Season Snapshot: A Look at Penn State Heading into the Semifinals

Early in the season, many prognosticators picked Penn State as the odds on favorite to win this year’s NCAA Championship. The Nittany Lions gave no reason for doubts cruising through the non-conference season and dropping just one match during the always tough Big Ten slate en route to a co-league title with Nebraska.

With three players named to the AVCA All-America first, second and third teams on Wednesday, and three honorable mention selections, it is no surprise that Penn State has made its way back to the Final Four and is vying for a record eighth NCAA title.

FINAL FOUR HISTORY

The Nittany Lions are making their first appearance in the National Semifinals since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 2014, and the school’s sixth championship in eight years.

Penn State has made 12 appearances in the national semifinals, winning seven titles and earning three runner-up finishes.

PSU is tied with Stanford for the most championships with seven apiece. The Nittany Lions won titles in 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014.

IN A NUTSHELL

PSU started the year with a perfect 10-0 mark, including a pair of wins over defending champion Stanford (3-1, 3-2) as well as eventual NCAA Tournament teams Colorado (3-0) and Yale (3-0).

The lone blemish on the team’s resume was a 3-0 loss to Nebraska in the Big Ten opener. The big surprise wasn’t necessarily that the Nittany Lions lost to the Huskers, who are always a contender in the conference race, but that they lost via sweep, and at home in University Park, a place the team has boasted a 79-7 mark over the last five seasons. Penn State will have a chance to avenge that loss in Thursday’s semifinal.

En route to the NCAA Tournament, Penn State went 11-1 against the RPI top 50, facing Stanford (5), Wisconsin (18), Michigan State (23), Illinois (26) and Iowa (50) twice and Nebraska (6), Minnesota (7), Colorado (24), Purdue (25), Michigan (29) and Ohio State (44) once each.

The Nittany Lions won 18 matches via sweep and went five sets just three times (vs. Stanford, at Ohio State and at Texas A&M).

Penn State has won 23 straight matches heading into Thursday’s contest with Nebraska.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

The Nittany Lions lead the nation in hitting percentage (.345) and rank fifth in blocks per set (3.08) and 16th in kills per set (14.33).

First team All-American Simone Lee paces the team on the outside with 3.90 kills per set, while hitting at a .321 clip and adding 22 aces and 2.24 digs per set. The Nittany Lions also boast a first team All-American in the middle in senior Haleigh Washington, who leads the nation in hitting percentage (.503) and ranks seventh in blocks per set (1.52), while also chipping in 3.06 kills per set. Senior outside Ali Frantti also is a threat with 2.50 kills per set, 1.76 digs per set and 19 aces. Aiding Washington at the net is senior right side Heidi Thelen (0.94 blocks per set).

PSU runs a 6-2 offense with senior Abby Detering and redshirt junior Bryanna Weiskircher splitting the setting duties. Detering is a triple threat with 5.79 assists, 1.83 digs and 1.30 kills per set, while also serving up a team-leading 34 aces Detering is not scared to take the ball in her own hands with either a dump set or a full swing. Weiskircher has dished 6.48 assists per set, while notching 1.82 digs per set and 32 aces.

Sophomore libero Kendall White holds down the backcourt defense with 3.72 digs per set, followed by Lee, Detering, Weiskircher and Frantti, all looming around two saves per stanza.

THE TOURNAMENT THUS FAR

The Nittany Lions played their first four matches at home in University Park, Pennsylvania, after earning the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Penn State is the lone Final Four team that did not face another seeded team during its run to the national semifinals.

PSU topped Howard and Pittsburgh in four sets each to reach the Sweet 16. Washington posted a team-leading 13 kills as Penn State hit .333 against Howard. It was Lee’s turn to pace the team against Pitt, notching 19 kills, while Washington chipped in 16 kills and a team-high seven stuffs. The Nittany Lions put up 17 blocks in the win over the Panthers.

The regional round brought Missouri to Rec Hall with a meeting with either conference foe Michigan State or Illinois looming in the Elite Eight. A sweep of the Tigers including 15 Lee putaways and a double-double by Detering (13 assists, 10 digs) sent the Nittany Lions on to the regional final. Against Michigan State, PSU notched another sweep as Lee registered a 12-kill, 10-dig double-double, while Washington put up 10 blocks.

Frantti and Lee posted double-digit kills in three of the four matches.

As a team, the Nittany Lions are hitting at a .328 clip in the tournament and have held foes to a .171 effort. Penn State has put up 3.43 blocks per set and 14.86 kills per set.

Lee is averaging 3.64 kills per set, followed by Frantti (3.21) and Washington (3.07). Washington is hitting at a .425 clip and has put up 1.64 blocks per set. Redshirt sophomore middle Tori Gorrell has added 1.14 stuffs per set, while Thelen has chipped in 0.93 blocks per stanza.

ON THE HONOR ROLL

Haleigh Washington and Simone Lee garnered first team All-America honors on Wednesday. It was the third All-America nod for Washington, following first team selection in 2016 and 2015. It was the second straight accolade for Lee, who also was a first teamer in 2016. Kendall White garnered second team accolades, while Ali Frantti, Heidi Thelen and Abby Detering earned honorable mention acclaim.

Washington also was named as the winner of the Senior CLASS Award, which takes into consideration a candidate’s success in the classroom, community, character and competition realms.

The senior also was honored for her work off the court as one of just 21 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.

Lee was the Big Ten Player of the Year and Washington was the Defensive Player of the Year. White was an All-Big Ten honoree, while Thelen garnered honorable mention selection from the league.

IN ELITE COMPANY

Frantti, Washington and Lee each have reached the 1,000 kill milestone, making Penn State one of just two teams with three active members of the club (also N.C. State).

Washington also is one of just eighth players nationally to boast 1,000 kills and 500 blocks.

Simone Lee set a Penn State record for hitting percentage against Rutgers (11/18) with 17 kills and one error in 20 swings (.800), the best mark with a minimum 20 attempts in school history.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Head coach Russ Rose

“We’re excited to make it back to the Final Four. This senior class was able to compete and be on a team that won the National Championship four years ago. So, we know the hard work that’s required and the excitement associated with the event. So, we’re thrilled to be here.

“We have a great opponent, a conference opponent, one that’s familiar. Since they’ve joined the conference, we play them one or two times a year, so we know they’re a talented team with great tradition as well as a very talented roster.

“I think all of the teams here have coaches that understand the importance of being ready to play in the match and not celebrate the arrival of the team. It’s great. That last match to get to the Final Four, that’s a really hard match because both teams are fighting for the same thing. Then when that match is over, now you can kind of relax a little bit and kind of refocus and try to get things organized again. We’ve had success here, but I think the success we’ve had at the Final Fours have been based on the quality of the players.

“I don’t think I’ll judge myself by tomorrow’s outcome, win or lose.”

Senior middle Haleigh Washington

“I think since the first Nebraska match, we’ve clicked more with the chemistry kind of thing. So, we work well off the pass, off the set and then eventually attacking, so I think we’ve really gotten that chemistry going, and it’s also being able to do that well out of system. In system, it is easy for teams to do that, but to have that same chemistry when things aren’t always going your way, I think that is something we have worked on.

“I think after our first match-up with Nebraska this year we were obviously all very disappointed. But as leaders, we kind of took what Coach has said to us in the past to heart, that you can’t let a loss beat you twice. You need to be able to move on. Because we had another game the next day, and we had a whole season of Big Ten games coming up, and we couldn’t let that one match define what we were going to do that season. I think we responded relatively well.

“I think Simone and Ali, and all the other senior leaders we have on the team stepped up and did their part and played the role that we needed them to play. We followed what Coach said. He said, you win the rest of your games and you can win a Big Ten Championship. We worked hard, we grinded, and we did that.

“So I think just not letting the bad games beat you again. You learn from your mistakes. You learn from your errors, but you don’t let it weigh you down.”

"We're not done yet."@NCAAVolleyball National Semifinal Preview ≫ https://t.co/1jYZeLXeOm pic.twitter.com/LmzmIHEw1W

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) December 14, 2017