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Sept. 17, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball (8-0) remains on the road this weekend, traveling to Tampa, Fla. for the South Florida Invitational at the Sun Dome.
The Nittany Lions take on Auburn (7-2) Friday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. before meeting St. John's (6-1) and USF (2-7) Saturday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
QUICK SETS
* The Nittany Lions went 3-0 last weekend, winning all three matches to capture the Golden Dome Invitational title.
* With the consecutive victories, Penn State has now won its last 28 straight matches, dating back to its first win in the streak on Oct. 17, 2014.
* Penn State has earned all eight of its victories this year by way of a 3-0 sweep.
* The Nittany Lions have not dropped a set since surrendering the second set of the 2014 NCAA national semifinal match against Stanford, Dec. 18, 2014.
* Senior Megan Courtney earned Golden Dome Invitational Most Outstanding Player honors, while redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher and sophomore Ali Frantti joined her on the all-tournament team.
* Averaging 3.46 blocks per set on the year, Penn State has commanded an 83.0 - 30.0 advantage in the blocking margin against its opponents in 2015. The average ranks first nationally.
* Individually, sophomore Haleigh Washington's 1.58 blocks per set ranks eighth nationally and also leads the Big Ten.
* Penn State's .310 hitting clip ranks sixth in the NCAA national standings, helped out by Haleigh Washington's team-high .477 hitting clip, which is slotted eighth nationally. The Nittany Lions have limited their opponents to just a .086 hitting efficiency, which ranks second in the nation.
* PSU was voted No. 1 overall for the fourth consecutive week in the latest AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. Penn State received all 64 first place votes to earn a unanimous selection.
* Including Penn State, more than half of the Big Ten teams in the conference are featured in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll, including a season-high eight in the top 25 and two receiving votes.
* Penn State and St. John's have met just two times in Nittany Lion program history. PSU has swept the Redstorm in both outings, including the most recent meeting in 2010. Penn State and St. John's have never played each other on the road or at a neutral site.
* Penn State's outing against Auburn marks the first meeting between the two programs. Auburn is PSU's third "first meeting" this season as Penn State played Stony Brook for the first time in the Penn State Classic and Mississippi State last week at the Golden Dome Invite.
* The Nittany Lions and the Bulls have not met since 1988, when Penn State captured a 3-0 win on the road in Tampa. In addition to the outing in 1988, PSU also swept USF in the only other meeting between the two teams in 1986 on the road.
KENDALL'S GOT CLASS
Senior Kendall Pierce has been selected as a candidate for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award. Pierce is one of 30 women's volleyball student-athletes to be named a candidate, along with one other from the Big Ten conference. The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. A health policy and administration major, she was honored as a 2014-15 Big Ten Distinguished scholar. Pierce also earned back-to-back Academic All-Big Ten selections from 2013-14.
NITTANY LIONS ON THE GOLDEN DOME INVITE ALL-TOURNEY TEAM
Senior Megan Courtney highlighted a Nittany Lion trio that earned Golden Dome Invitational All-Tournament team honors. Courtney was tabbed the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher and sophomore Ali Frantti each earned All-Tournament team honors.
Courtney closed out the weekend with her third double-double of the season at Notre Dame. She finished tied for second on the team with 14 kills, adding 15 digs and four total blocks against the Fighting Irish. Frantti had back-to-back double figure kill performances in the same day, leading the offense with 11 kills against Mississippi State before tying for first on the squad with 14 kills against Notre Dame. Weiskircher paced the team to a .355 team hitting percentage during the week, including a .361 hitting clip against Eastern Kentucky. Against Mississippi State, she logged a career-high five total blocks.
WHITNEY JOINS BIG TEN FOREIGN TOUR
Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney joined the inaugural Big Ten Women's Volleyball Foreign Tour this summer. For the first time in conference history, Big Ten volleyball student-athletes from all 14 schools traveled overseas to both compete, and participate in community services initiatives. Whitney and the Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour Team traveled to Slovenia, Croatia and Italy this summer, opening the trip in Maribor, Slovenia. Northwestern's Keylor Chan served as the team's head coach.
BEST ON THE BLOCK
Penn State's commanded the advantage in the blocking margin against its opponents this year. To date, Penn State has out-blocked its opponents 83.0 - 30.0, averaging 3.46 blocks per set, which ranks first nationally and leads the conference. Individually, sophomore Haleigh Washington's 1.58 blocks per set ranks eighth nationally and also leads the Big Ten. Sophomore Heidi Thelen's 1.38 blocks per set ranks within the top 35 nationally, at No. 34, while also coming in at fourth in the league.
TOUGH DEFENSE
Penn State has limited its opponents to .086 hitting this season, which ranks first in the Big Ten standings and second nationally. PSU has held five of its eight opponents to .097 or lower hitting efficiency. The Nittany Lions have limited two squads to hitting clips between .210-.267. Only one team (Stanford/.267 has posted a .250 or better hitting percentage.
This past weekend, Penn State held back-to-back teams to negative team hitting clips. Eastern Kentucky hit -.012, while Mississippi State hit -.010.
BUST OUT THE BROOMS
Penn State has earned all eight of its victories this season by way of a 3-0 sweep. The Nittany Lions have now won their last 29 consecutive individual sets, since dropping the second set of the 2014 NCAA national final match to top-ranked Stanford. Last week, Penn State limed Eastern Kentucky and Mississippi State to less than 45 total points in a single match, as the Colonels totaled 41 and the Bulldogs had just 42.
AN ARRAY OF OFFENSIVE OPTIONS
Redshirt freshman setter Bryanna Weiskircher has directed the Nittany Lions to a .310 hitting percentage, which ranks sixth nationally and second in the Big Ten. Weiskircher has also paced a trio of her top attackers to .307 or better hitting, led by sophomore Haleigh Washington's .477 hitting clip, which is slotted eighth nationally and first in the conference. Senior Megan Courtney's .318 hitting percentage is second on the team, while redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney's .307 clip is third.
HOLCOMB HAS CAREER-HIGH WEEKEND
Freshman libero Keeton Holcomb had a career-high weekend at the Golden Dome Invitational. Holcomb averaged 5.33 digs per set during the weekend that featured three consecutive 3-0 wins. She highlighted the weekend with back-to-back 20-dig performances in the same day against both Mississippi State and Notre Dame. On the year, Holcomb's leading the team with 3.74 digs per set, which ranks 11th in the Big Ten standings.
RECORD BOOK WATCH: MILESTONE FOR MEGAN
Penn State senior Megan Courtney is nearing the 1,000 career kills/1,000 career digs plateau. With 923 career kills and 914 kills, she needs just 77 more kills and 86 more digs to reach the mark. Courtney would join an elite group, as just the eighth Nittany Lion in program to reach the milestone and the first since Deja McClendon in 2013.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State returns home next week to open the Big Ten conference slate in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions welcome Wisconsin for a midweek matchup Wednesday, Sept. 23, before closing out the weekend with Minnesota Saturday, Sept. 26. Penn State's match against the Badgers will broadcast live on the Big Ten Network with Mike Wolf and Liz Tortorello-Nelson on the call.