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Nov. 24, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Seventh-ranked Penn State women's volleyball (25-4, 14-4) is set to close out the 2015 regular season home slate, welcoming Northwestern (14-15, 6-12) for a midweek matchup Wednesday, Nov. 25 at Rec Hall. First serve between the Nittany Lions and the Wildcats is set for 7 p.m. on Senior Night.
In a special prematch ceremony, Penn State will pay tribute to the contributions of this year's senior class featuring Lara Caraway, Megan Courtney, Kendall Pierce and Aiyana Whitney. Playing all together at the same time, the four have a combined record of 128-12 to date, as well as a 60-8 mark in Big Ten matches. Along with back-to-back Big Ten titles in 2012 and 2013, the veteran class also boasts back-to-back NCAA titles from 2013-14 and trips to the final four in the last three consecutive seasons.
FIRST SERVE
* In the first meeting between Penn State and Northwestern this season, the Nittany Lions fell short in a 3-2 decision on the road at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Despite the outcome, both senior Megan Courtney and sophomore Simone Lee led the team with 14 kills each. Courtney added a match-high 23 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
* Penn State owns a 48-9 advantage in the all-time series against Northwestern, as well as a 24-1 mark in matches played at home in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions have not surrendered a home loss to the Wildcats since Sept. 5, 1987.
* The Nittany Lions went 1-1 last week, falling to Michigan in four sets on Wednesday before bouncing back with a straight set win against Maryland at home Saturday evening. Penn State swept past the Terps in front of a season-high standing room only crowd of 6,505 at Rec Hall.
* PSU moved to 9-2 this year against teams ranked within the Top 25 of the AVCA Coaches' Poll after a loss at then-No. 4 Minnesota two weeks ago. Penn State is 6-1 against ranked teams at home in Rec Hall and 3-1 on the road, with a trip to No. 5 Nebraska set for Saturday, Nov. 28 at 8:30 p.m. ET live on the Big Ten Network.
* Penn State has earned 20 of its 25 victories this year by way of a 3-0 sweep, while also limiting its opponents to a .151 hitting percentage. The mark ranks ninth nationally and leads the Big Ten.
* Averaging 3.18 blocks per set on the year, Penn State owns a 314.5 - 158.5 advantage in the blocking margin against its opponents in 2015. The average ranks second nationally and leads the Big Ten. Individually, sophomore Haleigh Washington's 1.40 blocks per set ranks 19th nationally and second in the Big Ten.
* Penn State's .293 hitting clip ranks sixth in the NCAA national standings and leads the Big Ten. Helped out by Haleigh Washington's team-high .455 hitting clip, her efficiency ranks second nationally and leads the Big Ten.
* PSU slid to No. 7 in the latest AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll this week, after spending one week ranked fourth. Despite the season-low positioning, the Nittany Lions have been slated No. 1 a total of eight times this season, having spent the first six straight weeks at the top of the poll.
* 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 seven in the top 25.
* Sophomore Simone Lee has stepped up as an offensive contributor for the Nittany Lions, since entering the starting lineup against Nebraska Oct. 2. Since then, she has made starts in each of the last 16 matches, posting double figure kills in six of the last 13 outings.
* Veterans senior Megan Courtney and redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney are among the group of top Nittany Lion attackers. Averaging 3.10 kills per set, Courtney has had double digit kills in eight of 14 conference matches she's played. Whitney's averaging 3.04 kills per set with double digit kills in eight of the last 14 matches, including five of the last seven outings.
WASHINGTON EARNS CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Penn State sophomore Haleigh Washington has been selected to the Academic All-District team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Washington is one of six student-athletes to garner the distinction in the District 2 category. Washington will now be considered for national honors as an Academic All-American, which is set to be announced near the end of the month. Since 1996, Washington is the 11th different Nittany Lion in program history to earn the distinction and Penn State's 18th overall selection to an Academic All-District team.
WEISKIRCHER EARNS FIRST CAREER BIG TEN WEEKLY HONOR
After helping the team to a home-and-home sweep in the series against then-No. 11 Ohio State, redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher earned Big Ten Setter of the Week honors. The award marks the first time in her career she's received Big Ten weekly recognition. Weiskircher paced the team to a .358 hitting percentage in a 2-0 week that featured a pair of wins against the Buckeyes. Averaging 11.00 assists per set, Weiskircher directed the Nittany Lion offense to team hitting clips of .349 or better in each outing.
In the midweek match at Ohio State, she posted her eighth double-double of the season with 35 assists and 10 digs in the straight set win. In the next outing, she put down a career-high five kills on six errorless swings against the Buckeyes, adding six digs and two aces. On the year, Weiskircher's guided the team to a .293 hitting percentage, which leads the Big Ten conference and ranks sixth nationally. From the end line, she's also tallied 36 aces on the year. Weiskircher's 0.36 aces per frame is tops in the Big Ten standings.
LAST TIME OUT: HOME & AWAY
Oct. 10, 2015 - (18-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 12-15)
NU 3, PSU 2 - Evanston, Ill. - Welsh-Ryan Arena
Then-No. 3 Penn State came up short in a five set loss to Northwestern on the road at Welsh-Ryan Arena in the first meeting of the 2015 season.
Three Nittany Lions finished with double figure kills, led by 14 apiece from Megan Courtney and Simone Lee. Courtney added a match-high 23 digs for her fifth consecutive and ninth double-double of the season. Lee added four blocks in addition to her career high kills tally. Aiyana Whitney finished second on the team with 13 kills, adding five blocks. Sophomore Haleigh Washington had nine kills on .368 hitting, while also leading the team with eight total blocks.
