Oct. 30, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball team saw Haleigh Washington and Kendall White honored by the Big Ten Conference office as the Player and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, for their performances this week against Wisconsin and Illinois.
Haleigh Washington was named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after having a dominating week in wins over No. 9 Wisconsin and Illinois. She averaged a team-best 4.64 points per set out of the middle over the two matches, with 3.43 kills per set on a .548 hitting percentage adding 2.14 blocks per set. She also added four digs. She also recorded her 500th career block against Wisconsin.
Against Wisconsin, Washington put down a team-best 14 kills, hitting .448, and added a match-best eight blocks, including a solo, and four digs. Against Illinois, Washington put down 10 kills on 13 attempts with no errors, for a mark of .769. She also tallied seven blocks with one solo, and helped hold the opponent's middles to just four combined kills, and -.133 hitting percentage. She also spearheaded the defense, leading the Nittany Lions to out-block the best blocking team in the conference, 12.0-5.5.
Kendall White earned her second Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season after averaging 4.86 digs per set, and an impressive 95.6-percent perfect serve receive.
Against a powerful Wisconsin offense, White scooped up a match-best 21 digs in four sets, adding two assists. She helped hold Wisconsin to a .207 hitting percentage. Against Illinois, White recorded 13 digs in three sets, which again was a match-high. She also added five assists and was perfect on serve receive. She also provided many cover plays that go unstated, helping to hold Illinois, the conference's best-blocking team, to just 5.5 blocks for the match.
This marks the second career honor for White and the ninth career honor for Washington. Washington's nine honors put her alone at second all-time in Big Ten history, trailing Stacey Gordon (OSU, 2001-04) who finished with 16. Washington now sits alone with a program-high nine weekly honors, passing Nicole Fawcett and Megan Hodge, who each had eight during their time as Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions, who remained No. 1 in both this week's RPI rankings and the AVCA Coaches Poll, will take on No. 9 Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.