Oct. 14, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 9 Penn State women's volleyball team continues Big Ten action this weekend hosting No. 19 Minnesota and Iowa. The Nittany Lions face the Gophers on Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. before taking on the Hawkeyes on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at Rec Hall.
Live stats will be available for all matches via a link at GoPSUsports.com.
Nittany Lion Preview
The three-time defending national champion Penn State women's volleyball team is back home this weekend with matches against No. 19 Minnesota and Iowa. Penn State's match with the gophers will be aired via tape-delay on ESPN2 on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m., while the match with the Hawkeyes will be streamed live on BigTenNetwork.com.
After setbacks at Purdue and Indiana, Penn State moved to 13-4 overall with a 3-3 record in Big Ten play. So far this season, three Nittany Lions are averaging 2.70 kills per set or more, including senior Blair Brown who leads the team with 3.60 kills per set. Freshman Deja McClendon is not far behind with 3.57 kills per set and senior Arielle Wilson is averaging 2.70 kills per set. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter has been the primary setter this season, averaging 10.30 assists per set. She has guided three of her primary hitters to a .300 hitting percentage or better. Senior libero Alyssa D'Errico has a team-high 3.89 digs per set, while there are three middle hitters averaging at least 1.28 blocks per set including Wilson (1.28 bps), senior Fatima Balza (1.28 bps) and freshman Katie Slay (1.44 bps).
Penn State vs. Minnesota
Penn State is 34-7 all-time against the Gophers. The series began with a 3-1 Penn State win on Sept. 9, 1983. The Nittany Lions have won the last 16 meetings dating back to Nov. 5, 2004. Minnesota has only defeated the Lions twice in one season, which was back in 2000 when the Gophers won 3-1 on Sept. 29 and 3-2 on Nov. 4.
Scouting the Gophers
The 19th-ranked Gophers are 14-4 overall with a 4-2 record in Big Ten action. Minnesota is hitting .289 for the season and currently leads the conference with 15.89 digs per set. The Gophers are 1-4 against ranked opponents, earning a 3-0 sweep against then No. 20 Dayton on Sept. 4. Three of the other four losses to ranked opponents were in five-set matches, including No. 22 Northern Iowa, No. 23 San Diego and No. 22 Michigan.
Penn State vs. Iowa
The Nittany Lions are a perfect 38-0 against the Hawkeyes. The Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes first met on Oct. 18, 1991 in Iowa City with PSU earning a 3-0 win. Penn State has lost just seven sets to Iowa with only six matches going beyond three sets.
Scouting the Hawkeyes
Iowa heads into the weekend with a 6-9 overall record with a 1-5 record in conference play. The Hawkeyes meet Ohio State Friday night before journeying to State College for its Saturday matchup with the Nittany Lions. Iowa is 0-4 against teams ranked in the Top 25 having been swept by Iowa State, Michigan, Minnesota and Northwestern.
Penn State Recap
The Nittany Lions had a rough weekend on the road in Big Ten country, suffering a 3-2 setback to Purdue and a 3-1 loss to Indiana. McClendon led Penn State with 34 kills, averaging 3.78 kills per set, while Brown totaled 31 for a 3.44 kills per set average. Carpenter dished out 100 assists (11.11 assists per set), while D'Errico had a team-high 26 digs, averaging 2.89 digs per set. Wilson was a wall at the net with nine total blocks (1.00 blocks per set) and Slay was second on the team with eight blocks (1.33 blocks per set).
What's Next?
Penn State is on the road next week with a midweek match at Ohio State on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions close out the week with an 8 p.m. ET match at Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 23.
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.