Sept. 22, 2008
University Park, Pa. - Penn State women's volleyball senior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week, conference officials announced. It is the second award for Fawcett this season and her seventh career honor, which ties her for fourth all-time in league history. Fawcett's accolade brings Penn State's total Big Ten Player of the Week citations to 60 since joining the conference for the 1991 season.
Fawcett was named the Most Valuable Player of the Hampton Inn Penn State Classic after leading the squad to three more three-game sweeps to remain undefeated in both matches and individual sets this season, at 12-0 and 36-0, respectively. Against Yale, Fawcett contributed one kill, two aces, five digs and three blocks in two games and versus New Hampshire on Saturday, the senior posted 15 kills with only one error on 19 attacks to hit a season-high .737 with one assist, five digs and one block for a match-high 15.5 points. Against Saint Louis, Fawcett fell just shy of her season-best with 16 kills on 23 errorless attacks to hit .696 with two aces, five digs and one block.
For the weekend, Fawcett averaged 4.00 kills per game on an astounding .689 hitting percentage with four aces, 15 digs and five blocks for a team-high 38.5 total points.
Penn State opens up Big Ten play this weekend at home when it hosts Purdue on Friday, Sept. 26 at 6:00 p.m. ET. Prior to the match there will be a ceremony to raise the 2007 NCAA Championship banner to the Rec Hall ceiling and following the match will be a football pep rally beginning at 8:00 p.m. Penn State and Illinois meet in women's volleyball on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 3:00 p.m. at Rec Hall before the Nittany Lions and Fighting Illini meet on the gridiron across campus at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for youth and $2 per person for groups of 10 or more. Penn State students are free with their PSU ID. Tickets will be available at the door until capacity is reached.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2008 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets At Hershey.