Aug. 24, 2017
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MORGANTOWN, W. Va. ââ'¬" The sixth ranked Penn State women's volleyball team begins its 2017 campaign this weekend as part of the West Virginia Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
This marks the first time in the last five seasons that the Nittany Lions will begin their season on the road as they battle UT-Martin at 4:30 p.m. on Friday before facing off against Delaware and the host Mountaineers on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
FIRST SERVE
- All six starters from the 2016 season and a total of 17 letterwinners return to the court for Penn State. The Nittany Lions also welcome four newcomers.
- Penn State enters the 2017 season with a preseason ranking of No. 6 from the AVCA. Seven Big Ten teams were ranked in the Aug. 9 poll: Minnesota (4), Nebraska (5), Wisconsin (7), Michigan (16), Michigan State (17), Ohio State (21) and Purdue (25).
- Since 1979 under Coach Russ Rose, the Nittany Lions have won nearly 90 perecent of their matches in August (.895).
- West Virginia played in University Park in 2016 as one of the teams in the Penn State Classic. The Nittany Lions and Blue Hens last played in 2011. Friday's match will be the first-ever meeting between Penn State and Tennessee-Martin.
- The Big Ten coaches selected the Nittany Lions as the preseason favorite for 2017, marking the fourth time in the past five seasons and the 11th in the last 13 that Penn State has been tabbed as the preseason favorite.
- Three Penn State's seniors, Ali Frantti, Simone Lee and Haleigh Washington, were named to the preseason All-Big Ten Volleyball team. Minnesota and Penn State had three honorees each.
- Outside hitter Ali Frantti is just 11 kills short of becoming the 26th member of Penn State's 1,000 kill club and 28 kills away from breaking into the top-25 all-time kills list.
- A 12-day tour of Brazil, Penn State volleyball's fifth-ever foreign tour, was the highlight of Penn State's 2017 spring. The Nittany Lions traveled to Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro among other communities and visited iconic locations, including Paulista Avenue, Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Penn State played at the Brazilian Olympic volleyball training site against top-tier competition and enjoyed the intercultural exchange.
- The Nittany Lions' 15-match win streak in 2016 (Sept. 9-Oct. 22) was the second longest in the country during the span, topped only by No. 5 San Diego (16 straight).
- Of its 24 victories in 2016, Penn State earned 19 (79%) by way of a 3-0 sweep.
- Penn State saw four members of its team land postseason Big Ten honors, with Simone Lee and Haleigh Washington both earning unanimous All-Big Ten honors, while Tori Gorrell and Kendall White made the All-Freshmen Team.
- Haleigh Washington added the 18th CoSIDA Academic All-America honor (third team, 2016) to Penn State's list of accolades. She is the 12th Nittany Lion to be recognized nationally through the program for academic achievement. Washington earned second-team honors in 2015.
- Outside hitter Simone Lee claimed several spots on Penn State's 25-point rally scoring single-season charts for 2016. Lee ranked third on the list for kills (503), kills per set (4.16) and tops the list with 1,245 attacks. Defensive specialist Kendall White is now number one in digs per set (4.13) and second with her 2016 digs total of 500. Middle blocker Haleigh Washington narrowly missed the top-five for hitting percentage (.430).
FOR OPENERS
The Nittany Lions open their 42nd season of volleyball with Coach Russ Rose directing the program since 1979. Penn State is one of only two programs to compete in all 36 NCAA Tournaments since 1981 and Rose has been at the helm of the program for its seven National Championships.
PENN STATE IN SEASON-OPENERS
Penn State holds a record of 33-7-1 all-time in season-openers after sweeping West Virginia at Rec Hall in the 2016. The win against the Mountaineers marked the fifth consecutive season-opening victory. The Nittany Lions last opened away from Rec Hall in 2012, but were still successful with a win vs. Morehead State in the Active Ankle Challenge at Louisville and finished the weekend with a 3-0 record.
