Tennessee vs. Penn State Postgame Quotes University Park, Pa., Dec. 9, 2005 - The No. 2 Penn State womenĄŻs volleyball team dropped a four-game heartbreaker to Tennessee (27-30, 30-14, 27, 30-31-33) Friday night to end its season with a 31-3 overall record. The Lady Vols improve to 24-8 and advance to the NCAA Regional Final to face No. 8 Missouri tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Freshman outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) led all players with 19 kills as sophomore middle hitter Melissa Walbridge (Yardley, Pa.) fell just shy of her career high with 14 kills as junior Cassy Salyer (Aurora, Colo.) and sophomore Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) each chipped in 12 kills. Senior setter Sam Tortorello (Shorewood, Ill.) dished out 58 assists and added seven kills and nine digs as senior libero Kaleena Walters (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) racked up a match-high 20 digs. Price and junior Kris Brown (Wooster, Ohio) each added 12 digs. The Nittany Lions recorded six aces in the match, led by Brown and freshman Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) with two each and one apiece from Walbridge and Tortorello. On the flip side, Penn State committed 17 service errors in the contest. Tennessee outblocked Penn State, 15.0 to 13.0. Walbridge led the Lions with eight blocks as Tortorello added a season-high six, Fawcett chipped in four and Salyer added two. The Lady Vols were led by Kelsey Fautsch with 16 kills as Yuliya Stoyanova and Kristen Andre each posted 12. Julie Knytych dished out 40 assists as Amy Morris led the squad with 15 digs. Sarah Blum led all players with 11 blocks as Mindy Flynn tallied seven. Game one remained even early on with a Walbridge kill and a block from Walbridge and freshman Laura Holloway (Barrington, Ill.) putting the Lions ahead 19-18. A Lady Vol kill from Flynn tied the game at 19-19 and five ties ensued before back to back Tennessee blocks and a kill put the Lady Vols up 27-24. A Fawcett and Walbridge block and a Fawcett kill pulled the Lions to within one at 27-26 and the teams traded points before a Penn State attack error and a Tennessee kill ended the game, 30-27, in favor of the Lady Vols. Penn State dominated game two, going up 14-4 on back to back Holehouse service aces. A block from Salyer and Tortorello made it 22-7 and two Walbridge kills pushed the advantage to 25-11. A Walbridge ace and consecutive Salyer kills ended the game, 30-14. Game three was a mirror of the first, with 16 tie scores and four lead changes. Two Tennessee kills and a block put the Lady Vols up 20-17 but Penn State charged back to tie the game at 22-22 on a Walbridge kill. The squads exchanged points four times and a solo Tennessee block from Fautsch made the score 29-25 before an Andre kill ended the game, 30-27. The fourth game featured 15 ties and eight lead changes as Tennessee went up 16-13 on a kill from Sarah Blum. Penn State kills from Salyer, Fawcett and Price and a block from Tortorello and Salyer put the Lions up 18-17 and the game remained even, with a Fawcett kill giving Penn State the 25-22 lead. A block from Fawcett and Walbridge made it 26-22 but the Lady Vols went on a 6-2 run to knot the score at 28-28. A Tortorello kill was quickly followed by a Tennessee block and the teams twice before back to back Penn State attack errors gave the Lady Vols the win, 33-31. For more information on the Penn State womenĄŻs volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.
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