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Sept. 1, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 13 Penn State women's volleyball (2-1) hits the road for its first road trip of the 2016 campaign, traveling to Boulder, Colorado for the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge. In its third year of a four-year series, the Nittany Lions will meet Colorado (2-1) Saturday, Sept. 3 at 9 p.m. ET, before taking on No. 9 Stanford (1-1) Sunday, Sept. 4 at 5 p.m. ET.
Both matches of the challenging early season tournament will broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network with Ann Marie Anderson and Elizabeth Moreau on the call.
QUICK SETS:
* The Nittany Lions went 2-1 last weekend, sweeping West Virginia and Georgia Southern before falling short in five sets to then-No. 19 North Carolina.
* Junior Simone Lee and freshman Kendall White were each selected to the Penn State Classic All-Tournament team for their performances throughout the weekend.
* Penn State slid to No. 13 in the latest release of the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll this week. The Nittany Lions have matches against eight teams represented within the top 25. Including the Nittany Lions, a total of seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25 with an additional two more receiving votes.
* As a team, Penn State is hitting .319 on the year, which ranks 13th in the NCAA standings. Penn State hit above .420 in both straight set wins last weekend, while also limiting opponents to just .121 hitting.
* Penn State improved to 33-7-1 all-time in season-openers, having swept West Virginia in the first match of the 2016 season. The win against the Mountaineers marked the Nittany Lions' fourth consec-utive season-opening victory.
* The Nittany Lions are 3-1 so far in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge having earned one win against UCLA (year one) and one against Colorado (2015). Penn State has split its Challenge meetings against Stanford, claiming the most recent at home in Rec Hall.
* In the most recent meeting between PSU and the Cardinal, four Nittany Lions had double figures as * Penn State swept past Stanford in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, Sept. 4, 2015. Ali Frantti had 13 kills while Haleigh Washington posted 12.
* Multi-block performances from five Nittany Lions led Penn State past Colorado in the most recent meeting at home in Rec Hall. PSU owned a 13.0-3.0 advantage in team blocks vs. the Buffaloes led by a match-high seven blocks from Heidi Thelen.
* Penn State's trip to Colorado marks the first time the Nittany Lions have traveled to Colorado to take on the Buffaloes, having only played at Rec Hall or a neutral site.
AVCA POLL UPDATE: WEEK 2
Penn State slipped to No. 13 in the latest release of the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions opened the season ranked No. 9 in the Preseason Poll. Penn State has matches against eight teams represented within the top 25. Including the Nittany Lions, a total of seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25 with two more receiving votes.
PENN STATE CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Junior Simone Lee and freshman Kendall White were both selected to the Penn State Classic All-Tournament team following their performances in a 2-1 opening week at home. Lee led the team with 3.73 kills per set while White averaged 3.45 digs per frame. White had at least 16 digs in two matches, while Lee posted double figure kills in two of three matches, including 23 kills vs. North Carolina.
AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Making her rookie debut in the Blue and White, freshman Kendall White powered the team with 38 digs across three matches, leading the team with 3.45 per set. She opened the weekend with 16 digs in her first appearance on the court before closing out the weekend with 17 digs against North Carolina for a new career-high mark.
LEE-DING THE WAY
With double figure kills in two of three matches during the weekend, Lee highlighted the Penn State Classic with her first career 20-kill performance with 23 kills against North Carolina. She led the team with 41 kills on the week, averaging 3.73 per frame. She added 10 digs against UNC for her first career double-double.
SEEING TIME AT SETTER
Junior transfer Abby Detering (Florida) earned the start in the season opener against West Virginia, pacing the team to a .479 hitting clip. Redshirt sophomore Bryanna Weiskircher set the Nittany Lions to a .424 hitting efficiency in the 3-0 win against Georgia Southern. While Detering started the match against North Carolina, Weiskircher came off the bench to finish the rest of the match from the middle of the second set on. Penn State's currently hitting .319 as team, which is ranked 13th nationally.
PENN STATE CONTINUES LIVE AUDIO COVERAGE IN 2016
Continuing in 2016, Penn State fans worldwide will be able to tune into a live audio broadcast. The audio broadcast will be available exclusively on GoPSUSports.com and offered to all fans free of charge. This weekend's matches will feature last year's standout play-by-play commentator Jack Milewski on the call.
PENN STATE IN SEASON-OPENERS
Penn State is 33-7-1 all-time in season-openers after sweeping past West Virginia Friday evening at Rec Hall. The win against the Mountaineers marks the fourth consecutive season-opening victory.
NITTANY LION ALUMS EARN BRONZE WITH TEAM USA
Penn State women's volleyball All-American alums Alisha Glass and Christa (Harmotto) Dietzen earned a Bronze medal with the United States Women's National Team at the Olympic Games in Rio. Having played key roles for Team USA throughout the event, Glass and Dietzen helped the United States to a 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19) win against the Netherlands to clinch The Americans' second Bronze medal since the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain. Team USA went 6-0 through Pool play before a close 3-2 loss to Serbia in the semifinals moved the United States to 6-1 heading into the Bronze medal match.
Penn State women's volleyball now has four Olympic medalists in Nittany Lion program history as Glass earns her first and Dietzen picks up her second consecutive. Having previously earned Silver with the U.S. at the 2012 Games in London, Dietzen is Penn State's first women's volleyball alum to win two Olympic medals as a member of the 12-woman roster.
From Hopewell Township, Pa., Dietzen was a two-time first-team All-American and the 2008 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in women's volleyball. From Leland, Mich., Glass also was a two-time first-team All-American for the Nittany Lions. Glass was a member of the initial three national title squads and Dietzen was a member of the first two squads, playing for Hall of Fame Coach Russ Rose.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State remains on the road next week, traveling to Syracuse, N.Y. for the Syracuse Classic. The Nittany Lions meet Siena Friday, Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. before returning Saturday, Sept. 10 to take on Hofstra and the Orange at 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.