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Nov. 21, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fresh off of its 11th consecutive win earlier this week, No. 4 Penn State women's volleyball (27-3, 15-2) wraps up the weekend on the road, traveling to Maryland (9-19, 2-15) to take on the Terps Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. ET in the XFINITY Center.
Penn State fans can stream the match live on BTN Plus with a paid subscription. Nittany Lion fans attending the match are also encouraged to participate in Maryland's canned food drive. In collaboration with the Smith Undergraduate Student Organization, fans who bring a donation will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win prizes during the match.
Earlier this week, PSU pushed past Michigan on the road in straight sets (25-19, 25-23, 27-25) to stretch the current winning streak to 11 consecutive matches. Having earned its last 10 straight by way of a three-set decision, the Nittany Lions have also won their last 32 consecutive sets.
In the most recent outing against Maryland (11/8), Penn State topped the Terps in straight sets (25-11, 25-18, 25-15) helped out by a trio of double-digit hitters featuring Ali Frantti (13), redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney (10) and freshman Haleigh Washington (10).
QUICK SETS
* Penn State moved to 19-5-1 all-time in the series against Maryland after capturing a 3-0 win earlier this season. The Nittany Lions have won the last 16 matches against the Terps.
* With one ace against the Wolverines, Hancock notched her 92nd ace this season, which resets the PSU all-time single season record that she previously set in 2011.
* Penn State nearly swept the Big Ten weekly awards, with three Nittany Lions earning honors this week. Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney was selected Player of the Week, while senior Micha Hancock earned Setter of the Week honors and freshman Haleigh Washington picked up her second-consecutive Freshman of the Week award.
* Averaging 0.94 aces per set, senior Micha Hancock has once again secured herself as the nation's leader in the category for the 10th consecutive week. With more aces than anyone in the NCAA standings (92) in 2014, her career total (346) ranks first all-time in both the Big Ten and Penn State record books.
* As a team, Penn State is averaging 1.90 aces per set, which ranks first nationally and leads the conference. A trio of Nittany Lions have all contributed to Penn State's 186 service aces. Senior Micha Hancock's 92 aces leads the way while senior Dominique Gonzalez and freshman Ali Frantti are close behind with 24 and 22 aces, respectively.
* Penn State's .356 hitting percentage leads the nation and ranks first in the Big Ten. Additionally, three PSU attackers are presently hitting .392 or higher, led by senior Nia Grant's .483 hitting percentage, which ranks first nationally and second in the Big Ten. Freshman Haleigh Washington's .500 hitting percentage leads the Big Ten, while redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney's .392 clip ranks third in the Big Ten. As a team, Penn State is out-hitting its opponents .355-.139.
* Penn State moved up to No. 4 in the latest AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll after spending the last three consecutive weeks slotted at No. 6.
* The Nittany Lions are among six teams from the Big Ten to be featured in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll and one of three within the top 10.
* With 1,152 wins, head coach Russ Rose is presently in sole possession of first place on the DI NCAA all-time wins list ahead of current Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji (1,145). The two active head coaches have traded the top spot throughout the season. Both Rose and Shoji are the only two NCAA DI head coaches to have more than 1,000 career wins.
HOT HITTING NITTANY LIONS
Senior Setter Micha Hancock has directed the Nittany Lions to a .356 hitting clip, which ranks first in the nation, while also leading the Big Ten. Hancock's also paced a trio of top Nittany Lion attackers to .392 or better hitting, led by senior Nia Grant's .483 hitting clip, which ranks first nationally and second in the conference. Haleigh Washington's .500 hitting percentage leads the Big Ten, while redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney rounds out the pair with a .392 hitting percentage, which is slotted third in the Big Ten standings.
SWEEPING PAST THE COMPETITION!
Penn State has earned 24 of its 27 (88%) victories this season in straight sets. Within those 24 sweeps, PSU has held six teams (Iona, William & Mary, Eastern Illinois, DePaul, East Carolina, Rutgers) to less than 40 total points scored in a single match. Last season, the Nittany Lions earned 23 of their 34 victories in 3-0 sweeps. Additionally, Penn State has earned its last 10 consecutive wins by way of a straight-set decision, having won the last 32 straight sets since dropping two on the road in a thrilling five-set win at then-No. 14 Purdue.
ROSE ON TOP OF NCAA DI ALL-TIME WINS LIST
With 1,152 wins, head coach Russ Rose remains atop the NCAA DI all-time wins list with seven more victories than current Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji (1,145). The two active head coaches have traded the top spot throughout the season. Both Rose and Shoji are the only two NCAA DI head coaches with more than 1,000 career wins.
The two are also one of three active NCAA head coaches across all three divisions to have more than 1,100 career wins. Additionally, Rose owns the all-time record for NCAA DI career winning percentage, having posted a career clip of .864 in the past 35 seasons.
