Nov. 21, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Two members of the No. 9 Penn State women's volleyball team (21-7, 14-4 Big Ten) picked up Big Ten weekly awards, conference officials announced Monday. Sophomore Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and freshman Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week. Hancock shares the honor with Michigan State's Kori Moster.
Longo and Hancock helped guide the Nittany Lions to two wins over the weekend against Indiana and then No. 8 Purdue. Penn State is now part of a three-way tie for second place in the Big Ten standings.
Longo was the starting libero for the Nittany Lions in both matches. For the weekend she average 5.3 digs and 6.1 service receptions per set. Against Indiana, Longo had 11 digs and 18 successful reception in 19 attempts to help Penn State hit .385 against the Hoosiers. Longo went on to total a career-high 26 digs against Purdue and converted on 22 of 24 reception attempts. This is the first weekly honor of Longo's career.
Hancock was the starting setter against Indiana and Purdue. She posted 12.1 assists and 2.1 digs per set for the weekend. On Friday versus the Hoosiers, Hancock dished out 38 assists and added three aces and eight digs. She followed the performance up with 47 assists, seven digs and two aces against the Boilermakers on Saturday. Hancock guided the Nittany Lions to a .385 hitting percentage against the Hoosiers and a .285 hitting percentage against Purdue. This is the second weekly honor of Hancock's career.
Penn State is back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at Ohio State at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions close out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 26 at Michigan State in a 6:30 p.m. match.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2011 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.