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Dec. 17, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Making its seventh appearance in the last eight years, fifth-seeded Penn State women's volleyball (34-3) is set to meet top-ranked Stanford (33-1) in the NCAA national semifinals Thursday, Dec. 18 at 9:30 p.m. ET in Oklahoma City, Okla. at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The matchup will broadcast live on ESPN2 with Beth Mowins and Karch Kiraly on the call.
The Nittany Lions advanced to the final four with a 3-1 victory against fourth-seeded Wisconsin last weekend in the Louisville regional finals. Senior Micha Hancock earned Louisville regional MVP honors, while redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney and freshman Haleigh Washington joined her on the all-tournament team.
Penn State is 8-8 all-time against Stanford having recently come up short in a close five-set loss in Palo Alto, Calif. earlier this season. In NCAA tournament action, PSU knocked the Cardinal out of national championship contention with a 3-2 win in the 2013 Lexington regional. Penn State then went on to capture its sixth national championship in program history, to match Stanford for the most titles won among DI women's volleyball programs.
Since 2007, Penn State has made more appearances in the national semifinals than any other program. Along with participation in seven of the last eight final fours, PSU leads Texas by one appearance (6). USC (3), California (3) and Stanford (2) are the only two teams in the nation to appear in the national semifinals more than once during the span.
QUICK SETS
* Making its 34th appearance in the NCAA tournament, Penn State is one of just two programs, with Stanford being the other, to participate in every postseason event since 1981. The Nittany Lions hold an 88-26 all-time record in NCAA tourney matches.
* Freshman Ali Frantti highlighted four AVCA All-America selections with DI National Freshman of the Year honors. Seniors Nia Grant and Micha Hancock earned first team All-America awards, while Frantti and redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney picked up second team laurels.
* Four Nittany Lions earned AVCA All-Northeast Region honors including Micha Hancock, Nia Grant, Aiyana Whitney and Ali Frantti. Frantti also picked up AVCA All-Northeast Region Freshman of the Year honors, making her the eighth Nittany Lion in program history to earn the Regional Freshman of the Year award.
* Six members of the team earned nine Big Ten postseason awards. Micha Hancock and Nia Grant earned unanimous All-Big Ten honors, while Haleigh Washington earned both All-Big Ten and Freshman of the Year laurels. Aiyana Whitney and Ali Frantti picked up All-Big Ten honorable mention accolades and Lacey Fuller was selected as Penn State's sportsmanship honoree.
* Averaging 1.03 aces per set, Micha Hancock has once again secured herself as the nation's leader in the category for the 14th consecutive week. With more aces than anyone in the NCAA standings (124) in 2014, her career total (378) ranks first all-time in both the Big Ten and NCAA record books.
* As a team, Penn State is averaging 1.96 aces per set, which ranks first nationally and leads the Big Ten.
* Penn State's .348 hitting clip ranks first in the nation, while also leading the Big Ten. Hancock's paced a trio of her top hitters to a .364 hitting efficiency or better, led by Nia Grant's .442 hitting clip which ranks fourth nationally and second in the conference. Haleigh Washington's .487 hitting percentage leads the Big Ten, while Aiyana Whitney rounds out the group attacking at .364.
* With 1,159 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 (1,151). 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.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
With an 88-26 all-time record in the NCAA tournament, Penn State has totaled 10 national final appearances ('93, '97, '98, '99, '07, '08, '09, '10, '12 '13), 11 trips to the national semifinals ('93, '94, '97, '98, '99, '07, '08, '09, '10, '12, `13) and six national championships ('99, '07, '08, '09, '10, '13).
A FORCE IN THE NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
Penn State is 9-2 all-time in the NCAA national semifinals after a dominant 3-0 win against Washington in the 2013 semifinals. Since 2007, Penn State has made more appearances in the national semifinals than any other program. The Lions have participated in seven of the last eight final fours, leading Texas by one appearance (6). Southern California (3), California (2) and Stanford (2) are the only other teams in the nation to appear in the NCAA semifinals more than once in that span.
RE-WRITING THE RECORD BOOK
With seven aces in the win against Siena, senior Micha Hancock served her way to the top of the Big Ten single-season record book with 116 aces on the year to break the previous conference mark which was set by Minnesota's Sharon Oesterling in 1989. Hancock has since moved into sole possession of first place on the NCAA single-season 25-point scoring format aces list with 124 aces, which passes the record (118) originally set by Christine Edwards (Jackson State) in 2012.
