Sept. 16, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball team is back home in Rec Hall this weekend to host the Rockvale Outlets Classic. The Nittany Lions take on George Washington on Friday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m., Princeton on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. and St. John's that evening at 7 p.m.
Live stats will be available for all matches via a link at GoPSUsports.com. Friday's 7 p.m. match with George Washington as well as Saturday's 7 p.m. match with St. John's will be streamed live via Penn State All-Access.
Nittany Lion Preview
The three-time defending national champion Penn State women's volleyball team returns to the confines of Rec Hall for its final weekend of preseason play. The Nittany Lions welcome George Washington of the Atlantic 10, Princeton of the Ivy League and St. John's of the Big East.
PSU improved to 7-1 after earning a 3-1 victory against then No. 4 Florida, but suffering a 3-0 setback to then No. 2 Stanford. Three Nittany Lions are averaging 2.56 kills per set or more, including senior Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) who leads the team with 3.64 kills per set. Freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) is not far behind with 3.56 kills per set. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) has been the primary setter this season, averaging 9.57 assists per set. She has guided three of her primary hitters to a .321 hitting percentage or better. Senior libero Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) has a team-high 4.56 digs per set and senior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) leads the team at the net with 1.32 blocks per set.
Penn State vs. George Washington
The Nittany Lions are 20-2 all-time against the Colonials. George Washington won the first match in 1977, 3-2, but Penn State won the next four. The Colonials won a second five-set match in 1980, but the Nittany Lions have won all 16 meetings since. The squads last met Sept. 6, 2008 with Penn State defeating the Colonials, 3-0 at Rec Hall.
Scouting the Colonials
GWU is 8-3 heading into this weekend's matches. The Colonials have competed in the DC Challenge, UVa Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup and the Cleveland State Invitational, going 2-1 in each tournament. In addition, George Washington traveled to UMBC and earned a 3-0 win and hosted Loyola (Md.) winning the match in straight sets.
Penn State vs. Princeton
Penn State owns a 6-2 record against the Tigers dating back to 1977. Princeton won two of the first three meetings between the teams, but Penn State has won the last five. All but one match has been played in neutral territory. The Tigers and Nittany Lions have not met since Oct. 6, 1984 when Penn State won, 2-0, at Princeton.
Scouting the Tigers
Princeton is 4-3 overall after two weekends of play. The Tigers went 3-0 at the Lafayette Tournament, but went on to lose their next three matches. Princeton is coming off a 3-0 win against George Mason on Sept. 11.
Penn State vs. St. John's
The Nittany Lions and the Red Storm have only met once previously with Penn State defeating St. John's, 3-0. Penn State hosted St. John's on Sept. 7, 2007 in the Penn State Classic at Rec Hall.
Scouting the Red Storm
St. John's is 11-3 so far in 2010. The Red Storm opened the season with a 3-1 win against Iowa in the Army Invitational, before suffering a 3-1 setback to New Hampshire. The Red Storm went on to win their next nine matches before Binghamton cut off the streak handing St. John's a 3-0 setback. Despite losing at Buffalo on Sept. 11, the Red Storm earned a 3-0 win against Fordham on Sept. 14.
Penn State Recap
Penn State's record-breaking win streak came to an end on Sept. 11 with a 3-0 loss to then second-ranked Stanford in the Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic hosted by The University of Florida on Sept. 10-11. The Nittany Lions recorded 109 consecutive match wins between Sept. 21, 2007 and Sept. 11, 2010. Brown led all players with 3.86 kills per set, while McClendon ranked second on the team with 3.29 kills per set. Carpenter dished out 9.50 assists per set, while Brown led the team in the back row with 3.71 digs per set. Wilson was a wall at the net averaging 1.57 blocks per set.
What's Next?
Penn State begin Big Ten play on Friday, Sept. 24 at Illinois. The Nittany Lions face the Illini at 8 p.m. ET in Champaign. From there, PSU heads to Wisconsin for a Sunday afternoon match with Wisconsin. Action is set for 2 p.m. ET in Madison.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2010 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets at Hershey.