A bunch more here: pennlive photos

[Rodamala]

[FlJoePa]

[Ken H]

Do you have another like that, only taken from behind?

[bigbob]

Kills? Have the PC Police heard about this language yet? Someone will be in the crosshairs....

[vladimir998]

“sixth title in eight years”

Wow, that’s a dynasty if I’ve ever heard of one!

[vladimir998]

Video of the victory: http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/recaps/122014aaa.html

[Twink]

We watched the game. Awesome. Wonderful volleyball playing.

[tomkat]

The young lady in that pic (Courtney) was absolutely on fire last night !
Yet surpassing her individual performance, an outstanding team victory under Russ Rose's phenomenal coaching.

Kudos Lady Lions !

[FlJoePa]

Everyone was great. Amazing that a team (in such a highly competitive sport) can lose 3 first team All Americans and still come back and win the title the next year. Joe said on more than one occasion that Russ was the best coach on campus. I think he was right.

Congratulations to BYU and their fans for making it as far as they did. The future of their program looks bright.

[FlJoePa]

[Ken H]

Wow.

[tomkat]

Well said              d:^)

[FlJoePa]

I love following the sport, and have for years before they became so dominant. But smart, pretty, athletic girls with killer instincts make it that much easier.