Sept. 14, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball team return to Rec Hall for their home-opening tournament, The Penn State Classic, on Friday, Sept. 15 -- Saturday, Sept. 16, where they will host Yale, Wake Forest, and Ohio.
Friday night's matches will feature Wake Forest versus Ohio in the 5 p.m. match, and the Nittany Lions will face off with Yale in their home opener at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, PSU will open the day with a 10 a.m. match against Wake Forest. Ohio and Yale will face off at 1 p.m., and then Penn State will take on Ohio at 4 p.m. The Penn State Classic will close out with a 7 p.m. match as Wake Forest and Yale round out the competition.
PARKING
For parking at the Nittany Deck, Intercollegiate Athletics, in partnership with Transportation Services, sponsors a period of free parking for Women's Volleyball attendees that begins 1.5 hours before the start of each match and ends approximately 1.5 hours after the match has ended. For any additional time parked before or after the match, each attendee will be responsible for the standard $1 per hour parking fee. Intercollegiate Athletics will continue to provide parking free of charge in parking lot Red-A on the back side of Rec Hall beginning one-hour prior through 2:00 a.m. No special permit is needed.
PROMOTIONS
Penn State fans that have a ticket to Saturday's football game versus Georgia State can bring their tickets and get a volleyball ticket for $4.
FIRST SERVE
>> After the third weekend of action, Penn State is No. 3 in the nation in hitting percentage at .340 as a team. Senior Haleigh Washington is in the fourth spot for the highest hitting percentage for an individual with a clip of 0.505.
>> Yale enters the weekend with a 4-2 record on the season led by head coach Erin Appleman. The Bulldogs are currently 19th in the country in blocks per set at 2.85. Penn State has a 9-0 all-time record over Yale.
>> Wake Forest enters with a 7-2 record led by Bill Ferguson. The ACC foe returns three starters and has already built off their 9-15 record in 2017. The Demon Deacons are currently No. 21 in blocks per set in the nation with 2.82. Penn State has a 1-0 record over the Deacs.
>> Ohio enters with a 6-5 record, but have six returning starters. Deane Webb is at the helm for the Bobcats. Penn State holds a 1-0 record over Ohio, with their only prior matchup coming in 2008.
>> At the WVU tournament, Haleigh Washington was named MVP, and Simone Lee was named to the All-Tournament team.
>> At the Texas A&M Tournament, Simone Lee was named MVP, Haleigh Washington was named `Best Blocker' and Abby Detering was named "Best Setter.'
>> This is the 18th season under Coach Russ Rose that Penn State has started a season with a 7-0 record.
>> Since 1979 under Coach Russ Rose, the Nittany Lions have had a 385-55 (.875) record during September. However, since 1995, the Lions are 227-21 for a 91.5-percent mark.
>> Penn State moved up two spots in the Week Three poll with a ranking of No. 1 from the AVCA. Seven Big Ten teams remain ranked in the Aug. 28 poll: Minnesota (1), Wisconsin (5), Nebraska (10), Purdue (15), Michigan (21), Michigan State (23) and Ohio State (25).
>> All six starters from the 2016 season and a total of 17 letter winners return to the court for Penn State. The Nittany Lions also welcome four newcomers.
>> 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.
>> 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).
FRANTTI EARNS B1G HONOR
Ali Frantti (Spring Grove, Ill.) put on a show in her home state last weekend at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge. The senior outside hitter put together her two best matches of the season this past weekend and helped the Nittany Lions go 2-0 at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge, hosted by Illinois. She finished the weekend with 37 kills, for 4.62 per set, at a clip of .378 from the pin. She added 11 digs, three blocks and led the team with 40.0 total points on the weekend which led to her being named the Big Ten Player of the Week. Against Colorado, she put down 17 kills on a clip of .469 as she made just two errors in 32 attempts. She also added six digs and a block. In the Nittany Lions five-set victory of No. 4 Stanford, Frantti put down a season-high 20 kills on a clip of .310, adding five digs, two blocks, and an ace. This was the first Big Ten Player of the Week honor of her career.
WEEKLY HONORS:
Ali Frantti - Big Ten Player of the Week (Week of Sept. 11)
Haleigh Washington- Big Ten Player of the Week, Sports Impact/AVCA National Player of the Week (Week of Sept. 4)
Abby Detering - espnW National Player of the Week, The Daily Collegian Player of the Week, PrepVolleyball.com Player of the Week, Highmark Student-Athlete of the Week (Week of Sept. 4)
LEE POSTS RECORD DAY IN WIN OVER TEXAS A&M
Simone Lee put down 30 kills for just the second time in her career as she helped the Nittany Lions to a 3-2 win over Texas A&M in the Aggies' home arena. Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) found her offensive rhythm early against the Aggies and tallied 12 kills through the first two sets alone. The senior finished the match with 30 at a clip of .456. She was reliable through each set, providing offense both in the front row and with a thundering back row attack.
FRANTTI JOINS 1,000 KILL CLUB
Senior Ali Frantti put down 11 kills on the opening weekend of action to become the 26th Nittany Lion with 1,000 career kills. Frantti is the first Penn State volleyball player to join the 1,000-kill ranks since Megan Courtney (2012-15). Frantti needs 17 kills to move into the Nittany Lion top-25 list for career kills.
AVCA POLL: RELEASE #4
Penn State moved up to No. 2 team in the nation with the AVCA Week Two Poll released Sept. 11.
RECORD AGAINST 2017 OPPONENTS
Penn State owns a 600-115 (.839) combined series record against its 2017 opponents, including a 454-66 (.873) mark in Big Ten matches since joining the conference in 1991. The Nittany Lions own a 539-104-1 (.840) mark all-time against current Big Ten opponents.
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.
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 the 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.
WVB ANNOUNCES TIME CHANGE
The Penn State women's volleyball team has announced a time change for the Sept. 23 match against Iowa at Rec Hall. The new start time will be 4 p.m. The change in time was to enable fans to attend the volleyball match before tuning in as the Penn State football team makes their first visit to Iowa since 2012 with a kick at 7:30 p.m. and air on ABC. The Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes square off at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City Iowa.
NEXT UP
Penn State opens up Big Ten play by hosting Nebraska at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22. It will be `White-out Rec Hall' and fans are encouraged to wear all white attire. They then host Iowa on Saturday, Sept. 23, at a new time of 4 p.m. Single-game tickets for the 2017 Penn State women's volleyball matches are available here at http://gopsu.info/vbsinglegametickets.