Sept. 28, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Junior middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) was named the Big Ten Player of the Week and freshman outside hitter Darcy Dorton (Muncie, Ind.) was selected as the league's Freshman of the Week, conference officials announced Monday.
The honor is the fifth of Wilson's career and brings Penn State's total Big Ten Player of the Week accolades to 67 since joining the conference for the 1991 season. These are the fourth and fifth weekly honors for the squad this season as senior Megan Hodge was named the Player of the Week on Sept. 21 and Dorton has been honored on two other occasions as the conference freshman of the week.
Wilson recorded two strong performances in Penn State's first weekend of Big Ten play. At Northwestern on Friday, Sept. 25, Wilson posted 13 kills on .579 hitting and registered two blocks assists. In Penn State's 3-0 sweep at No. 15 Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 26, Wilson posted another 13 kills while attacking at a .750 clip. She led the team with five total blocks. Her .750 hitting average is the sixth-highest single-match mark in the Big Ten this season, while her .596 overall attack percentage leads the league.
For the weekend, Wilson totaled 26 kills averaging 4.33 kills per set. She led the team with seven total blocks (1.17 blocks per set) and had two digs.
In the first Big Ten match of her career at Northwestern, Dorton registered seven kills, attacking at a .545 clip. She also added two total blocks. The following night at Illinois, Dorton was one of three players with double-digit kills as she finished the night with a team-best 14 on 22 swings with just two errors.
The Nittany Lions return home this weekend continuing Big Ten play hosting Iowa on Friday, Oct. 2 and Wisconsin on Oct. 3. Both matches will be streamed live at BigTenNetwork.com, while livestats will be available at GoPSUsports.com. The 2008 Big Ten Championship banner will be raised to the Rec Hall rafters prior to the match with Iowa and the 2008 NCAA National Championship banner will be raised on Saturday.