Oct. 24, 2017
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball team hosts No. 9 Wisconsin in a Big Ten Conference battle on Wednesday evening in a 7 p.m. match-up of two top-ten teams in Rec Hall on the Penn State campus.
DIG PINK
Wednesday night will be the Nittany Lions' Dig Pink match for Breast Cancer Awareness. Penn State will be raising money for the Side-Out Foundation by auctioning off their pink warm-ups during the match. If fans are unable to attend, donations can be made on the Penn State Side-Out Foundation campaign page: https://giving.side-out.org/campaigns/13597
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.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS
Wisconsin is 14-5 on the year, with a 5-5 Big Ten record. The Badgers opened 2017 with a nine-match winning streak, including winning 21-straight sets to start the year. However, all five of their losses have come in Big Ten play, with two losses to Michigan State, two to Minnesota, and one to Nebraska. As a team, the Badgers are putting down 13.93 kills per set on .302 hitting. Freshman Dana Rettke is leading the team in kills (3.37/set), hitting percentage (.459), blocks (1.42/set), and aces (17) as a middle blocker. Only three players have played every set for the Badgers, Rettke, fellow freshman Sydney Hilley, and senior Kelli Bates. Hilley is the starting setter for the Badgers, averaging 11.6 assists per set, and Bates is starting on the outside and averaging 2.81 kills per set and 2.43 digs.
FIRST SERVE
>>The highlight of the past weekend was Haleigh Washington becoming the 28th member of the Penn State 1,000 kill club and was the third Nittany Lion to achieve the feat this season as Ali Frantti was the first on Aug. 26 at West Virginia, and Simone Lee followed on Oct. 6 at Ohio State.
>>The last time Penn State had three active 1,000 kill club members was in 2008. Entering the season, Megan Hodge and Nicole Fawcett were already past the mark, but on Sept. 5, 2008, Christa Harmotto joined the club as well.
>>This marked the first time in Penn State history that a trio reached the pinnacle in the same season.
>>Currently, Penn State is the only program in all of DI volleyball to have three active 1,000 kill hitters. NC State is waiting on Kaitlyn Kearney (994) to join Julia Brown (1,176) and Bree Bailey (1,119).
>>Washington is also just six blocks away from her 500th career stuff. When she hits that mark, she will be just the 8th player in Penn State history to have 1,000 kills and 500 blocks. She will also be the first in seven seasons, as the last to achieve this feat was Arielle Wilson (2007-10).
>> The marks the 67th week the Nittany Lions have been at No. 1 in the poll since the end of the 2006 season, and the 91st time in the history of the poll. The Nittany Lions' first No. 1 Ranking came on Sept. 2, 1997, and the poll was started in 1982.
>> Penn State also remained No. 1 in the RPI that was released on Monday, Oct. 23.
>> Simone Lee had her 23 match double-digit kills streak come to an end against Indiana (8 kills). Her streak started on Nov. 11, 2016, and ended on Oct. 21, 2017.
>>Twice this season, the Nittany Lions have had four players with double-digit kills. Against Stanford (9/1): Abby Detering (11k), Ali Frantti (10k), Haleigh Washington (10k), and Simone Lee (11k), and against Purdue (10/20): Ali Frantti (15k), Heidi Thelen (14k), Simone Lee (13k), and Haleigh Washington (10k).
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.
BIG TEN COACHES SELECT PENN STATE TO WIN 2017 CONFERENCE TITLE
Penn State opens the season ranked No. 1 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.
UP NEXT
Penn State heads to Illinois for a 7 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct. 28.