Sept. 23, 2016
#20 Penn State at Northwestern | | | | 9-3 (1-0 Big Ten) | 7-6 (0-1 Big Ten) |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 18 Penn State (9-3) competes in its second Big Ten match of the season on Sunday, facing the Northwestern Wildcats (7-6) at 2 p.m. ET at Ryan-Welsh Arena in Evanston, Illinois.
FIRST SERVE
- PSU enters the week in the midst of a seven-match win streak after sweeping Rutgers, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-5) on Wednesday night to open conference play. Last week the Nittany Lions downed Rhode Island, Howard and Clemson each in straight sets to take home the Penn State Invitational title.
- In the Nittany Lions' most recent outing, the juniors Ali Frantti and Simone Lee paced the offense, each notching double-figure kills. Frantti posted 11 on .579 hitting, while Lee posted a team-high 13 at a .458 clip.
- Setter Abby Detering led the team to .468 hitting on 34 assists while notching a career-high four aces, including three consecutive ones in the third set. She added six digs, four kills and a pair of blocks.
- Middle Blocker Tori Gorrell notched four kills on .800 hitting against the Scarlett Knights, while Heidi Thelen added five kills. Freshman libero Kendall White led the team's defensive effort with 13 digs.
- Junior middle blocker Haleigh Washington led the way for the Nittany Lions over the weekend, posting 27 kills on an impressive .610 clip while providing a team best 15 blocks in three matches. The performance garnered her Penn State Invitational MVP honors. Setter Abby Detering and right side Heidi Thelen also earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Detering guided the team to .354 hitting as a unit, notching 91 assists, 14 digs, seven kills and three aces. Thelen posted 21 kills with a team second-best .447 hitting and added four blocks.
- After last match, Washington ranks among the top 25 in the country in hitting percentage. Her .402 clip is good for 23rd in the country.
- Junior outside hitter Simone Lee has led the offense this season, averaging a team-best 4.15 kills per set. Lee's proved to be an offensive power, ranking 40th nationally in kills per set and 44th in points per set (4.70).
- Penn State has excelled defensively this season, limiting its opponents to 0.093 hitting - good for first in the Big Ten Conference and second in the nation. - The team also ranks among the country's best in two other categories. The Nittany Lions rank second in the Big Ten in hitting percentage with a .302 average, which ranks fifth in NCAA Division I. The team also ranks sixth in the Big Ten in blocks with 2.78 per set, good for 23rd nationally.
- Penn State climbed two spots to No. 18 in the latest release of the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll this week. The Nittany Lions have matches against 10 teams represented within the top 25. Including the Nittany Lions, a total of eight Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25 with one additional squad receiving votes.
PENN STATE SERIES AGAINST NORTHWESTERN
The Nittany Lions face Northwestern with a 49-9 advantage all-time against the Wildcats. Last season, the Wildcats upset PSU in five (18-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 12-15) before Penn State swept Northwestern in the second meeting of the season (25-18, 25-14, 26-24). The Nittany Lions hold a 24-5 record when competing in Evanston, Illinois.
PENN STATE INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
After three sweeps of Rhode Island, Howard and Clemson, the Penn State Nittany Lions placed three members of the squad in juniors Haleigh Washington, Abby Detering and Heidi Thelen on the All-Tournament team. Washington was named the most outstanding player after a phenomenal performance,notching 27 kills on .610 hitting and adding a team-high 15 blocks in three sets. Detering guided the team to .354 hitting as a unit, notching 91 assists, 14 digs, seven kills and three aces. Thelen posted 21 kills with a team second-best .447 hitting and added four blocks.
WHITE'S PASSING STANDS OUT
Making her rookie debut in the Blue and White, freshman Kendall White powered the team with 38 digs across three matches in the Penn State Classic, leading the team with 3.45 per set. Week two was no different as the Indianapolis native logged her first career 20-dig outing, posting a match-high 22 digs against No. 9 Stanford. In the most recent weekend of play, White notched 35 digs in nine sets of play. Leading the team with 3.71 digs per set, she ranks 10th in the Big Ten standings.
LEE'S KILLS AMONG NATIONAL TOP 50
With double-figure kills in all but one match this season, junior Simone Lee's 4.13 kills per set ranks fourth in the Big Ten standings and 38th nationally. With double figure kills in all three matches over the past weekend, her largest kill totals came in the match against Howard in which she posted 12, along with eight digs.
DETERING TAKING THE REIGNS
Junior transfer Abby Detering (Florida) and redshirt sophomore Bryanna Weiskircher have split time early in the non-conference slate at the setting position. Having started the last seven consecutive matches, Detering is beginning to emerge as a consistent presence at the position. Last weekend Detering strung together a strong performance, guiding the team to .354 hitting as a unit, notching 91 assists, 14 digs, seven kills and three aces as the starting setter in all three matches. The performance over the stretch resulted in a berth to the Penn State Invitational All-Tournament Team.
AVCA POLL UPDATE: RELEASE 5
Penn State climbed two spots to No. 18 in the latest release of the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions opened the season ranked No. 9 in the Preseason Poll, before moving to No. 13 and No. 17 in last week's release. Penn State has matches against 10 teams represented within the top 25. Including the Nittany Lions, a total of eight Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25 with one additional squad receiving votes.
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 UP NEXT?
Penn State hosts back-to-back matches next weekend inside the friendly confines of Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions will play host to Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. before facing Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the same time.
