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Dec. 4, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After receiving the No. 5 seed in the 2014 NCAA tournament, Penn State women's volleyball (30-3, 18-2) is set to make its 34th consecutive appearance in the tournament, hosting Siena (19-14, 14-4) in the first round Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Rec Hall.
Dayton and American will square off at 5 p.m. prior to the Nittany Lion matchup. The winners from each match advance to the second round and play Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Rec Hall.
QUICK SETS
* Penn State is 28-5 all-time in NCAA first round matches, having hosted a trio of teams in Rec Hall 28 times since 1981. The Nittany Lions have also earned their last 24 consecutive first round victories in straight sets.
* PSU and Siena have met just once in program history, in the first round of 2007 NCAA tournament. Penn State knocked off the Saints in straight sets (30-20, 30-14, 30-17) to advance to the second round.
* In 2013, PSU captured its sixth NCAA national title and fifth in the last seven years with a 3-1 win against fourth-ranked Wisconsin to improve to 84-26 all-time in the tourney.
* This year, PSU has matched up against 10 different teams that made the 2014 NCAA tournament bracket. In 12 outings, the Nittany Lions are 9-3 against the field of regular season NCAA tournament team opponents.
* PSU capped off the 2014 regular season with a straight set victory against then-No. 10 Nebraska last weekend. The win stretched the current winning streak to 14 consecutive matches. Having earned its last 13 straight by way of a three-set decision, PSU has also won its last 41 consecutive sets.
* Six Nittany Lions earned nine Big Ten postseason awards. Seniors Micha Hancock and Nia Grant earned unanimous All-Big Ten honors, while freshman Haleigh Washington picked up All-Big Ten, All-Freshman and Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney and freshman Ali Frantti also earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors.
* With 109 aces on the year, senior Micha Hancock is four shy of matching the Big Ten all-time single season record originally set by Minnesota's Sharon Oesterliong in 1989.
* Averaging 1.02 aces per set, senior Micha Hancock has once again secured herself as the nation's leader in the category for the 12th consecutive week. With more aces than anyone in the NCAA standings (109) in 2014, her career total (363) ranks first all-time in both the Big Ten and Penn State record books.
* As a team, Penn State is averaging 1.94 aces per set, which ranks first nationally and leads the conference.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
With an 84-26 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).
FIRST ROUND FACTS
PSU is set to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament for the 28th time since 1981, welcoming a trio of tournament teams to the court in Rec Hall for the opening rounds of the event for the 24th consecutive year. Last year, Penn State silenced LIU Brooklyn to improve to 28-5 all-time in opening matches of the tourney, stretching its streak of 3-0 victories in the first round to 24.
SIX NITTANY LIONS EARN NINE BIG TEN POSTSEASON AWARDS
Six Nittany Lions earned nine Big Ten postseason awards. The Nittany Lions are 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 a spot 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.
HOT HITTING NITTANY LIONS
Senior Setter Micha Hancock has directed the Nittany Lions to a .351 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 .363 or better hitting, led by senior Nia Grant's .456 hitting clip, which ranks third nationally and second in the conference. Haleigh Washington's .473 hitting percentage leads the Big Ten, while redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney rounds out the pair with a .363 hitting percentage, which is slotted third in the Big Ten standings.
A WINNING TRADITION AT HOME
Including a 16-1 mark in 2014, Penn State owns a 562-33 (.945) all-time record at home in Rec Hall. Following a dominant straight set victory in the regular season finale against No.10 Nebraska last week, 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.
SWEEPING PAST THE COMPETITION!
Penn State has earned 27 of its 30 (90%) victories this season in straight sets. Within those 27 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 13 consecutive wins by way of a straight-set decision, having won the last 41 straight sets since dropping two on the road in a thrilling five-set win at then-No. 14 Purdue, Oct. 17.
ROSE ON TOP OF NCAA DI ALL-TIME WINS LIST
With 1,155 wins, head coach Russ Rose remains atop the NCAA DI all-time wins list with six more victories than current Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji (1,149). 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 1.02 aces per set, which ranks first nationally for the 12th 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 105 aces in 2014, Hancock has improved her mark to 362 aces all-time, which also ranks first on the Big Ten all-time record list.
In the NCAA career standings, her 109 aces this year is just four 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.
DOM CAN DIG IT!
Leading the team in digs in 27 of 33 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 3.62 digs per frame ranks 11th in the Big Ten.
TOUGH DEFENSE
Penn State has limited its opponents to .142 hitting this season, which ranks first in the Big Ten standings and fifth nationally. PSU has held 25 teams to .200 or lower hitting on 26 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 20 conference matches, only the Illini have been able to hit higher than .250 against Penn State.
EXPERIENCED SENIOR CORE
Comprised of four, this year's senior class features Lacey Fuller, Dominique Gonzalez, Nia Grant and Micha Hancock. Along with back-to-back Big Ten titles in 2012 and 2013, the veteran class holds a 12-2 (.857) mark in postseason play, with two consecutive NCAA national semifinal appearances in 2012-13 as well as the 2013 NCAA national title.
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 109 aces on the year, she's the just the second-student athlete in Big Ten history to amass 100 aces in a season.
Ranked second on the team and 10th in the conference with 1.12 blocks per set, senior Nia Grant moved improved her career blocks total to 442 after posting seven blocks at Northwestern. The mark ranks 14th on the PSU career list and puts her just 58 blocks shy of becoming the ninth Nittany Lion to reach the 500 career blocks plateau.