SIX NITTANY LIONS EARN NINE BIG TEN POSTSEASON AWARDS
Six Nittany Lions earned nine Big Ten postseason awards. The Nittany Lions were well represented on all three conference teams, while freshman Haleigh Washington has earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.
Seniors Micha Hancock and Nia Grant earned unanimous selections to the All-Big Ten team while freshman Haleigh Washington joined the duo on the All-Big Ten squad. Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney and freshman Ali Frantti picked up All-Big Ten honorable mention accolades. Frantti and Washington also earned unanimous spots on the All-Freshman team. Senior Lacey Fuller rounded out the group as Penn State's sportsmanship honoree.
Washington is Penn State's 12th Nittany Lion in program history to garner Freshman of the Year honors. PSU has claimed the individual honor in four of the last five years with current Nittany Lions Hancock and Courtney each earning the laurel in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
Hancock earned her fourth consecutive postseason honor, as she's earned a spot on either the All-Big Ten team or the Big Ten All-Freshman squad each year. Grant, Whitney, Frantti and Washington all picked up their first career conference postseason accolades.
THAT'S SOME HEAVY HITTING
Senior Setter Micha Hancock has directed the Nittany Lions to a .348 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 .364 or better hitting, led by senior Nia Grant's .442 hitting clip, which ranks fourth nationally and second in the conference. Haleigh Washington's .487 hitting percentage leads the Big Ten, while redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney rounds out the pair with a .364 hitting percentage, which is slotted third in the Big Ten standings.
PROTECTING THE HOUSE
Including an 18-1 mark in 2014, Penn State owns a 564-33 (.945) all-time record at home in Rec Hall. Following a dominant straight set victory in the regular season finale against No.10 Nebraska, the Nittany Lions improved to 257-18 (.935) all-time in Big Ten matches on the court in Rec Hall.
Only Ohio State has defeated the Nittany Lions on their home court more than three times, having topped PSU five times. Penn State has posted unblemished records in Big Ten play at home in seven of the last 10 years, winning 186 of 200 matches in the 10-year stretch. In the past five seasons, PSU has captured 90 wins in 100 total conference tilts with fewer than five league losses each year.
STRAIGHT SET SUCCESS
Penn State has earned 30 of its 33 (91%) victories this season in straight sets. Within those 30 sweeps, PSU has held seven teams (Iona, William & Mary, Eastern Illinois, DePaul, East Carolina, Rutgers and Siena) to less than 40 total points scored in a match. Last season, the Nittany Lions earned 23 of their 34 victories in 3-0 sweeps. Additionally, Penn State earned 16 consecutive wins by way of a straight-set decision from Oct. 18 to Dec. 12, having 50 consecutive sets in the span since dropping two on the road in a five-set win at then-No. 14 Purdue, Oct. 17.
SSSS...BOOM!
Establishing herself as one of the top servers in the nation, senior Micha Hancock is presently averaging 1.03 aces per set, which ranks first nationally for the 14th 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. Since reaching the mark last year, Hancock has improved her total to 378, which also ranks first on the Big Ten all-time record list.
In the Big Ten standings, her 124 aces this year puts her into sole possession of first place on the Big Ten all-time single season record list, as she broke the record originally set by Minnesota's Sharon Oesterliong in 1989. With one ace against Michigan earlier this season she earned her 92nd ace to reset the PSU all-time single-season record that she previously set in 2011.
DOM CAN DIG IT!
Leading the team in digs in 31 of 37 matches this season, senior libero Dominique Gonzalez highlighted the 2014 conference 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. Recently, she posted her fifth 20-dig performance of the season with a match-high 24 in the NCAA regional final match against the Badgers. Her 3.66 digs per frame ranks 10th in the Big Ten.
ROSE ON TOP OF NCAA DI ALL-TIME WINS LIST
With 1,159 wins, head coach Russ Rose remains atop the NCAA DI all-time wins list with eight more victories than current Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji (1,151). 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.
TOUGH DEFENSE
Penn State has limited its opponents to .144 hitting this season, which ranks first in the Big Ten standings and fourth nationally. PSU has held 27 teams to .200 or lower hitting on 28 occasions in 2014. The Nittany Lions have limited eight squads to hitting clips between .201-.255. 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, while also limiting Rutgers to a Big Ten-match low -.039 attacking percentage. In 20 conference matches, only the Illini were able to hit higher than .250 against Penn State.