FOUR the Glory! Penn State sweeps Cal for a Fourth Straight National Championship

Can you say FOUR-PEAT?! (Photo: PSU/Tony Mancuso)

Penn State wasn't supposed to win this year. Three years of unprecedented success, three national titles, a half-dozen all-Americans. Surely it couldn't be done again. Not with this team. They were too young, too inexperienced.

Well, the Nittany Lions not only won big in 2010, they won it all...

Penn State dominates Texas, advances to another NCAA final

In a rematch of last year's national title bout, Penn State swept Texas tonight (25-13, 25-13, 25-22) in the NCAA women's volleyball semifinal. But unlike the classic battle from 2009, the Nittany Lions completely dominated the Longhorns, only trailing a few times in the third set. Most of the match, Penn State led Texas by double digit margins.

But to those watching the game, one couldn't discern which was scarier--the dominance of senior captain Blair Brown, or the equal dominance of Penn State's young freshmen like Deja McClendon, Ariel Scott and Katie Slay.

Penn State beats Duke 3-1, Advances to the National Semifinals

(Photo: Tony Mancuso/GoPSUsports.com)

Duke reached up and flicked Penn State's ear, snatching Set 3 from their overconfident hosts. But that made the Nittany Lions very, very mad, so Penn State proceeded to pound the Blue Devils into the Rec Hall floor in the fourth and final set, winning 3-1 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17) in the NCAA women's volleyball regional finals tonight.

Penn State got off to its typical start, winning the first two sets by decent margins. But then things got shaky, as Duke started to tighten up and play well, while Penn State played like its expected the Blue Devils to just roll over in the 3rd set.

Nittany Digs: Lions coast through first two NCAA rounds, set new home win streak record

(Image: NCAA.com)

You can bet this team isn't getting ahead of itself, after sweeping both Niagara and Virginia Tech in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament the last two nights in Rec Hall. But they were overall encouraging performances for a team that hasn't been able to match its established, albeit unprecedented, success the past three seasons.

Mixed in with the victories, Penn State set yet another record, notching its 91st and 92nd consecutive home-match wins. That's a good stat considering the next two matches--the Regional semis and finals--are in the friendly confines of Rec Hall. Penn State is 44-3 in NCAA matches at Rec Hall after its win against the Hokies, and is 68-25 overall in NCAA matches.

Nittany Digs: 2010 Big Ten Champs, National No. 4 Seed

Penn State will get home-court advantage
through most of the NCAA tournament.
(Photo: Steve Manuel)

Penn State locked up the 2010 Big Ten Women's Volleyball championship by sweeping the Iowa Hawkeyes Friday night. But just as one would expect in this very odd season for the Lions, they turned right around and lost to No. 15 Minnesota yesterday afternoon. It's not like a Russ Rose-coached team to look ahead, but it definitely felt like this team is keeping both eyes focused squarely on the tournament.

Speaking of which, Penn State also grabbed itself a very nice No. 4 seed in the national tournament. Penn State will be able to enjoy home-court advantage through the regional round, as the first three rounds will take place in the friendly confines of Rec Hall.

Details below the break.

Nittany Digs: Crackin' Nuts & Sweepin' Up

Seniors Blair Brown
and Fatima Balza
(Photo: GoPSUsports.com)

It was quite the week for Penn State women's volleyball. The Nittany Lions not only grabbed sole possession of first place in the Big Ten, but did it in their typically convincing fashion. To top off the week's work, three Nittany Lions took home conference honors.

Here's the lowdown on last week's action.

Sweepin' Up

Penn State earned a full sweep of the Big Ten weekly honors for volleyball this week, garnering offensive, defensive, and freshman of the week awards.

Nittany Digs: Payback is a Brown

(Ed.-Totally mixed up my proverbs, so the title has changed)

Blair Brown
(Photo: GoPSUsports.com)

Penn State is steamrolling its way through the Big Ten schedule, after a shaky start to the season. Well, "shaky" for Penn State standards.

Early in the conference schedule, Penn State fell 3-2 at Illinois, the Lions' first Big Ten loss in 65 matches. It was painful. And while Penn State lost two more conference matches a few weeks later (at Purdue and at Indiana), the Illinois loss stuck out because it was the first.

Well, Penn State had one chance to redeem itself for that loss in Champaign, Ill., as the Illini came into Rec Hall this weekend with a 1-0 record against Penn State this year, and a No. 9 ranking.

The Nittany Lions made the most of it.

Here's the roundup from last week.

