One thing was clear early in this match: this is a different level. The start of the match was nothing short of beautiful, with both teams diving to keep points alive and then pounding kills into the floor. For awhile the play seemed flawless - that's when I looked at the box score and saw that it was. The first nine points of the match ended in eight kills and service ace - no attack errors. The level didn't drop much the rest of the way, though some great floor defense - something that often gets overlooked on these teams - drove the hitting percentages down.

It was back and forth for much of the set - which would have 10 tie scores. After kills from Ashley Engle and Amber Roberson and a Destinee Hooker ace put Texas up 18-15, Penn State responded with a 7-1 run - that got going with a pair of Darcy Dorton kills and also featured a couple of blocks - that put the Nittany Lions seemingly in control. But the Longhorns weren't done. Following a timeout, Texas reeled off six in a row - including three kills from Hooker, a kill and an ace from Engle, and a huge triple block by Juliann Faucette, Rachael Adams and Amber Roberson on Megan Hodge with the score tied at 22-22.

The three-point margin is, remarkably, the largest margin of defeat for Penn State in any set this season. The Nittany Lions have lost the opening frame three times before this season, but they rallied to win in five at Michigan on Oct. 16 and in four at Purdue on Nov. 20 and against Hawai'i on Thursday.

Hooker was an absolute monster, converting a match-high five kills (.333) and notching a match-best eight digs and two service aces. National Player of the Year Megan Hodge was held to just one kill and made three errors on her eight swings (-.250 hitting), but she did contribute six digs.