Sept. 21, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Following a 3-0 weekend on the road at the USF Invitational, Penn State women's volleyball's Haleigh Washington (Colorado Springs, Colo.) has earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors.
The award is Washington's second Big Ten Player of the Week award this season, as well as her fifth-career Big Ten Weekly honor.
Washington led the team with a .735 hitting percentage in an undefeated weekend on the road that featured wins against Auburn, St. John's and South Florida. Finishing second on the team with 27 kills, she highlighted the weekend with a pair of double figure kill performances. She also led the blocking unit with 1.56 blocks per week.
She highlighted the weekend with double-digit kills against Auburn (11) and USF (10), setting a career-high mark with an .846 (11-0-13) hitting percentage against the Tigers. Against St. John's, Washington logged her first double digit dig performance of the season with a career-high 11 total blocks. Her 11 blocks in the win against St. John's is the second highest single match total in a 3-set match in Penn State program history.
In addition to guiding Penn State to the USF Invitational title, Washington also earned USF Invitational Most Outstanding Player honors for her performances during the week.
Having recorded at least three blocks in 10 of 11 total matches this season, Washington's averaging 1.58 blocks per set, which ranks seventh in the national standings and first in the Big Ten. On the offensive side, her .538 hitting percentage ranks first nationally and also leads the Big Ten.
Washington and the rest of the top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team (11-0) are set to open the 2015 Big Ten slate Wednesday, Sept. 23. The Nittany Lions welcome No. 16 Wisconsin for a 7 p.m. matchup in Rec Hall. The match will also air live on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State returns to action Saturday, Sept. 26, taking on No. 21 Minnesota in Rec Hall. Please note: first serve between PSU and Minnesota has been moved to 8 p.m. ET.