July 8, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The defending national champion Penn State women's volleyball team announced its 2009 schedule Tuesday. The Nittany Lions are set to compete in 32 matches in 2009, including participating in three preseason tournaments and hosting 15 matches at Rec Hall.
Highlighting the 2009 schedule are matches against seven teams that competed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, including five teams who were ranked in the final ACVA Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions take on NCAA Regional Semifinalists Illinois, Michigan and Purdue, along with NCAA Tournament participants St. Louis, Miami (Ohio) University, Duke and Minnesota.
Penn State has secured a 412-76 (.844) record against the opponents its set to face in 2009. In addition, the Nittany Lions own a 317-32 (.881) record in Big Ten play since joining the league in 1991.
PSU opens the 2009 slate on Aug. 28-29 in Missouri at the Active Ankle Challenge hosted by St. Louis University. Penn State takes on Miami (Ohio) University, Alabama and the No. 21 St. Louis Billikens. The Lions then return home for the Nittany Lion Invitational Sept. 4-5. Penn State welcomes Buffalo, Robert Morris and Pittsburgh to Rec Hall.
In its final preseason tournament, the Nittany Lions head south to compete in the Duke Invitational Sept. 11-12. The team is set to challenge Loyola (Md.), the College of Charleston and the hosting Blue Devils. From there, Penn State plays three additional non-conference matches before beginning Big Ten play. Up first is a trip to Philadelphia to face Temple on Sept.18, before meeting St. Francis (Pa.) and Temple again the following day at Rec Hall.
Penn State begins Big Ten play on the road with matches at Northwestern on Sept. 25 and Illinois on Sept. 26. The Lions host Iowa in their conference home opener on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.
Head coach Russ Rose welcomes the return of five starters from the 2008 National Championship team, including First Team AVCA All-Americans Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) and Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) and Second Team AVCA All-Americans Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) and Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.). The 2008 squad finished with a perfect 38-0 record, secured its 12th overall and sixth consecutive Big Ten Championship and head into the 2009 season on a NCAA record-breaking 64-match winning streak. The Nittany Lions also welcome back senior Kelsey Ream, juniors Alyssa D'Errico and Cathy Quilico and sophomores Katie Kabbes, Heather Tice and Megan Shifflett.
Penn State boasts five newcomers to this year's squad, including 5-7 freshman outside hitter Kristen Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.), 6-2 freshman outside hitter Darcy Dorton (Muncie, Ind.), 6-0 freshman setter Marika Racibarskas (Chatham, N.J.), 6-3 junior middle hitter Fatima Balza (Merida, Venezuela) and 5-8 junior defensive specialist Jessica Ullrich (Wheaton, Ill.).