Nov. 23, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 15 Penn State (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten) closes out the regular season this weekend, hosting Northwestern and Illinois. PSU will face Northwestern on Friday, Nov. 25, at 7 p.m., before closing out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 8 p.m. against Illinois.
PROMOTIONAL SPOTLIGHT:
Penn State's final two matches will continue to provide outstanding promotions. Fans can gain entrance to either of the weekend's matches for just $4 with proof of purchase of a Penn State football vs. Michigan State ticket. The first 1,000 fans on Saturday night will receive a senior poster, featuring Laura Broerman, Taylor Krause and Carley Muller. Additionally, Penn State will have an airbrush tattoo artist at Saturday's match.
FIRST SERVE:
» Saturday night's match against the Illinois Fighting Illini will serve as Penn State's senior night, in which the team will honor senior defensive specialists Laura Broerman, Taylor Krause and Carley Muller in a pre-match ceremony.
» Penn State split matches in the last weekend of action, first falling to Nebraska in straight sets before taking down Purdue in a 3-0 sweep in Rec Hall last Saturday night.
» PSU found success with a balanced offensive outing in its latest match, with three Penn State players scoring double-figure kills. Ali Frantti (14-0-24, .583) and Simone Lee (14-5-23, .281) led the way while redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell added 11 kills on a career-best .733 attacking.
» Junior outside hitter Ali Frantti eclipsed the 900 career kill benchmark with nine kills in the most recent outing against the Ohio State Buckeyes. She is now just 75 kills short of becoming the 26th member of Penn State's 1,000 kill club. Frantti enters Friday's match after leading the team in kills last week with 21 on .373 hitting.
» Juniors Haleigh Washington and Simone Lee both rank among the nation's best in statistical categories. Washington ranks fifth in the country in hitting percentage (.431), while Lee's 4.18 kills per set rank 32nd in NCAA Division I. Both Washington and Lee's numbers lead the Big Ten conference.
» Three Penn State players in Lee, Washington and redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell all have chances to place among the top-five during the 25-point rally scoring era in single-season statistical categories. Lee (average kills/set) and Washington (hitting percentage) would rank third and tied for fifth, respectively, in their categories if the season ended today. Lee (total kills, 426) and Gorrell (total block solos, 21) are both poised to crack the top five as well.
» PSU finds itself among the top 30 in the country in three statistical categories as a team. The Nittany Lions have hit the ball at a .286 clip in 2016, coming in third in the Big Ten and ninth nationally. The team has also been one of the country's best in limiting opponents, holding foes hitting percentage to a .165 clip, ranking second in the Big Ten and 27th in the nation. Penn State averages 2.59 blocks per set, coming in fourth in the Big Ten and 28th among Division I programs
» Penn State remained at No. 15 in the country in the most recent release of the AVCA poll. The Nittany Lions opened the season ranked No. 9, with rankings spanning from No. 9 again two weeks ago and as low as No. 20. PSU has six opponents represented within the top 25. Including the Nittany Lions, a total of six Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25. Ohio State, Illinois and Purdue are also receiving votes on the ballot. For the first time in 2016, Penn State received a first-place vote after downing then-top ranked Minnesota.
PENN STATE ALL TIME AGAINST WEEK 14 OPPONENTS
The Nittany Lions enter Friday night with a 50-9 record all-time against the Wildcats of Northwestern. Winners of the last two matchups, Penn State holds a 25-1 record against NU in matches played in Rec Hall. Penn State enters the showdown with Illinois holding a 42-10 edge in all contests. PSU is on a one-match winning streak against the Illini, with a 23-3 record at home against Illinois.
LEE, WASHINGTON, GORRELL ON TRACK FOR RECORD SEASONS
Having impressive seasons thus far, junior classmates Simone Lee and Haleigh Washington are both on-track for seasons that rank among the best during the 25-point rally scoring era. Lee, averaging 4.18 kills per set currently, would rank third during the era for single-season kills per set. Washington, currently hitting at a .431 clip, would finish tied for fifth in single-season hitting efficiency if the season ended today.
In addition to the running averages, Lee currently has 426 kills on the season. With just seven more, she would crack the top five for total kills in a single season during the 25-point rally scoring era. With two guaranteed matches remaining and a likely berth to the NCAA tournament waiting, Lee could realistically climb to potentially fourth on the leaderboard.
