Sept. 21, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball continues their homestand by opening Big Ten competition against No. 14 Nebraska on Friday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m., and then they will host Iowa at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23.
PARKING
For parking at the Nittany Deck, Intercollegiate Athletics, in partnership with Transportation Services, sponsors a period of free parking for Women's Volleyball attendees that begins 1.5 hours before the start of each match and ends approximately 1.5 hours after the match has ended. For any additional time parked before or after the match, each attendee will be responsible for the standard $1 per hour parking fee. Intercollegiate Athletics will continue to provide parking free of charge in parking lot Red-A on the back side of Rec Hall beginning one-hour prior through 2:00 a.m. No special permit is needed.
PROMOTIONS
Penn State will be holding their "White Out Rec Hall" match on Friday evening. All fans are encouraged to wear white attire to the match.
CAN'T MAKE IT?
Friday night's match with Nebraska will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Saturday's match with Iowa will be streamed on GoPSUSports.com.
FACING THE HUSKERS
Nebraska enters the Friday night match with a 7-3 record. They opened the season with back-to-back losses to Oregon and Florida, but followed it with a six-match winning streak, before Northern Iowa ended that with a 3-1 win over the Husker on Sept. 16. The Huskers rebounded with a 3-0 sweep of tournament host Omaha later that evening. Nebraska is the lone Big Ten team to have a winning record over the Nittany Lions, as they lead the series, 19-10, and are on a five-match winning streak.
FACING THE HAWKEYES
Iowa enters the weekend with an 11-2 record but will meet up with Rutgers on Friday evening before heading to University Park. Iowa is riding a four-match winning streak, having only dropped on set during that span. Penn State has a 50-0 all-time record over the Hawkeyes.
FIRST SERVE
>> After the fourth weekend of action, Penn State is No. 1 in the nation in hitting percentage at .360 as a team. Senior Haleigh Washington is in the first place spot for the highest hitting percentage for an individual with a clip of 0.534.
>> Penn State has had a different player named Big Ten Player of the Week for the last three weeks. Haleigh Washington picked up the honor when she was named it for the seventh time in her career on Sept. 5. Ali Frantti followed when she earned her first career honor from the Big Ten on Sept. 11, and Simone Lee was most recently named Player of the Week, her second career honor, on Sept. 18.
>> Haleigh Washington was named the Sports Impact/AVCA National Player of the Week on Sept. 5.
>> Abby Detering was named the espnW Player of the Week on Sept. 5.
>> At the WVU tournament, Haleigh Washington was named MVP, and Simone Lee was named to the All-Tournament team.
>> At the Texas A&M Tournament, Simone Lee was named MVP, Haleigh Washington was named `Best Blocker' and Abby Detering was named 'Best Setter.'
>> Following the Penn State Classic, Simone Lee was named Tournament MVP, and Haleigh Washington and Kendall White earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.
>> This is the 12th season under Coach Russ Rose that Penn State has started a season with a 10-0 record.
>> Since 1979 under Coach Russ Rose, the Nittany Lions have had a 388-55 (.876) record during September. However, since 1995, the Lions are 230-21 for a 91.6-percent mark.
>> Penn State stayed up in the Week Four poll with a ranking of No. 2 from the AVCA. Six Big Ten teams remain ranked in the Sept. 18 poll: Minnesota (1), Wisconsin (5), Purdue (13), Nebraska (14), and Michigan (20).>> All six starters from the 2016 season and a total of 17 letter winners return to the court for Penn State. The Nittany Lions also welcome four newcomers.
>> The Big Ten coaches selected the Nittany Lions as the preseason favorite for 2017, marking the fourth time in the past five seasons and the 11th in the last 13 that Penn State has been tabbed as the preseason favorite.
>> Three Penn State's seniors, Ali Frantti, Simone Lee and Haleigh Washington, were named to the preseason All-Big Ten Volleyball team. Minnesota and Penn State had three honorees each.
>> A 12-day tour of Brazil, Penn State volleyball's fifth-ever foreign tour, was the highlight of Penn State's 2017 spring. The Nittany Lions traveled to Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro among other communities and visited iconic locations, including Paulista Avenue, Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain. Penn State played at the Brazilian Olympic volleyball training site against top-tier competition and enjoyed the intercultural exchange.