Brown and McClendon Earn Big Ten Weekly Honors

Fan favorite (then again, which of these girls isn't a fan favorite?) Blair Brown, and rising star freshman Deja McClendon earned Big Ten Player of the Week, and Big Ten Freshman of the Week, respectively.

Brown led the Nittany Lions with 14 kills along with five digs and five blocks against the Badgers on Friday, Nov. 12. She went to on post a team-best 13 kills and seven digs against the Illini on Saturday. For the weekend, Brown averaged 4.50 kils per set on .463 hitting and contributed seven blocks (1.17 blocks per set) and 12 digs (2.00 digs per set).

McClendon posted a team-best .553 attack percentage after totaling 22 kills (3.67 kills per set), 10 digs (1.67 digs per set) and three blocks in matches against Wisconsin and Illinois. Versus the Badgers, McClendon posted 10 kills to rank third on the team with three digs and three blocks. She followed that performance with 12 kills and seven digs against the Illini.

Nittany Digs: These ladies are smart, too!

The Penn State women's volleyball team is gearing up for a huge home stretch to finish out the regular season, and it started with wins over No. 15 Michigan and Michigan State this past weekend. There were weekly honors abound for the Nittany Lions, for both on- and off-the-field accomplishments.

Here's the roundup from last week.

Slay Earns Big Ten POW and Frosh POW

Katie Slay
(Photo: GoPSUsports.com)

Freshman middle hitter Katie Slay earned her first conference honors this week, being named the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week, and Freshman of the Week, for her two-match performance against MSU and UM.

Nittany Digs: What Brown Does for PSU

Massive apologies for this posting two days late. After a rough start to the season, Penn State is winning again... and winning and winning.

Blair Brown
(Photo: GoPSUsports.com)

Since opening the Big Ten conference schedule a relatively disastrous (for Penn State's standards) 3-3, the Nittany Lions (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten) have reeled off six straight wins, including victories over No. 22 Minnesota, No. 19 Northwestern, while avenging earlier losses to Indiana and Purdue.

Speaking of the Hoosiers and Boilermakers, here's the roundup from last week.

Blair Brown Player of the Week

Considering her career at Penn State to this point, it's kind of amazing this is only Blair Brown's second Big Ten co-Player of the Week award ever. It's the first this season.

Nittany Digs: 'Deja'-Vu All Over Again

Teams just aren't losing. This leaves Penn State women's volleyball anchored firmly at No. 9 in the polls the last few weeks, even though the wins have picked up. The Nittany Lions are now 17-4, coming off sweeps of both Ohio State, and 22nd-ranked Northwestern in Evanston.

Deja McClendon
(Photo: GoPSUsports.com)

Penn State is undefeated in Rec Hall again this season. But with home games against Northwestern and Illinois looming large in the coming weeks, maintaining Penn State's 84-game home win streak is not guaranteed.

With that, here's the wrap up from this past week.

Frosh of the Week, again...

Deja McClendon just can't stop, grabbing this week's Big Ten Freshman of the Week award, her third this season.

Nittany Digs: Floyd of Rosedale Edition

Is it sad that a pig makes a better trophy
than the Land Grant Monstrosity that
PSU and MSU have to play for?

Penn State downed Iowa and No. 19 Minnesota last week. On the gridiron, the Gophers and Hawkeyes play for the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, giving this edition of Nittany Digs its theme for the week.

The Nittany Lions are now 14-4 overall, which on paper looks like a complete train wreck of a season for what this program has been used to the last few seasons. But Penn State is still in the very thick of the Big Ten title race this season, and already in position for a decent seed in the NCAA tournament. Yes, it's early to start thinking about the postseason, but the regular season is already halfway done.

Here's the lowdown on last week's action.

Nittany Digs: Consecutive losses? Really?!

Penn State football is... um... well...... anyway, we still have Penn State women's volleyball to cheer us up, right?

This just isn't a good year for Penn State fall sports. That's not to say all the fall teams are doing poorly, but the two flagship fall programs--football and women's volleyball--aren't exactly living up to the lofty standards set the last few seasons.

The Nittany Lions just lost two consecutive matches for the first time since Joe Paterno was a toddler. Adding insult to injury, INdiana was one of the victorious teams. You know how long it's been since Indiana women's volleyball beat Penn State? SINCE NEVER. This was the Hoosiers' first win over Penn State, bringing the series record to 40-1.

Nittany Digs: Wolverine State Sweep

Freshman Deja McClendon 
had 14 kills against MSU.

Penn State got back on the winning track this week, with a nice sweep of Michigan State and Michigan.

