Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2014 7:03:19 GMT -5
Penn State (28-3, 16-2 in the B1G) visits Northwestern (16-13, 6-12 in the B1G) at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday night for the Wildcat’s Senior Night, with pre-match tributes to five Northwestern seniors: 6-0 MB Katie Dutchman, 5-10 OH Yewande Akanbi, 6-2 MB Savannah Paffen, 6-3 MB Maggie Burnham and 5-11 OH Monica McGreal. The match will be streamed live on BTN Plus -- (a paid subscription), and you can follow, in a rather quixotic way, on GameTracker
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Wildcats, with ups including the November 5th home win over then-AVCA #9 Illinois in five sets (25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 15-25, 15-11), and the October 5th sweep of then-AVCA #18 Minnesota (26-24, 29-27, 25-20) in Evanston. The downs — well, with 12 losses in the B1G, there are several from which to choose. But in its last match, on November 22nd, Northwestern was very effective, defeating Iowa 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-21), hitting .371 as a team while holding the Hawkeyes to a .120 team attack %.
The Wildcats have been led by Dutchman, who ranks 13th in the B1G (B1G matches only) with a .300 attack %, 6-1 Fr. OH Symone Abbott, who ranks 12th in the B1G in kills (B1G matches only), 5-7 RS Jr. libero Caroline Niedospial, who leads the B1G (B1G matches only) with 5.06 digs/set (She isn’t just a flash-in-the-pancake, either, as last season she averaged 4.46 digs/set in 124 sets), and 6-0 Fr. setter Taylor Tashima, who leads all B1G freshmen with 12 double-doubles.
In it’s last match, Penn State defeated Maryland in straight sets (15-25, 18-25, 14-25) in front of 4,522 fans at Maryland’s XFINITY Center. The Nittany Lions were led by 6-4 RS Fr. Opp/RS Aiyana Whitney (11 kills, .350 attack %), 6-1 Fr. OH Ali Frantti (9 kills, .600 attack % — zero errors), 6-2 Jr. OH Megan Courtney (6 kills, .750 attack % with zero errors and a team-best 9 digs), and 6-3 Fr. MH Haleigh Washington (6 kills, .667 attack % — also no errors).
5-11 Sr. setter Micha Hancock guided Penn State to a .421 team attack % (compared to .123 attack % for the Terps), and added eight service aces, to reach the century mark for the season. 6-2 Sr. MH Nia Grant registered 4 blocks, as did Whitney, while 5-6 Sr. libero Dominique Gonzalez totaled 8 digs.
For those who are interested, we've posted a Stat Joust, comparing the team and individual stats of Penn State, Northwestern, Nebraska and (because they are sitting in 1st place) Wisconsin -- B1G Matches only, along with Penn State stats updated through November 22nd: Northwestern Match Preview with Stat Joust
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Wildcats, with ups including the November 5th home win over then-AVCA #9 Illinois in five sets (25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 15-25, 15-11), and the October 5th sweep of then-AVCA #18 Minnesota (26-24, 29-27, 25-20) in Evanston. The downs — well, with 12 losses in the B1G, there are several from which to choose. But in its last match, on November 22nd, Northwestern was very effective, defeating Iowa 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-21), hitting .371 as a team while holding the Hawkeyes to a .120 team attack %.
The Wildcats have been led by Dutchman, who ranks 13th in the B1G (B1G matches only) with a .300 attack %, 6-1 Fr. OH Symone Abbott, who ranks 12th in the B1G in kills (B1G matches only), 5-7 RS Jr. libero Caroline Niedospial, who leads the B1G (B1G matches only) with 5.06 digs/set (She isn’t just a flash-in-the-pancake, either, as last season she averaged 4.46 digs/set in 124 sets), and 6-0 Fr. setter Taylor Tashima, who leads all B1G freshmen with 12 double-doubles.
In it’s last match, Penn State defeated Maryland in straight sets (15-25, 18-25, 14-25) in front of 4,522 fans at Maryland’s XFINITY Center. The Nittany Lions were led by 6-4 RS Fr. Opp/RS Aiyana Whitney (11 kills, .350 attack %), 6-1 Fr. OH Ali Frantti (9 kills, .600 attack % — zero errors), 6-2 Jr. OH Megan Courtney (6 kills, .750 attack % with zero errors and a team-best 9 digs), and 6-3 Fr. MH Haleigh Washington (6 kills, .667 attack % — also no errors).
5-11 Sr. setter Micha Hancock guided Penn State to a .421 team attack % (compared to .123 attack % for the Terps), and added eight service aces, to reach the century mark for the season. 6-2 Sr. MH Nia Grant registered 4 blocks, as did Whitney, while 5-6 Sr. libero Dominique Gonzalez totaled 8 digs.
For those who are interested, we've posted a Stat Joust, comparing the team and individual stats of Penn State, Northwestern, Nebraska and (because they are sitting in 1st place) Wisconsin -- B1G Matches only, along with Penn State stats updated through November 22nd: Northwestern Match Preview with Stat Joust
