Nov. 5, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State women's volleyball freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week, conference officials announced today. It is the second conference honor for Wilson, as she was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 1, and brings Penn State's total Big Ten Player of the Week citations to 57 since joining the conference for the 1991 season.
Wilson's accolade is the seventh for the Nittany Lions this season, as junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) has earned the award three times (Aug. 27, Sept. 24, Oct. 15), junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) nabbed the honor on Oct. 8 and sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) picked up the accolade on Sept. 10.
Aided by Wilson's play, the top-ranked Nittany Lions (22-2, 14-0 Big Ten) picked up two more conference wins over the weekend. Friday night against Purdue, the freshman was one of three Lions with double-digit kills, recording 10 on .421 hitting. She also added a match-high five blocks and a career-high four digs. The following night against Indiana in only two games of action, Wilson tallied five kills on an errorless 11 swings to hit .455 with two digs and a match-high six blocks.
For the weekend, Wilson averaged 3.00 kills per game on .433 hitting with 1.20 digs per game and 2.20 blocks per game.
For the season, she ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.411) with 2.31 kills per game and leads the Big Ten in blocking with 1.88 blocks per game.
Penn State takes to the road this weekend, traveling to Northwestern and Michigan State. The Nittany Lions and Wildcats square off on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m. CT in Evanston, Ill., before the Lions face the Spartans on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 5:00 p.m. ET in East Lansing, Mich., in a match that will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. Penn State returns home for its final regular-season weekend at Rec Hall on Nov. 16-17 when it hosts Wisconsin and Illinois.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.