Penn State owned the advantage on the block once again, out-blocking the Wildcats 14.0-8.0, helped out by multi-block performances from six different Nittany Lions.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher dished out 43 assists to go along with 17 digs for her fifth consecutive and sixth double-double of the season. Freshman libero Keeton Holcomb finished third on the team with 15 digs. The Wildcats out-dug the Nittany Lions 75-68, despite double digit digs from Courtney, Weiskircher and Holcomb.
Oct. 8, 2014 - (25-20, 25-17, 25-1)
PSU 3, NU 0 - University Park, Pa. - Rec Hall
A pair of double-digit kill performances from Aiyana Whitney and Megan Courtney propelled then-No. 5 Penn State women's volleyball team to a straight set victory against then-No. 24 Northwestern at Rec Hall.
Whitney led the offense with 12 kills on .500 hitting, adding a match-high seven blocks. Courtney tallied 10 kills on .400 hitting, posting eight digs and two blocks. Nia Grant finished third on the team with seven kills on .500 hitting, notching five blocks. Dominique Gonzalez anchored the defense with 10 digs.
MAKING AN IMPACT
Sophomore Simone Lee has stepped up as an offensive contributor for the Nittany Lions since entering the Penn State starting lineup against Nebraska Oct. 2. Since then, she has made starts in each of the last 16 matches, posting double figure kills in six of the last 13 outings. She opened the streak with a career-high 14 kills at Northwestern before powering the Penn State offense with 10 and 12 kills against Indiana and Purdue, respectively. She also put down 13 kills on the road at No. 23 Michigan and led the team with 10 kills at Michigan State. She also totaled a career-high three aces in the most recent meeting against the Wolverines (11/18). In the last 13 matches, Lee's averaging 2.35 kills per set on .287 hitting.
WEEK 14: AVCA TOP 25 COACHES' POLL UPDATE
Penn State slid to No. 7 in the latest AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll this week, after spending one week ranked fourth. Despite the season-low positioning, the Nittany Lions have been slated No. 1 a total of eight times this season, having spent the first six straight weeks at the top of the poll. Including PSU, this week's poll features half of the Big Ten conference teams with seven teams in the top 25. Michigan is also receiving votes.
ADVANTAGE ON THE BLOCK
Penn State has commanded the advantage in the blocking margin against its opponents this year. To date, Penn State has out-blocked its opponents 314.5 - 158.5, averaging 3.18 blocks per set, which ranks second nationally and leads the conference. Individually, sophomore Haleigh Washington's 1.40 blocks per set ranks 19th nationally and second in the Big Ten. Sophomore Heidi Thelen's 1.11 blocks per set ranks third on the team and 13th in the league, while redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney's 1.15 blocks per frame is second on the squad and 11th in the conference.
Penn State has out-blocked its opponent in 26 matches this season, out-blocking each of those teams by an average of at least six blocks. The Nittany Lions tied Stanford in the blocking margin (7.0-7.0) and have been out-blocked just twice this season by Minnesota (11.0-13.0 & 7.0/9.0).
DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING
Penn State has limited its opponents to .151 hitting this season, which ranks first in the Big Ten standings and ninth nationally. PSU has held its opponent to .099 or lower hitting efficiency 11 times and between .135-.196 eight times. Only Minnesota (.275), Stanford (.267) and Iowa (.283) have hit .250 or better against the Nittany Lions. Penn State has been out-hit by a team only five times this season, in both matches against Minnesota (.198/.216 & .236/.275), against Nebraska (.164/.173), at Northwestern (.193/.211) and vs. Michigan (.210/.213). Despite getting out-hit by the Golden Gophers in the first meeting of the season (9/26), PSU outlasted Minnesota in five sets to claim a close 3-2 win.
OFFENSIVE OPTIONS
Redshirt freshman setter Bryanna Weiskircher has directed the Nittany Lions to a .293 hitting percentage, which ranks sixth nationally and leads the Big Ten. Weiskircher has also paced four of her top attackers to just under .250, or better hitting, led by sophomore Haleigh Washington's .455 clip, which ranks second nationally and leads the Big Ten.
Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney's .336 hitting percentage is second on the team and seventh in the conference, while sophomore Simone Lee's .259 efficiency is third on the team. Senior Megan Courtney's .248 clip is fourth on the squad. Averaging 3.10 kills per set, Courtney has had double digit kills in eight of 14 conference matches she's played. Whitney's averaging 3.04 kills per set with double digit kills in eight of the last 14 matches, including five of the last seven outings.
THE MORE THE MERRIER
The Nittany Lions have utilized a balanced offensive attack in matches this season, with a total of four different players averaging at least 2.57 or more kills per set on the year. Penn State's highlighted the season with four players in double figures on three occasions this season (vs. Stanford, vs. Wisconsin and at Illinois). Penn State has been led by three different double digit hitters a total of seven times this season (vs. Auburn, vs. Minnesota, vs. Nebraska, at Northwestern, at Michigan, at Minnesota, vs. Michigan). In total, Penn State has had at least three in double figures in 10 of 29 matches this season. In conference play, three or four players have fueled the PSU offense with double figure kills in seven of 18 Big Ten matches.
SWEEPING VICTORIES
Penn State has earned 20 of its 25 (80%) victories this season by way of a 3-0 sweep. Penn State has also limited Eastern Kentucky, Mississippi State, St. John's, and most recently, Maryland to less than 45 total points in a single match, holding the Colonels to a season-low 41 total points. The Terps had 45, the Red Storm had 43 and Bulldogs had just 42.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State hits the road to close out the 2015 regular season, traveling to Nebraska to take on the Huskers Saturday, Nov. 28 at 9:30 p.m. ET, live on the Big Ten Network. The Nittany Lions will then wait to find out seeding for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament selection show is set to air Sunday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU.