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For Immediate Release:
Jen Armson, Women's Volleyball Contact
Penn State Sports Information
Ph: 814-865-1757, Fax: 814-863-3165
Email: jma19@...
Jen Armson, Women's Volleyball Contact
Penn State Sports Information
Ph: 814-865-1757, Fax: 814-863-3165
Email: jma19@...
Penn State Women's
Volleyball Picked To Finish First In The Big Ten
Four Nittany Lion players
named Preseason All-Big Ten by the coaches
University Park, Pa., August 17, 2005 - The women's volleyball coaches of the Big Ten have picked two-time defending champion Penn State to finish first in the conference, it was announced today by the league office. In addition, a conference-leading four Nittany Lion players earned Preseason All-Big Ten honors from the coaches. Senior setter and AVCA First Team All-American Sam Tortorello (Shorewood, Ill.) was one of four unanimous selections to the 12-person squad as senior libero Kaleena Walters (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.), junior middle hitter/opposite Cassy Salyer (Aurora, Colo.) and sophomore outside hitter Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) also picked up the preseason honor.
For the first time since 2001, Penn State topped the preseason poll, followed by Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio State rounding out the top four. Illinois and Purdue tied for fifth in the poll as Michigan was slated seventh, Northwestern eighth, Michigan State ninth, Iowa 10th and Indiana 11th.
Tortorello earned her third consecutive preseason All-Big Ten accolade and Salyer picked up her second as she was also selected last season. It is the first preseason honor for both Walters and Price, last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
One of four finalists for the Honda Volleyball Award last season, Tortorello led the Penn State squad with 14.00 assists per game, good for second on the single-season chart. She enters the 2005 season with 4,603 career assists, ranking fifth all-time in the Penn State annals and just 397 assists away from becoming only the fourth player ever to surpass 5,000 career assists. Last season Tortorello recorded 15 double-doubles and her first career triple-double with 10 kills, 52 assists and 15 digs in the NCAA Second Round win over Maryland. She recorded at least one block in 30 of 32 matches, including 25 multiple-block contests, and fell one stuff shy of her career-high with eight at Minnesota.
Walters, a First Team All-Big Ten selection a year ago, enters the 2005 season just 273 digs shy of becoming Penn State's all-time career digs leader, standing with 1,413. Her 619 digs last season is a Nittany Lion record and makes her the first player in Penn State history to record more than 600 digs in a season. She is also one of only three players in Big Ten history to record 44 or more digs in a match when she posted 44 digs against then-No. 1 Minnesota on Oct. 2, 2004. Walters holds the single-match records for digs in a three- and four-game match and has recorded double-digit dig figures in 72 of the last 80 matches dating back to the 2002 season.
Salyer, who began last season recovering from injury, was the Big Ten and AVCA Mideast Freshman of the Year in 2003. Last year she averaged 2.83 kills per game and 1.20 blocks per game with at least five kills in 29 matches. She recorded 17 matches with 10 or more kills, including six of the last eight contests and led the team with 130 total blocks. She posted a season-high 10 blocks twice and tallied 29 multiple-block contests, notching five or more blocks in a match on 12 occasions.
Price was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-Mideast Region selection a year ago after leading the Nittany Lions with 3.93 kills per game and also averaging 2.01 digs per game. She was the only non-junior or -senior to rank among the top 10 in the Big Ten in kills per game and ranked fifth in conference-only matches with 4.07 kills per game. Price posted a career-high 28 kills at eventual national champion Stanford, surpassing her previous career-high of 10 in the first game alone versus the Cardinal. She recorded double-digit kill figures in 26 matches, including 25 of the last 28 contests and she also had seven double-digit dig matches and 25 service aces.
Penn State is one of three schools to have multiple student-athletes on the Preseason All-Big Ten squad, which is comprised of 12 players from six different schools. Rachel VanMeter (Illinois), Kelly Bowman (Minnesota), Paula Gentil (Minnesota), Meredith Nelson (Minnesota), Marisa Main (Ohio State), Ami Stevens (Ohio State), Renata Dargan (Purdue) and Sheila Shaw (Wisconsin) filled out the remaining spots.
The Nittany Lions ended the 2004 campaign with a 29-3 record, capturing their second consecutive Big Ten title and their eighth in 14 years. Penn State opens up the 2005 slate against defending national champion Stanford on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7:00 p.m. ET at the AVCA/NACWAA College Volleyball Showcase to be hosted by the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. The Nittany Lions then face either Hawaii or Nebraska the following night and all four matches of the Showcase can be seen live on CSTV. Penn State opens up its home schedule on Friday, Sept. 16 versus Seton Hall at 7:30 p.m. at Rec Hall.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.
2005 BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
1. Penn State
2. Minnesota
3. Wisconsin
4. Ohio State
T5. Illinois
T5. Purdue
7. Michigan
8. Northwestern
9. Michigan State
10. Iowa
11. Indiana
2005 PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN
Rachel VanMeter, Sr, OH, Illinois*
Kelly Bowman, Jr., S, Minnesota*
Paula Gentil, Sr., L, Minnesota*
Meredith Nelson, Jr., MH, Minnesota
Marisa Main, Jr., S, Ohio State
Ami Stevens, So, OH, Ohio State
Kate Price, So, OH, Penn
State
Cassy Salyer, Jr., MH/Opp., Penn State
Sam Tortorello, Sr., S, Penn State*
Cassy Salyer, Jr., MH/Opp., Penn State
Sam Tortorello, Sr., S, Penn State*
Kaleena Walters, Sr., L,
Penn State
Renata Dargan, Jr, S, Purdue
Sheila Shaw, Sr, MH, Wisconsin
*Unanimous selection
Renata Dargan, Jr, S, Purdue
Sheila Shaw, Sr, MH, Wisconsin
*Unanimous selection
--
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Jen
Armson
Assistant Sports
Information Director
Penn State
University
101D Bryce Jordan
Center
University Park, PA
16802
Phone: 814/865-1757 ~ Fax:
814/863-3165
jma19@...
jma19@...
www.GoPSUsports.com
"It's amazing what can
be accomplished when no one cares who gets the
credit."
-- Dean Smith
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