Sept. 1, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State women's volleyball senior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) has been named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week, conference officials announced. It is the sixth career honor for Fawcett, a three-time AVCA All-American. Her accolade brings Penn State's total Big Ten Player of the Week citations to 59 since joining the conference for the 1991 season. She shared the honor with Illinois' Laura DeBruler.
Fawcett was named the Most Valuable Player of the Hawaiian Airlines Classic after leading the top-ranked Nittany Lions to three 3-0 wins, including two over top-15 teams. In the season-opener at #12 Hawaii, the senior posted 12 kills, one ace and two digs and the following night versus #6 UCLA, Fawcett tallied 12 kills and fell one dig shy of her career high with 15. In the closing match against Ohio, Fawcett tallied a match-high 15 kills on .619 hitting with one ace, six digs and three blocks. For the weekend, she averaged 4.33 kills per game on .341 hitting with two aces, 23 digs and three blocks.
Penn State opens up the 2008 home slate on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 p.m. against Long Island at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions continue play at noon on Saturday, Sept. 6 with George Washington before closing out action in the Nittany Lion Invitational with Villanova at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets for the Invitational will be on sale at the Rec Hall box office beginning an hour and a half prior to match time.
--NITTANY LIONS--