Penn State set to take on UCLA Bruins in third round of 2011 NCAA Tournament
The third round of the 2011 NCAA Women’s Division I tournament is scheduled to start on Friday, December 9. A total of eight matches will be played among the top-16 teams of the campaign. In this regard, the 8th seeded Penn State Women’s volleyball
demonstrated a stellar performance in the first two rounds of the championship and reserved a berth in the regional semi-finals. They were joined by the University of California’s Bruins, who did equally well in their respective matches and settled for encounter
with Penn State in the third round of the tournament. The two teams will hit the court at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
Penn State (25-7)
The Nittany Lions of Penn State, who are regarded as the four-time defending champions, continue their quest for the NCAA title. They just rounded off the regular season with an overall record of 25-7. They qualified for the NCAA tournament and faced off
against Liberty and Delaware in the First and Second Rounds. Penn State remained remarkably consistent and finished both match in straight sets.
They posted 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-16) win over Liberty before sending Delaware to defeat with 3-0 (25-12, 25-9, 25-18) on the next day. Sophomore Ariel Scott performed well and totalled 28 kills in two matches. Sophomore Deja McClendon followed her team-mate
with 16 kills, while freshman Micha Hancock compiled 76 assists and also dished out 19 digs. Sophomore Ali Longo displayed great skill to tackle the difficult shots by the opposite side and posted a team-high 29 digs. Sophomore Maddie Martin and Katie Slay
also staged good action on the net and contributed in the overall success of their team.
The Lady Lions are well prepared to carry the same momentum into their next match against 9th-seeded UCLA. If they defeat UCLA, they will move to the next stage of the tournament and will put up against the winner of Texas vs. Kentucky match.
The Lions look ready to take up the challenge and score a victory against Bruins.
UCLA Bruins (26-6)
The Bruins are making their 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Their all-time record is 76-27 so far with a hitting percentage of .738. In the last two editions of the NCAA tournament, the Bruins could not reach the regional round but this time they
have made it and have plans to take full advantage of the opportunity.
Looking at the performance of UCLA in previous two rounds of the tournament, it is easy to tell that they are likely to make more progress. In the first match of 2011 NCAA tournament, they were challenged by UMES Hawks, who dropped the decision in straight
sets. In the next match against San Diego, Bruins bagged another victory at the expense of one set. They dropped only one set in the two matches and qualified for the regional semi-finals of the NCAA tournament.
They will go against Nittany Lions in the third round. The two teams had their last meeting in 2008, when Lady Lions defeated Bruins.
Tags: