The No. 1 seed Penn State women's volleyball team (33-2) advanced to the NCAA Women's Volleyball National Semifinals with a 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 26-24, 25-20) win against eighth-seeded Minnesota. The Nittany Lions have advanced to the National Semifinals five times in the last six seasons.
The Nittany Lions will face No. 5 Oregon in Louisville's KFC Yum! Center on Thursday in the National Semifinals.
The Nittany Lions are making their 10th trip to the National Semifinals. Penn State also advanced in 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The Lions have won five NCAA titles, including four straight from 2007-2010.
Penn State hit at a .237 clip and totaled 62 kills, five aces, 73 digs and 14.0 total team blocks. Minnesota was held to .177 hitting with 49 kills, three aces, 61 digs and 14.0 team blocks.
After a close start, Scott put down a kill sparking a 5-0 run for an 8-4 PSU lead. After a Minnesota timeout, the teams traded points before two Gopher errors and a Courtney kill gave Penn State a six-point lead, 14-8. The Gophers used a 3-0 run to move to within three, 14-11. Back-to-back Scott kills increased the gap to five, 16-11. Penn State continued to maintain the lead and eventually increased it to six, 21-15, sending Minnesota to the bench. Courtney and Scott each put down a kill after the timeout to keep PSU comfortably ahead, 23-16. Even after a 3-0 run by the Gophers, a Penn State timeout let the Nittany Lion regroup to take the set, 25-19. Scott and Grant put up a block and Courtney tallied a kill to help the Lions close it out.
