Oct. 12, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- After being named Big Ten Player of the Week earlier in the week, junior outside hitter Simone Lee continues to garner national acclaim after being named ESPNW's Player of the Week.
Lee is just the third Nittany Lion to ever earn the honor - Dominique Gonzalez and Micha Hancock both earned the honor in 2014.
Lee was outstanding in the upset of No. 1 Minnesota, charting a team-best 30 kills in five sets. It marked the first time a Nittany Lion had 30 or more kills in a match since Nicole Fawcett posted 31 against Cal Poly on August 31, 2007. The 30-kill outing also marked a new record for kills in a five-set match during the 25-point rally scoring era.
The junior outside hitter paced the Nittany Lions offensively in both its matches, logging her 14th and 15th outings in which she led the team in kills. She posted 11 kills in the match against Rutgers, and added 12 digs and five blocks in the weekend's two matches.
Lee has led the offensive output this season for the Nittany Lions, averaging a team-best 4.16 kills per set -- good for the best in the Big Ten and 36th in the country. Hitting at a .299 clip, she has added 89 digs and 35 blocks over the course of the 2016 campaign so far.
The award gives Lee her third accolade of the season after being named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday. She also was named to the Penn State Classic All-Tournament team in the first weekend of play.
For more on Lee's honors, reads ESPNW's article here.
Penn State (14-3, 6-0 Big Ten) resumes conference play on Friday, where the team will take on Purdue (11-6, 1-5 Big Ten) on Friday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. ET before facing Indiana (12-7, 1-5 Big Ten) the next day at 7 p.m. ET.
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