Press Release courtesy of Penn State Athletics
The No. 1 Penn State women’s volleyball team hosts Indiana on Wednesday afternoon for a 7:30 p.m. match in Big Ten action.
This marks the final regular season home match for the Nittany Lions.
PARKING & TRAFFIC
Women’s Volleyball fans will have free parking in the Nittany Parking Deck, as well as in the Red A lots off North Atherton Street at White Course Drive. The gates will be open at both the entrance and the exit to the Deck on Saturday night. The Rec Hall ticket office opens 1 ½ hours before all matches.
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE
Haleigh Washington and Simone Lee were both named as Senior CLASS Award finalists. There are only ten finalists in the Women’s Volleyball category, and fans’ votes will be credited towards 1/3 of the winner’s selection. Since the award’s inauguration in 2010, Penn State has only had two finalists up to this point. Ariel Scott won in 2013, and Arielle Wilson was a First Team honoree in 2010. It is a Nittany Lion first with two in the final ten. VOTE
LAST TIME OUT
In front of one of the largest women’s volleyball crowds in Rec Hall history, the No. 1 Penn State women’s volleyball team took down Maryland, 3-0; 25-14, 25-21, 25-16, on Saturday, Nov. 11.
In front of 6,305 fans in a boisterous Rec Hall, Penn State jumped out to a big lead in the opening set and set the tone for the match.
Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) finished the match with a double-double as she put down a team-best 10 kills while adding 13 digs. She also added two aces and two blocks, while finishing with a .320 hitting percentage.
The Nittany Lions held Maryland to just .047 hitting for the match, while out-blocking the Terps, 13.0-7.0.
SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS
Indiana is 12-16, 1-15 on the season. The 2017 roster has 11 freshmen and sophomores, three juniors, one senior and one graduate student. The Hoosiers graduated five players and have six newcomers on the 2017 roster. Sophomore middle blocker Deyshia Lofton ranks 13th in the Big Ten in blocks (1.00/set) and 13th in the conference in hitting percentage (.331). With 22 solo blocks on the season, Lofton has the most solo blocks of anyone in the Big Ten. Against No. 5 Minnesota Lofton hit .667 with nine kills. IU head coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan begins her 11th season at IU and her 25th in collegiate coaching. The Indiana staff features over 60 years of combined experience, including 18 years of head coaching experience.
FIRST SERVE
>> Simone Lee was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following the Nittany Lions’ matches against Iowa and Maryland. The senior outside averaged 5.58 points per set, 4.33 kills per set on .383 hitting, 4.67 digs per set, 0.83 blocks, and recorded back-to-back double-doubles with 16 kills and 15 digs against Iowa with a .429 hitting percentage, three blocks, and two aces, and 10 kills and 13 digs against Maryland, with two aces, and two blocks, and a .320 hitting percentage. Lee also finished with a 97.6-percent serve reception percentage, as she took in over 50-percent of the team’s reception attempts, only making one error all week in her 41 attempts. Her defense helped hold the opponents to a combined .043 hitting percentage, as Iowa hit just .040, and Maryland hit .047.
>> Lee became the first Penn State outside hitter to earn a Defensive Player honor as all prior have been defensive specialists, liberos, or middle blockers.
>> With the honor, Penn State has now racked up 10 Big Ten weekly awards as Lee now has a Player and Defensive honor to her name, while Haleigh Washington has picked up four Player of the Week honors, Kendall White has earned three Defensive Player of the Week awards, and Ali Frantti snagged a Player of the Week honor.
>> For the fifth straight week, the Penn State women’s volleyball team has earned the No. 1 ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association, but for the first time this season, the Nittany Lions have earned all 64 votes for a unanimous selection.In fact, this is the first time all season that any team that has held the No. 1 spot has received all 64 votes.
>> The marks the 71st week the Nittany Lions have been at No. 1 in the poll since the end of the 2006 season, and the 95th 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, Nov. 13.
>>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).
TIME CHANGE
The Penn State at Minnesota match on Nov. 25 has been picked up by the Big Ten Network, and the match time has been moved to 8:30 p.m. ET. This will be the first meeting between the two squads, both of whom are currently in the top three in the Big Ten Standings.
UP NEXT
Penn State hits the road for a single weekend match as they take on Rutgers at 7 p.m. ET in Piscataway, N.J., on Saturday.
–NITTANY LIONS–
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