Dec. 7, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After leading the Penn State field hockey team to a successful 2010 campaign, head coach Charlene Morett has been named the 2010 Dita / NFHCA Mideast Region Coach of the Year.
The honor joins a long list of career accolades for Morett. During her 24 years at the helm of the Nittany Lion field hockey program, she has been named the Region Coach of the Year seven times. She has also been honored as the Conference Coach of the Year on five occasions with the most recent coming in 2008.
During the 2010 campaign, Morett helped Penn State reclaim its spot as one of the top programs in the nation. After an up-and-down 2009 season, the Lions rebounded in spectacular fashion. This season the squad won seven more games that it did a year ago, marking the second-largest improvement in the nation.
Working with a young collection of talent, featuring seven starters in either their freshman or sophomore seasons, Morett led the squad to a 14-6 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. During Big Ten action, Penn State went 4-2 and finished third in the regular season before advancing to the semifinals of the playoffs.
The year was highlighted by four victories over ranked opponents, including a 1-0 shutout against No. 5 Princeton on October 24. A top-ranked unit on both sides of the ball, Penn State led the nation with an .816 save percentage and stood third in the Big Ten with a 2.68 scoring average.
For their efforts, the Nittany Lions finished the season ranked ninth in the national RPI standings and 10th in the final NFHCA poll. Those were Penn State's highest end-of-season rankings since the squad's historic run to the National Championship Game in 2007.
Since returning to her alma mater as the head coach in 1987, Morett has achieved unparalleled success. She has led her teams to 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, which stands as the fourth most in history. A USFHA and NFHCA Hall of Fame member, she has amassed a 410-164-16 career record, highlighted by five Big Ten Championships and four Big Ten Tournament titles.
Under Morett's guidance, her players have earned All-American status 73 times, including Kelsey Amy, Ayla Halus, and Jessica Longstreth in 2010. Of those selections, 35 Nittany Lions have earned first-team honors during the past 24 seasons.
Along with Morett, four other coaches earned All-Region Coach of the Year honors. Maryland's Missy Meharg earned the honor in the Mid-Atlantic Region, UMass' Justine Sowry was celebrated in the Northeast Region, North Carolina's Karen Shelton was honored in the South Region, and Ohio State's Anne Wilkinson was named the top coach in the West.