UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State’s Gillian Grimes was named the Big Ten Libero of the Year and was one of three Nittany Lions to earn All-Big Ten recognition on Tuesday. She was joined on the first team by Kennedy Martin, while Maggie Mendelson made the second team. Additionally, Addie Lyon was selected as the team’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award representative.
Grimes is the first-ever recipient of the Big Ten Libero of the Year honor. The conference previously awarded a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award, which was last won by a Penn State player in back-to-back seasons by libero Kendall White in 2018 and 2019. Kaleena Walters (2005) was the only other Nittany Lion libero to win the league’s top defensive honor.
The major award for Grimes comes just one week after she was the first libero taken when she was picked in the third round by the San Diego Mojo. Grimes averaged 3.68 digs/set and tallied double-digit digs in 24 matches during the regular season. More importantly, she was considered by many to be the best passer in the conference.
Martin, a junior right side for Penn State, earned a spot on the first team in her first season with the Nittany Lions. She previously won two first-team All-SEC accolades at Florida. Martin finished the regular season ranked first in the Big Ten and second nationally in points/set (6.22) and kills/set (5.42). She had double-digit kills in every match in which she played at least three sets, including 16 matches with 20-plus kills. In those matches with 20-plus kills, she hit better than .300 12 times.
Martin stepped up big with huge numbers throughout the season, totaling eight or more kills in a set 19 times, including double-digit kills in a set on eight occasions. Her winning mentality was evident in a 15-13 fifth-set victory over USC. She contributed to each of Penn State’s final eight points of the match, totaling six kills and two blocks during that stretch. Martin was a three-time Big Ten Player of the Week and one-time AVCA National Player of the Week this season.
Mendelson landed a spot on the second team in her final season of collegiate volleyball. She was a threat both offensively and defensively, hitting .374 with 2.24 kills/set and 0.87 blocks/set. The senior middle blocker had 10 matches with double-digit kills and eight matches with five-plus blocks. She finished the regular season strong with eight-plus kills in four of the final five matches, including eight kills and eight blocks in a 3-1 win at Iowa in the regular season finale.
Lyon stepped up in a big way for Penn State this season, taking over as the team’s starting setter prior to the fifth match of the season. In Big Ten play, Lyon tallied 10.59 assists/set, which was good enough for fifth in the conference.
Penn State finished the regular season 18-12 overall and 12-8 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 45th-consecutive season and will take on USF on Friday at Texas’s Gregory Gymnasium.