THE BEST SERVE IN THE NATION
Establishing herself as one of the best servers in the nation, senior Micha Hancock is presently averaging 0.94 aces per set, which ranks first nationally for the 10th consecutive week, while also ranking atop the Big Ten conference standings. Hancock closed out the last two weeks of the non-conference slate with back-to-back weeks featuring at least 21 aces.
Building on her PSU career record throughout the 2013 season, she moved into sole possession of first place on the Penn State all-time list with 254 aces on the year to surpass Ellen Hensler, who previously set the record in 1986. With 91 aces in 2014, Hancock has improved her mark to 345 aces all-time, which also ranks first on the Big Ten all-time record list.
In the NCAA career standings, her 92 aces this year is just 21 shy of matching the Big Ten all-time single season record originally set by Minnesota's Sharon Oesterliong in 1989. With one ace against Michigan to earn 92 aces, she reset the PSU all-time single-season record that she previously set in 2011.
THREE EARN BIG TEN WEEKLY AWARDS
Penn State nearly swept the Big Ten weekly awards, with three Nittany Lions earning honors this week. Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney was selected Player of the Week, while senior Micha Hancock earned Setter of the Week honors and freshman Haleigh Washington picked up her second-consecutive Freshman of the Week award.
Whitney's Player of the Week award is the first conference award of her career. Leading the team in kills last week, she totaled 33 kills averaging 5.50 per frame on .698 hitting. Hitting .682 or better in both matches, she opened the week with a match-high 16 kills against Iowa before registering a match-high kills 17 against Minnesota.
Hancock's Setter of the Week nod is her fifth of the season. She paced the team to a .387 hitting efficiency during the undefeated week at home, averaging 12.00 assists per set. She directed the Nittany Lion offense to a .457 hitting percentage in a 3-0 win against Iowa before leading the team with a match-high four aces in a straight-set win against Minnesota.
Washington's award marks her second consecutive freshman of the week honor. She closed out the week ranked second on the team in both kills (21) and blocks (7), while also posting a .500 overall hitting clip. She highlighted the week with double-digit kills (12) against Iowa on .667 hitting and a team-high six blocks against Minnesota.
DOM CAN DIG IT!
Leading the team in digs in 25 of 30 matches this season, senior libero Dominique Gonzalez highlighted the 2014 conference season opener with her third 20-dig performance of the season against then-No. 5 Wisconsin, before following with a season-high mark of 26 digs in a 3-1 win at No. 17 Minnesota. Having broken into the conference standings early in the Big Ten portion of the schedule, her 3.65 digs per frame ranks 11th in the Big Ten.
TOUGH DEFENSE
Penn State has limited its opponents to .143 hitting this season, which ranks first in the Big Ten standings and seventh nationally. PSU has held 22 teams to .200 or lower hitting on 23 occasions in 2014. The Nittany Lions have limited six squads to hitting clips between .201-.250. Only one team (Illinois/.315) has posted a .300 or better hitting percentage. The Nittany Lions held their first five consecutive Big Ten opponents to less than .200 hitting, limiting Rutgers to a Big Ten-match low -.039 attacking percentage. In 15 conference matches, only the Illini have been able to hit higher than .250 against Penn State.
RECORD BOOK WATCH: Micha Hancock & Nia Grant
With 31 assists against Ohio State (10/28), senior Micha Hancock eclipsed the 5,000 career assists mark, making her the sixth Nittany Lion in program history to reach the milestone. With 5,188 all-time assists, she is the first to accomplish the feat since Alisha Glass (2006-09). With one ace at Michigan, Hancock earned her 92nd ace of the season, breaking the PSU all-time single-season record that she previously set in 2011.
Ranked second on the team with 1.07 blocks per set, senior Nia Grant moved improved her career blocks total to 427 after posting a career-high 10 blocks at Michigan. The mark ranks 14th on the PSU career list and puts her just 73 blocks shy of becoming the ninth Nittany Lion to reach the 500 career blocks plateau.
ROAD WARRIORS
Penn State moved to 7-1 in Big Ten matches on the road after pushing past Michigan in straight sets Wednesday evening. Overall, PSU is 8-2 on the road this year. The Nittany Lions opened the 2014 Big Ten slate with a challenging four-match road swing that featured matches against a trio of top-25 opponents. The Nittany Lions posted a 3-1 mark in the first two weeks of conference play picking up wins against No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 17 Minnesota and Iowa, despite a four-set loss to No. 8 Nebraska.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State will wrap up the regular season next week with a home-and-away. The Nittany Lions open the week with a midweek match on the road at Northwestern Wednesday, Nov. 26 before returning home to host Nebraska in the season finale Saturday, Nov. 29 on Senior Night.