The Penn State Nittany Lions beat the Stanford Cardinal 3-2 (30-25, 30-26, 23-30, 19-30, 15-8) in the NCAA D-I Women’s Volleyball Championships on Saturday at Arco Arena.

Penn State had a two-game lead, but Stanford came back winning games three and four, but couldn’t stop the Nittany Lions in the fifth and final game. Penn State posted more kills (84-72), hitting percentage (.317-.291), assists (75-68, digs (76-64 than Stanford, but the Cardinal recorded more aces (9-2) and team blocks (11-8.5) than the NIttany Lions.

Sophomore Megan Hodge led the Nittany Lions with 26 kills and 10 digs. Junior Nicole Fawcett had 19 kills and two aces, libero Roberta Holehouse led Penn State with 17 digs.

Freshman Alix Klineman led Stanford with 18 kills and 15 digs. Junior Foluke Akinradewo posted 18 kills and three digs and Junior Cynthia Barboza had 16 kills and 12 digs.

Penn State swept the California Bears 3-0 match and Stanford defeated the UCS Trojans 3-2 on Thursday to advance to Saturday’s championships.

Hodge was named most outstanding player. Fawcett, Sophomore Alisha Glass (Penn State, Harmotto, Akinradewo, Klineman, and Asia Kaczor (USC) were named to the all tournament team.

Karyn Gilbert can be reached at [email protected]