>> The Nittany Lions' 15-match win streak in 2016 (Sept. 9-Oct. 22) was the second longest in the country during the span, topped only by No. 5 San Diego (16 straight).
>> Of its 24 victories in 2016, Penn State earned 19 (79%) by way of a 3-0 sweep.
>> Penn State saw four members of its team land postseason Big Ten honors, with Simone Lee and Haleigh Washington both earning unanimous All-Big Ten honors, while Tori Gorrell and Kendall White made the All-Freshmen Team.
>> Haleigh Washington added the 18th CoSIDA Academic All-America honor (third team, 2016) to Penn State's list of accolades. She is the 12th Nittany Lion to be recognized nationally through the program for academic achievement. Washington earned second-team honors in 2015.
>> Outside hitter Simone Lee claimed several spots on Penn State's 25-point rally scoring single-season charts for 2016. Lee ranked third on the list for kills (503), kills per set (4.16) and tops the list with 1,245 attacks. Defensive specialist Kendall White is now number one in digs per set (4.13) and second with her 2016 digs total of 500. Middle blocker Haleigh Washington narrowly missed the top-five for hitting percentage (.430).
LEE POSTS RECORD DAY IN WIN OVER TEXAS A&M
Simone Lee put down 30 kills for just the second time in her career as she helped the Nittany Lions to a 3-2 win over Texas A&M in the Aggies' home arena. Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) found her offensive rhythm early against the Aggies and tallied 12 kills through the first two sets alone. The senior finished the match with 30 at a clip of .456. She was reliable through each set, providing offense both in the front row and with a thundering back row attack.
FRANTTI JOINS 1,000 KILL CLUB
Senior Ali Frantti put down 11 kills on the opening weekend of action to become the 26th Nittany Lion with 1,000 career kills. Frantti is the first Penn State volleyball player to join the 1,000-kill ranks since Megan Courtney (2012-15). Frantti needs 17 kills to move into the Nittany Lion top-25 list for career kills.
AVCA POLL: RELEASE #5
Penn State stayed to No. 2 team in the nation with the AVCA Week Four Poll released Sept. 18.
RECORD AGAINST 2017 OPPONENTS
Penn State owns a 600-115 (.839) combined series record against its 2017 opponents, including a 454-66 (.873) mark in Big Ten matches since joining the conference in 1991. The Nittany Lions own a 539-104-1 (.840) mark all-time against current Big Ten opponents.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Including a 16-2 mark in 2016, Penn State owns a 611-38 (.942) all-time record at home in Rec Hall. Penn State is 269-22 all-time against current Big Ten opponents at Rec Hall. Only the Buckeyes have defeated the Nittany Lions on their home court more than three times in program history, having topped PSU five times. Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska are the only four teams to beat PSU at home more than once.
BIG TEN COACHES SELECT PENN STATE TO WIN 2017 CONFERENCE TITLE
Penn State opens the season ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten Preseason Poll, released by the conference early this week. The Big Ten Preseason poll is selected by votes from all 14 conference head coaches.
PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN NITTANY LIONS
Seniors Ali Frantti, Simone Lee and Haleigh Washington have been named to the 2017 Preseason Big Ten Volleyball Team. It's the third time Frantti and Washington have earned the preseason honors and the first year for Lee to be included on the list.
Mr. 1,200
With a 3-0 win over Michigan State on Sept. 30, 2016, Russ Rose became the first active Division I volleyball coach to reach the 1,200-win mark. Rose holds the title of winningest coach in Division I, tallying a 1,213-196 record to date. Following the retirement of Hawaii's Dave Shoji, Rose is the only active coach with 1,200 or more wins. Along with Shoji and former UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski, the three are the only DI coaches in NCAA women's volleyball coaching history to total 1,100 or more victories.
NEXT UP
Penn State wraps up a seven-match homestand with Illinois and Northwestern coming to town next weekend. Penn State will take on Illinois on Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. and they will host Northwestern at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30. Single-game tickets for the 2017 Penn State women's volleyball matches are available here at http://gopsu.info/vbsinglegametickets.