Dec. 1, 2011
Tournament Central
Penn State NCAA Volleyball Tournament Central
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The four-time defending national champion Penn State women's volleyball team (23-7) begins its quest for yet another this weekend when it hosts the First and Second Rounds for the 22nd consecutive season. The Nittany Lions host Liberty (22-10) in a First Round match on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. American and Delaware play in the earlier match at 5 p.m. The winners of each match are schedule to play on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
ALL SESSION tickets for the First and Second rounds MUST be purchased at the Bryce Jordan Center Ticket Office or by calling 1-800-NITTANY beginning on Monday, Nov. 28 at 10 a.m. up until Friday, Dec. 2 at Noon. All session tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for youth and students and $8 for groups (20 or more). The first 400 students with a valid university student ID will get in for free. SINGLE SESSION tickets WILL ONLY be available at Rec Hall on Friday and Saturday and are $8 for adults, $6 for youth and students and $5 for groups.
Nittany Lion Preview
The Nittany Lions closed out the regular season with a 23-7 overall record and a 16-4 record in the Big Ten, good enough to tie for second place in the team standings. Penn State defeated Ohio State on Nov. 23, 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-13) before beating the Spartans on Nov. 26 in four sets (27-25, 16-25, 25-16, 25-15). Sophomore Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) led the team for the week with a combined 27 kills, while both sophomores Maddie Martin (Tampa, Fla.) and Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) posted 23 kills each. Freshman Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) dished out 89 assists and was third on the team with 15 digs. Sophomore Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) posted a team-high 35 digs and McClendon was second on the squad with 25. Sophomore Katie Slayled the team at the net with eight total blocks.
For the week, Penn State hit .257 as a team and averaged 14.12 kills per set, 12.50 assists per set, 1.62 aces per set, 13.88 digs per set and 2.25 blocks per set.
Penn State vs. Liberty
The Nittany Lions are 2-0 all-time versus the Flames. Penn State first met Liberty on Oct. 28, 1989, winning 3-0 (15-2, 15-9, 15-1) and saw the Flames a second time on Nov. 3, 1990 earning a 3-0 (15-5, 15-7, 15-4) victory.
Scouting the Flames
Liberty closed out the regular season with a 20-12 record. The Flames earned its record-setting sixth conference tournament title, sweeping Radford, 3-0, on Nov. 20 in the Big South Championship. This season was also the fifth straight 20-win season for the program. Liberty is in search of its first NCAA Tournament victory. This will be their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Series vs. Possible Second Round Opponents
Penn State vs. Delaware
Penn State owns a 2-0 record against Delaware. The Lions and Blue Hens first met on Oct. 20, 1979 with Penn State winning, 2-0 (15-3, 15-12). The last meeting between the two squads took place on Oct. 9, 1981 with Penn State earning the victory, 2-0 (15-6, 15-7). The Blue Hens knocked off Virginia Commonwealth, 3-2, on Nov. 20 for their fourth CAA championship in five years. This is Delaware's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007.
Penn State vs. American
The Nittany Lions lead the series with American, 6-0. The squads last met on Dec. 3, 2004 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Penn State won, 3-0 (30-18, 30-18, 35-33). The Eagles claimed their 10th Patriot League Championship on Nov. 20 with a 3-1 win against Army. This is American's 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 15 years.
The winner of the Penn State first and second round NCAA site will advance to the Lexington Regional on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9-10 at Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum. The Penn State site winner will play the site winner from Los Angeles, Calif., which features No. 9 seed UCLA, University of Maryland - Eastern Shore, Long Beach State and San Diego. The other Regional Semifinal match will feature the Austin, Texas site winner (No. 1 seed Texas, Texas State, Michigan State and Arizona) and the College Station, Texas site winner (Kentucky, Dayton, Lipscomb and No. 16 seed Texas A&M).
The winners from each of the four Regional sites (Minneapolis, Minn., Honolulu, Hawaii, Gainesville, Fla. and Lexington, Ky.) advance to the NCAA National Semifinals, which will be held on Thursday, Dec. 15 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The National Championship match is set for Saturday, Dec. 17.
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.