Press Release courtesy of Penn State Athletics
The No. 1 Penn State women’s volleyball team hosts Rutgers in a7 p.m. match on Saturday evening for Senior Night where the Nittany Lions will honor their eight student-athletes who are wrapping up their careers prior to the match on Saturday.
SENIOR SNAPSHOTS
#7 – Abby Detering – S
- 1,619 assists, 384 digs, 221 kills, 99 blocks (between Penn State and Florida)
- ESPNw National Player of the Week (9/4/17)
- Big Ten Setter of the Week (10/10/16, 11/29/16)
- Program’s first triple-double (11k, 23a, 10d vs. Stanford, 9/1/17)
- 13 career double-doubles
#5 – Ali Frantti – OH
- 1,184 kills (21st in program history), 723 digs, 216 blocks, 70 aces
- 2014 AVCA Freshman of the Year
- 2014 AVCA 2nd Team All-American
- 2015 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American
- 2016 NCAA Lincoln Regional All-Tournament team
- Six career double-doubles
#9 – Jen Halterman – DS
- 1,081 assists, 139 aces, 326 digs (between Penn State and Penn State Mont Alto)
- First season with the Nittany Lions
- Played in six matches for the Nittany Lions, recording one ace and one dig
#22 – Simone Lee – OH
- 1,116 kills (24th in program history), 433 digs, 186 blocks, 39 aces
- 2016 AVCA 1st Team All-American
- 2016 All-Big Ten – Unanimous Selection
- Big Ten Player of the Week (10/10/16, 9/18/17)
- ESPNw National Player of the Week (10/10/16)
- 10 career double-doubles
#8 – Lainy Pierce – DS
- 103 Digs, 22 aces, 13 assists
- Two-time Academic All-Big Ten
- President of Penn State Athletes Take Action
#23 – Clare Powers – OH
- 209 kills, 226 digs, 39 blocks, 16 aces (between Penn State and St. Mary’s)
- Has played in 14 matches over two seasons for the Nittany Lions
#19 – Heidi Thelen – MB/RS
- 387 kills, 239 blocks, 58 digs
- 2016 Penn State Invitational All-Tournament Team
- Has played in 87 matches for the Blue & White
#15 – Haleigh Washington – MB
- 1,051 kills (27th in program history), 512 blocks (9th in program history), 216 digs, 66 aces
- Seventh player in Penn State history with 1,000 kills and 500 blocks
- 2015 & 2016 AVCA First Team All-American
- 2014, 2015, & 2016 All-Big Ten – Unanimous Selection in ’15 & ’16
- 2014 Big Ten Freshman of the Year
- Two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American
- Has won a program-best nine Big Ten Player of the Week honors, good for 2nd in Big Ten history.
- 2017 national leader in hitting percentage at a clip of .513
SENIOR LETTERS SERIES
Simone Lee – Monday
Clare Powers – Monday
Lainy Pierce – Tuesday
Heidi Thelen – Tuesday
Ali Frantti – Thursday
Abby Detering – Thursday
Jen Halterman – Friday
Haleigh Washington – Friday evening, on Penn State Volleyball Facebook
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights enter the match on Saturday with a 5-20 record, and 0-13 Big Ten Record. Rutgers’ offense is orchestrated by sophomore setter Megan Sharkey. Sharkey is averaging 8.02 assists per set while adding 1.52 digs and 0.29 aces. She was named to the ECU Invitational All-Tournament team earlier this season and reached her 1,000 career assist against Ohio State on Oct. 7. Stasa Miljevic leads the team in blocks (0.86 per set) and hitting percentage (.244). Junior Sahbria McLetchie is Rutgers’ top outside hitter with 2.67 kills/set this season and a team-best 2.57 through 13 conference matches. In back-to-back matches against Buffalo and Seton Hall, she recorded 17 and 19 kills, respectively, before picking up a total of 30 at Indiana and No. 17 Purdue in October.
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.
WASHINGTON’S OCTOBER WIZARDRY
Haleigh Washington was named the FloVolleyball Big Ten Player of the Month on Friday morning for her sustained performance over the month of October. Since October 1, she has helped lead the Nittany Lions to victories over top-20-ranked Michigan State, Purdue, and Wisconsin. She also surpassed 1,000 career kills and 500 career blocks last month. Absolutely deadly on the slide, the 6-foot-3 First Team All-American has a .519 hitting percentage, the best average in the country. Her career hitting percentage ranks third all-time in NCAA Division I history. Against Ohio State on October 6, Washington set a new career high with 20 kills. That night, she also added eight blocks. In the month of October, Washington was named the Big Ten Player of the Week three times.
UP NEXT
The Penn State Nittany Lions will take the show on the road as they head to Iowa for a 9 p.m. ET match in Iowa City on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The match will be on the Big Ten Network.
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