Wolverine State Sweep

Michigan State at No. 4 PSU - W, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-17)

Three Nittany Lions posted double-digit kills including senior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) and freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) who tallied 14 apiece. Senior Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) rounded out the trio with 10. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville. Va.) dished out 36 assists and had two blocks, including one solo. Senior Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) led the team in digs with seven, while Brown and senior Fatima Balza (Merida, Venezuela) led the Nittany Lions with five blocks each.

Penn State closed out the night with a .293 attack percentage and held Michigan State to just .095. The Lions totaled 47 kills, four aces, 28 digs and 12.5 total team blocks and held the Spartans to 30 kills, one ace, 31 digs and 11.0 team blocks.

2010 Penn State Women's Volleyball Roster

Updated: 1/1/11

No.	Name	Pos.	Elig.	Ht.	Hometown/High School
1	Ariel Scott	MH	FR	6-4	Ridgewood, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy
2	Katie Kabbes	OH	JR	6-4	Raleigh, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons
3	Fatima Balza	MH	SR	6-3	Merida, Venezuela/Liceo Caracas
4	Jessica Ullrich	DS	SR	5-8	Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North
5	Kristin Carpenter	S/DS	SO	5-6	Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover
6	Maddie Martin	OH	FR	6-2	Tampa, Fla./H.B. Plant
7	Arielle Wilson	MH	SR	6-3	Broadview, Ill./Proviso East
8	Erica Denney	MH	FR	6-5	Aurora, Colo./Grandview
9	Blair Brown	MH/Opp.	RS SR	6-5	Purcellville, Va./Loudoun Valley
10	Marika Racibarskas	S	SO	6-0	Chatham, N.J./Chatham
11	Darcy Dorton	OH	SO	6-2	Muncie, Ind./Delta
12	Alyssa D'Errico	L/DS	SR	5-9	Byron, N.Y./Byron-Bergen
13	Megan Shifflett	DS/S	JR	5-6	Falls Church, Va./Langley
14	Cathy Quilico	L/DS	SR	5-1	Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake
15	Maggie Harding	DS	FR	5-6	State College, Pa./State College Area
16	Katie Slay	MH	FR	6-6	Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield
18	Deja McClendon	OH	FR	6-1	Louisville, Ky./Dupont Manual Magnet
19	Krosby Pabst	DS	FR	5-7	Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson Classical
22	Mikinzie Moydell	S	FR	6-0	Parker, Colo./Chaparral
23	Ali Longo	DS	FR	5-6	Littleton, Colo./Chatfield
	Coaches
	Russ Rose	Head Coach
	Dennis Hohenshelt	Assistant Coach
	Kaleena Davidson	Assistant Coach
	Adam Hughes	Dir. VB Operations

Nittany Digs: Crashing back to earth

Senior Blair Brown had 16 kills
in the losing effort at Illinois.

We all knew The Streak would end at some point. It did two weekends ago. But damn, we didn't realize Penn State would drop another match so quickly afterward.

The Nittany Lions not only fell earlier this season to Stanford, but then this past weekend, lost again, this time in conference play at No. 9 Illinois. I guess it could have been worse, against a poor opponent. But that doesn't make losing any easier for the team. In sports your goal is to win all of your games. Well, for three years, this team did just that. It must be a weird feeling to not have a 1.000 record.

Nittany Digs: 'The Streak 2.0 starts today'

Penn State's all-sports blog had a really nice piece about the atmosphere in Rec Hall, and how one of college sports' best fan bases is lifting this team back up after its first loss in 109 matches.

Students even created a Facebook event specifically promoting what they call 'The Beginning of the Streak 2.0'. More than 2,000 students planned on attending the event and they even orchestrated a white out for Friday night's match against George Washington...

"I think a crowd definitely plays a part in the opponents head and you know it helps us the whole time to get energy if we're needing energy, which we should be making our own," said Brown. "But you know if it's not coming naturally it's great for them to be there and to kind of lift us up when we need it and for the opponent it's tough playing in a place where everybody is rooting for the other team."

Nittany Digs: Goodbye to 'The Streak'

"The Streak" may have ended this weekend,
but Rec Hall is still an impenetrable
fortress for Penn State women's volleyball.
(Photo: Steve Manuel)

Penn State women's volleyball saw it's NCAA record 109-game win streak snapped at the hands of Stanford this past Saturday. I feel like it's partly my fault. In last week's edition of Nittany Digs, I wrote:

"Penn State women's volleyball is quickly separating itself from any other college sports dynasty. Ask the players and coaches--particularly head coach Russ Rose--and they'll surely tell you all the right things. But it's starting to morph into a monster, as we're all left to wonder "when will they ever lose again?"

