Nov. 2, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) earned her second conference honor of the season after being named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday, conference officials announced. Freshman Darcy Dorton (Muncie, Ind.) was also honored as the league's Co-Freshman of the Week sharing the honor with Illinois' Erin Johnson.
The honor is the seventh honor of Hodge's career and brings Penn State's total Big Ten Player of the Week accolades to 71 since joining the conference for the 1991 season. These are the 10th and 11th weekly honors for the squad in 2009 as junior Arielle Wilson has been honored three times, senior Alisha Glass was chosen on Oct. 12, Hodge was selected on Sept. 12 and Dorton has been the Freshman of the Week four times prior to Monday's announcement.
Hodge guided the Nittany Lions to two 3-0 sweeps of Big Ten opponents last week, including nationally-ranked Minnesota. Against the Buckeyes on Oct. 28, Hodge totaled 16 kills attacking at a.419 clip. She also posted one ace, two blocks and 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. On Friday, Oct. 30, the outside hitter led all players with 19 kills for a .429 attack percentage. In addition, she registered one ace, one assist, two blocks and five saves. For the week, she averaged 5.8 kills per set with a .424 hitting percentage.
Dorton earned her fifth honor of the season after averaging 3.00 kills per set on .361 hitting. She recorded one dig in each match and three total blocks. Against the Buckeyes, Dorton was one of three Nittany Lions to tally double-digit kills with 10. She went on to lead the squad versus the Gophers with a .636 attack percentage. She had eight kills in the match.
The Nittany Lions are back in action on Friday, Nov. 6 at Wisconsin before traveling to Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 7. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m. (CT).