Sept. 8, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- No. 17 Penn State women's volleyball (2-3), remains on the road, traveling to Syracuse, New York for the Syracuse Classic. The Nittany Lions open the event taking on Siena (1-5) Friday, Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. before returning the next day to square off against Hofstra (5-2) at 12:30 p.m. and the Orange at 7 p.m. in the Women's Building.
The Nittany Lions will look to rebound from an 0-2 weekend on the road at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Boulder, Colorado. Penn State fell short in five sets at Colorado before losing to then-No. 9 Stanford in three sets the next day.
QUICK SETS
* Despite the outcomes last weekend, Nittany Lions Tori Gorrell and Kendall White each recorded career-high outings. Gorrell logged a career-high 14 kills in the five-setter at Colorado, hitting .333 with five blocks. White registered her first 20-dig outing with a match-high 22 digs against No. 9 Stanford.
* Penn State slid to No. 17 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 is limiting its opponents to just .168 hitting on the year, while the Nittany Lions are attacking at a .252 hitting clip. During the first week of the season, Penn State out-hit its Penn State Classic opponents .319-.121 holding Georgia Southern to a season-low -.063 hitting percentage.
* The Nittany Lions went 2-1 in the opening weekend of the 2016 season, sweeping West Virginia and Georgia Southern before falling short in a 3-2 loss to then-No. 19 North Carolina. Both freshman Kendall White and junior Simone Lee earned spots on the Penn State Classic All-Tournament team.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SYRACUSE CLASSIC FIELD
SYRACUSE
The Nittany Lions own a 7-0 advantage in the all-time series against the Orange, dating back to the first meeting between the two teams on Nov. 18, 1977. Penn State swept Syracuse in the most recent outing, opening up the 2013 season with the 3-0 win at home in Rec Hall. Penn State will take its first trip to Syracuse this weekend having never played the Orange in a true road game.
SIENA
Penn State is 2-0 all-time in a short series against Siena. The Nittany Lions have also never played the Saints anywhere other than Rec Hall, taking on Siena in the NCAA Tournament only in 2007 and most recently, in 2014. Penn State claimed 3-0 wins in both outings.
HOFSTRA
The Nittany Lions and Hofstra have also only met seven times in program history, with Penn State owning wins in each outing. Dating back to the first meeting in 1981, Penn State and the Pride have not played since the Nittany Lions took a 3-0 win at home in Rec Hall in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
NEWS & NOTES
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. Week two was no different as the Indianapolis native tallied a team-high 18 digs in a five-set match against Colorado. White returned the next day to log her first career 20-dig outing, posting a match-high 22 digs against No. 9 Stanford. Her 4.11 digs per frame on the year ranks sixth in the Big Ten standings.
LEE-DING THE WAY
With double-figure kills in all but one match this season, junior Simone Lee's 3.79 kills per set ranks seventh in the Big Ten standings. With double figure kills in two of three matches during the weekend, Lee highlighted the Penn State Classic with her first career 20-dig performance with 23 kills against North Carolina. Last week, Lee stretched her streak to three consecutive games with double figures leading the team with 19 kills at Colorado and 12 against No. 9 Stanford.
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.
SPLITTING 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. Weiskircher earned the start against Colorado, before Detering stepped into to the starting setter position against No. 9 Stanford.
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 returns home next week to close out the non-conference slate hosting the Penn State Invitational. The Nittany Lions are set to welcome Rhode Island Friday, Sept. 16 for a 7 p.m. matchup, before hosting Howard at 10 a.m. and Clemson at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 in Rec Hall.