Yeah, not happy about saying that now. Anyway, there's still much to look forward to this season, so on with this week's update.

SNAPPED! Women's Volleyball 109-Game Win Streak Ends

(Photo:GoPSUsports.com)

As if tonight couldn't get worse, Penn State's women's volleyball team has fallen 3-0 to Stanford, breaking an NCAA record 109-game winning streak.

We'll have more on this tomorrow. But figured we'd give you all the bad news in one night.

From the GoPSUsports.com release:

"After three storybook seasons, No. 1 Penn State's record-breaking 109-match winning streak came to an end Saturday night with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-12, 25-18) loss to No. 2 Stanford (7-0).

During the streak, which is the longest Division I women's streak in history and second overall only to the Miami men's tennis team's streak of 137 straight matches, Penn State lost just 19 sets. Penn State won a record breaking 111 straight sets from the final set of the 2007 National Championship match against Stanford to the third set of the 2008 NCAA National Semifinal against Nebraska. Also, Penn State won an NCAA-best 55 straight road matches and was not out-blocked for 68 consecutive matches. "

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Nittany Digs: Women extend streak to 108

Penn State women's volleyball hasn't lost
in Rec Hall since 2005. (Photo: Steve Manuel)

Penn State women's volleyball is quickly separating itself from any other college sports dynasty. Ask the players and coaches--particularly head coach Russ Rose--and they'll surely tell you all the right things. But it's starting to morph into a monster, as we're all left to wonder "when will they ever lose again?"

When that happens, we'll deal with it then. For now, we'll keep you in the loop with this new weekly series "Nittany Digs," which will cover both men's and women's Penn State volleyball. If you're a die-hard PSU volleyball fan, I highly recommend checking out Dig Nittany Volleyball, a fantastic, independent blog dedicated to two of Penn State's most dominant teams.

Speaking of that 102-game win streak...

Women's volleyball season starts on August 27, as Penn State will look for a fourth straight national championship. Here's some news to catch you up.

We Are... Number One!!!

Big surprise, Penn State will start the year at No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Schedule & TV

Oh yeah, Penn State volleyball will be on television plenty this season, mostly due to our buds at the Big Ten Network, but ESPN is kind enough, too.

Penn State's TV Broadcast Schedule
Sept. 26 at Wisconsin, 2 p.m., Big Ten Network, Tape Delayed until 7 p.m. on Sept. 26
Oct. 2 vs. Michigan, 6 p.m., Big Ten Network, LIVE
Oct. 15 vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m., ESPN2, Tape Delayed until 1 p.m. on Oct. 17
Oct. 20 at Ohio State, 7 p.m., Big Ten Network, LIVE
Nov. 5 at Michigan, 7 p.m., ESPN2, Tape Delayed until 1 p.m. on Nov. 7
Nov. 13 vs. Illinois, 7 p.m. Big Ten Network, TBA
Nov. 27 at Minnesota, 9 p.m., Big Ten Network, TBA
Wild Card Match, TBA

Here is the full schedule. Notice a certain date on there? On Sept. 11 at 6:30 p.m., the team will take on either Texas or Stanford as part of the NIKE Big Four tournament in Gainesville. Penn State will take on Florida in the first round. If the Nittany Lions can come out of there unscathed, good things are sure to come during the remainder of 2010, hopefully all the way to another chance at the title.

Here is the full 2010 prospectus, published by PSU.

Players and Roster

There are currently 20 players listed on the official 2010 roster (which I will update on LBU shortly), including the nine freshmen. Considering most, if not every single one of those players are at the top of their recruiting classes when they come to Penn State, this is like having a team full of Reggie Bush's or Tim Tebow's (of course minus the free housing and relentless preaching). I thought DigNittanyVolleyball.com said it best about this year's roster, when they compared it to what Mozart was told about one of his works:

So, our guess is that suggestions from fans that there are “too many players” on the 2010 Penn State unofficial roster would be met by Russ Rose with something akin to Mozart’s “There are just as many notes as I require, your Majesty, neither more nor less.” -- DigNittanyVolleyball.com

Oh, it's going to be a fun season. Sure, they lose a ton of talent from the last few national title teams, but if there is one thing Russ Rose can do, it's reload each year without batting an eye. We will do our very best to give deserved coverage to PSU volleyball this season. After all, they sure have earned it.

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