25-POINT RALLY SCORING SINGLE SEASON TOTAL KILLS
Rank K Name, Year
1. 560 Megan Hodge, 2009
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4. 469 Ariel Scott, 2012
5. 432 Deja McClendon, 2011
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426 Simone Lee, 2016
Redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell has 21 solo stuffs so far in 2016. With just three more she could match Haleigh Washington's output from 2015 with 24 to tie for the fifth-most in the 25-point rally scoring era.
25-POINT RALLY SINGLE SEASON TOTAL BLOCK SOLOS
Rank TB Name, Year
1. 32 Megan Courtney, 2012
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4. 27 Katie Slay, 2011
5. 24 Haleigh Washington, 2015
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21 Tori Gorrell, 2016
FRANTTI CLOSING IN ON 1,000 KILL CLUB
After posting nine kills in Penn State's match at Ohio State, junior Ali Frantti finds herself 75 kills away from being the 26th Nittany Lion with 1,000 career kills. Currently averaging 2.26 kills per set, Frantti will likely break the milestone next season, but could do so with a few big games or a deep tournament run. Frantti would become the first Penn State volleyball player to join the 1,000 kill ranks since Megan Courtney did so last season, ending her career with 1,154 kills.
ALL-TIME CAREER KILLS LEADERBOARD
Rank TK Name, Year
1. 2,282 Lori Barberich, 1981-84
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24. 1,069 Zeynep Ton, 1992-95
25. 1,016 Cassy Sayler, 2003-06
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925 Ali Frantti, 2014-Pres.
B1G CHAMPIONSHIP PICTURE
Heading in to the final weekend play, Penn State volleyball, regardless of outcome can finish no higher than fourth place and no lower than fifth place in the final season standings. With a pair of wins and a pair of Michigan State wins, PSU and MSU would share fourth place in the final season standings. If Penn State wins more matches than Michigan State this weekend, the Nittany Lions will have sole possession of fourth place - if Penn State loses more matches than Michigan State, the team will move to fifth in the standings. If Penn State drops its final two games and Michigan wins its final two games, Penn State and Michigan would tie for fifth place. Finally, if Penn State and Michigan State went winless over the weekend and Michigan wins out, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State would all tie for fourth place in the Big Ten season standings. Of all Big Ten teams with championship potential, only Nebraska controls its own fate, needing to win its final two matches to guarantee a stand-alone Big Ten title.
NITTANY LIONS' AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE IN EFFICIENCY
Penn State has been extremely successful keeping its offense among the top in the country. Following 13 weeks of play, the Nittany Lions rank third in the Big Ten and ninth in Division I in hitting efficiency, attacking a .286 clip. Junior Haleigh Washington continues to be one of the most consistent offensive threats in the country in 2016, ranking among the best in the nation in hitting efficiency. Hitting at a .431 clip in all matches this season, the Colorado Springs, Colorado, product leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth among NCAA Division I players in hitting percentage.
The Nittany Lions not only excel at having one of the most efficient offenses in the country, but also at limiting those of the opposition. PSU currently ranks 27th nationally and ranks second in the Big Ten in limiting opponents hitting, holding foes to a .165 clip.
LEE'S OFFENSE GUIDES NITTANY LIONS
With double-figure kills in all but five matches this season, junior Simone Lee's 4.18 kills per set leads the Big Ten standings and places 37th nationally. Lee also ranks 43rd in points nationally, logging 4.71 per set. Lee posted a record-setting 30 kills against Minnesota on Oct. 5 before posting another 27 against Michigan. Lee has exceeded 20 kills in four matches this season. With 426 kills thus far, Lee has accounted for nearly 31% of the Penn State offense.
PSU MIDDLES A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH
The duo of Penn State starting middle blockers junior Haleigh Washington and redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell has become one of the most talented tandems in the Big Ten conference. Washington ranks eighth in the Big Ten with an impressive 1.18 blocks per set, while Gorrell falls just outside the top 15 blockers in the conference, averaging 1.03 blocks per frame.
WASHINGTON NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Junior middle blocker Haleigh Washington earned Academic All-District honors, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday afternoon. It was Washington's second time being honored as a part of the Academic All-District team, as the Colorado Springs, Colorado, native was named to the All-District team last season, before going on to earn Second Team Academic All-America honors. In the classroom, Washington is a double major in philosophy and psychology, boasting an impressive 3.83 grade point average. In total, 56 student-athletes from the Division I ranks are selected to the Academic All-District teams. All members of the All-District teams are eligible for Academic All-America consideration, which will be announced on December 8.
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 FOR THE NITTANY LIONS
The NCAA Division I selection show will be held on Sunday, Nov. 27, set to air at 9 p.m., when PSU will find out its fate in the NCAA tournament.