RECORD AGAINST 2017 OPPONENTS
Penn State owns a 600-115 (.839) combined series record against its 2017 opponents, including a 454-67 (.873) mark in Big Ten matches since joining the conference in 1991. The Nittany Lions own a 539-104 (.840) mark all-time against current Big Ten opponents.
FIRST MEETING
Tennessee-Martin and Penn State meet for the first time in program history and the Skyhawks are the only team on this year's schedule with that distinction. In each of the last three seasons, the Nittany Lions had squared off against at least four teams for the first time ever.
LONG TIME NO SEE
It's been a minute or two since the Nittany Lions have played two of the nonconference opponents on the 2017 schedule. Penn State and Wake Forest met only once previously, in 1978. Penn State and Texas A&M have met three times in program history, last in 1990. Even though the Nittany Lions and Mountaineers played in 2016, the last time Penn State played at West Virginia was in 1998.
ONLY TWO
Penn State's nonconference slate is highlighted by back-to-back weekend meetings with the reigning national champion Stanford Cardinal. The two teams are the only two programs to have reached every NCAA Tournament. Both have an NCAA-record seven national titles.
LAST CHALLENGE
In the final year of the four-year event, the Nittany Lions will travel to Champaign, Ill., for the Nike Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge. Penn State meets Stanford and Colorado in 2017. The Nittany Lions have played Stanford every year of the Challenge and Colorado for the third consecutive year. Penn State has a 3-3 mark in the competition overall.
(ALMOST) THE LAST ONE HOME
Penn State will open the home portion of its 2017 schedule on Sept. 15 vs. Yale on the first day of the Penn State Classic. The mid-September date is the latest home match for the Nittany Lions since Sept. 16, 2005 when they played their first match in Rec Hall after three-straight weekends on the road.
Of the Big Ten opponents, only Northwestern (Sept. 23) will have a home opener later than Penn State's. With upcoming renovations at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern is playing the 2017 in Beardsley Gym , but will at least play in the Chicagoland area in DePaul's tournament Sept. 8-9.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Including a 16-2 mark in 2016, Penn State owns a 611-38 (.942) all-time record at home in Rec Hall. Penn State is 269-22 all-time against current Big Ten opponents at Rec Hall. Only the Buckeyes have defeated the Nittany Lions on their home court more than three times in program history, having topped PSU five times. Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska are the only four teams to beat PSU at home more than once.
AVCA PRESEASON POLL: RELEASE #1
Penn State was selected as the No. 6 team in the nation with the AVCA preseason poll released Aug. 9.
BIG TEN COACHES SELECT PENN STATE TO WIN 2017 CONFERENCE TITLE
Penn State opens the season ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten Preseason Poll, released by the conference early this week. The Big Ten Preseason poll is selected by votes from all 14 conference head coaches.
PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN NITTANY LIONS
Seniors Ali Frantti, Simone Lee and Haleigh Washington have been named to the 2017 Preseason Big Ten Volleyball Team. It's the third time Frantti and Washington have earned the preseason honors and first year for Lee to be included on the list.
MR. 1,200
With a 3-0 win over Michigan State on Sept. 30, 2016, Russ Rose became the first active Division I volleyball coach to reach the 1,200-win mark. Rose holds the title of winningest coach in Division I, tallying a 1,213-196 record to date. Following the retirement of Hawaii's Dave Shoji, Rose is the only active coach with 1,200 or more wins. Along with Shoji and former UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski, the three are the only DI coaches in NCAA women's volleyball coaching history to total 1,100 or more victories.
FRANTTI CLOSING IN ON 1,000 KILL CLUB
Senior Ali Frantti finds herself 11kills away from being the 26th Nittany Lion with 1,000 career kills. Frantti would become the first Penn State volleyball player to join the 1,000-kill ranks since Megan Courtney (2012-15). Frantti would need 28 kills to move into the Nittany Lion top-25 list for career kills.
NEXT UP
Penn State remains on the road as they travel to College Station, Tx. For the Texas A&M Tournament next weekend to battle Stanford and the host Aggies on Friday and Saturday, respectively.