Pronounced: Christa Har-MOTTO
Lion Career
2007 (Junior): Honda Award Finalist ... AVCA First Team All-America ... NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team ... ESPN The Magazine Third Team Academic All-America ... Big Ten Player of the Year ... First Team AVCA All-Mideast Region ... NCAA University Park Regional All-Tournament Team ... First Team All-Big Ten ... ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic-All District ... Yale Classic All-Tournament Team ... Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team ... Nebraska Holiday Inn Downtown All-Tournament Team ... three-time Big Ten Player of the Week (8/27, 9/24, 10/15) ... preseason All-Big Ten ... Academic All-Big Ten ... Dapper Dan Female Athlete of the Year finalist ... started all 36 matches and played in 121 of 122 games ... led the team and the Big Ten and ranked second in the nation with a .492 hitting percentage, also a new Big Ten record ... hitting percentage mark places her second on PSU[apos]s single-season list ... just missed setting an NCAA Tournament record (.564) as she attacked at a .548 clip with 3.00 kills per game in the Lions[apos] 20 games ... in the NCAA Semifinals against Cal (12/13) and the NCAA Finals against Stanford (12/15), averaged 2.62 kills per game (21 kills) on .459 hitting with 10 blocks ... had 18 matches of hitting .500 or higher for the season ... set a new career high by hitting .917 (11-0-12) versus Michigan State (9/21) ... produced 22 double-digit kill matches including a season-high 16 at Wisconsin (10/21) ... ranked second on the team and in the conference and sixth in the nation with 1.65 blocks per game ... provided a team-high 200 total blocks, good for seventh all-time ... her 167 block assists ranks second all-time on the single-season list and is just 10 shy of the record of 177 set by Terri Zemaitis in 1996 ... ended the season with 516 career total blocks, good for sixth in the Penn State annals and makes her only the sixth player in Lion history to record more than 500 career blocks ... had at least three blocks in all but two contests ... recorded 11 blocks against Michigan State (9/21) and posted 12 at Illinois (10/19) ... more than doubled her career digs total with 57 during the 2007 season ... also added 14 service aces, including a career-high two against Northwestern (9/22) and Michigan (10/12).
2006 (Sophomore): AVCA Second Team All-America ... AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region ... First Team All-Big Ten ... Big Ten Player of the Week (10/2) ... Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team ... Penn State Invitational All-Tournament Team ... LSU Classic All-Tournament Team ... unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten ... Academic All-Big Ten ... played in 34 of 35 matches of the year and 111 of 114 games ... ranked first on the team in blocks per game (1.58), second on the squad in hitting percentage (.405) and third on the team in kills per game (2.85) ... average of 1.58 blocks per game ranks tied for 10th on Penn State[apos]s all-time single-season record list, equaling Terri Zemaitis[apos] 1997 mark ... her hitting percentage mark placed her second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation and her blocks per game average put her second in the conference and 14th in the country ... had at least three kills in every match of the year, including 14 double-digit kill matches ... set a new career best with 17 kills on .483 hitting at Minnesota (10/28) ... garnered conference Player of the Week honors after averaging 4.83 kills per game on .650 hitting at Indiana and Purdue (9/29-30) ... hit for a .500 percentage or better on 13 occasions, including attacking a career-best .812 (13-0-16) at Purdue (9/30) ... posted at least one block in every match, including tying a career-best with 13 blocks versus Wisconsin (10/7) ... also reached double-digit blocking numbers in the NCAA Second Round win over Hofstra (12/2) with 11 stuffs ... notched at least five blocks in 18 matches ... also provided 11 service aces and 33 digs ... tallied a career-high two aces four times, including at Illinois (10/15), versus Michigan (10/20), at Minnesota (10/28) and against Iowa (11/11) ... also racked up a personal-best five digs against the Gophers.
2005 (Freshman): AVCA Honorable Mention All-America ... AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region ... First Team All-Big Ten ... Big Ten All-Freshman Team ... Big Ten Player of the Week (Oct. 10) ... AVCA/NACWAA Showcase All-Tournament Team ... Penn State Classic Most Outstanding Player ... one of only four freshman to ever be named First Team All-Big Ten, joining fellow freshman Nicole Fawcett along with Bonnie Bremner and Lauren Cacciamani, who both earned the honor in 1996 ... also became the second PSU freshman to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors ... started the first 29 matches of the year before missing the final Big Ten weekend and all three matches of the NCAA Tournament with a knee injury ... set the Penn State record for blocks in a four-game match with 13 versus Southern California (8/31) ... led the team in blocking with 1.50 blocks per game, good for 12th on the single-season record chart ... recorded 25 matches with three or more blocks, including 14 matches with five or more blocks ... ranked second on the team and third in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.356), including hitting .378 for third in conference-only matches ... ranked second on the team in kills per game with 2.96 ... recorded at least six kills in 28 of 29 matches ... had 14 multiple-kill matches, including a career-high 14 versus Stanford (8/26) ... recorded her first career double-double with 12 kills on .571 hitting with 13 blocks against Southern California (8/31).
High School
Three-year volleyball letterwinner and two-year basketball letterwinner at Hopewell High School in Hopewell Township, Pa. ... team captain for the Vikings in 2004 ... Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year in 2004 ... two-time Prep Volleyball High School All-American ... 2004-2005 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Female High School Athlete of the Year ... a member of the 2004 USA Women[apos]s Junior National Team that won the NORCECA Championship in Winnipeg, Canada ... also selected to the 2005 USA Junior National Team that competed in Ankara, Turkey, at the FIVB Under-20 World Championships ... two-time Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Athlete of the Week ... Mizuno First Team All-American following senior season, also picking up Beaver County Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Female Athlete of the Year accolades ... two-time first team all-state, all-WPIAL and all-section ... posted a scholastic team record of 75-4 through three years ... recorded a school-record 186 blocks during junior season in 2003 ... also posted a school-record .595 hitting percentage in senior year to go along with 448 kills, 376 digs and 172 blocks ... led the team to a No. 1 ranking in the state of Pennsylvania and the 2004 section, WPIAL and state championships, winning every tournament entered prior to the postseason ... also section and AA WPIAL champions in 2002 and 2003 ... helped Hopewell to a 59-0 record against WPIAL opponents from 2001 to 2005 and a 103-match winning streak against section opponents ... member of the Pittsburgh Renaissance Volleyball Club that qualified for the Junior Olympic Nationals in 2004 and 2005 ... member of the National Honor Society ... earned the KDKA Extra Effort Award ... a four-year scholar athlete ... named the Lions Club Student of the Month ... was a member of the Principal[apos]s Student Leadership Advisory Board.
Personal
Born Christa Deanne Harmotto on Oct. 12, 1986 in Sewickley, Pa. ... parents are Robert and Constance Harmotto ... has two brothers, Nathan (19) and Nolan (15) ... father Robert played basketball at Juniata College ... brother Nathan attends Washington and Jefferson College (Washington, Pa., outside of Pittsburgh), where he plays football ... majoring in education ... names hobbies as snowboarding, art and scrapbooking, favorite musical group as Sugarland, favorite school subject as math, favorite pro sports team as the Pittsburgh Steelers, favorite athlete as Hines Ward, favorite food as gnocchi[apos]s, favorite book as 'Mind Gym' by Gary Mack with David Casstevens, favorite TV show as 'Desperate Housewives,' favorite movie as 'Because I Said So,' favorite actor as Jack Nicholson, favorite actress as Sandra Bullock and favorite place to visit as Hilton Head, S.C. ... nicknames are Motti, Chri.
Quoting Russ Rose
'Christa, at times last year, was as dominant a player as I saw in the country. I[apos]ve felt since her freshman year that our prospects for success are based on her health and our ability to get her the ball. She is a dedicated team player, a great leader and certainly one of the top players in the country at her position. Her numbers were off the chart last year and I would expect another great year from her.'
Harmotto[apos]s Expectations
'New team. New year. Same goal. We have set the bar high once again and I have my eyes set on winning the last match of my college career.'