By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 29, 2012 4:12 PM
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.
- Take a look back at the running blog from Wednesday's 80-56 setback inside Mackey Arena.
Welcome to GoPSUsports.com gameday coverage of Nittany Lion basketball.
Tonight, Penn State (10-14, 2-9) is in Mackey Arena for its final road game of
the 2012 Big Ten season on Senior Night at Purdue (19-10, 9-7).The Nittany Lions return to the floor after a
heartbreaking loss to Northwestern at home on Saturday night.
The Nittany Lions are expecting a physical contest against a hungry Purdue team
looking to send senior starters Robbie Hummel, Lewis Jackson and Ryne Smith out
with a victory in their final appearance at Mackey Arena.The Nittany Lions are coming off two very
strong days of practice heading into the penultimate game of the regular
season.The Lions need a quick start in
the hostile environment.
VIDEO: Tour Newly-Renovated Mackey
Arena During Penn State Shootaround Penn State will be playing its first game in the newly-renovated home
of Mackey Arena.GoPSUsports.com took a
walk around the facility at shootaround on Wednesday.Take a look.
In-Game Blog: Check back at 6:30 p.m. for live
updates as the game progresses.
- The Nittany Lions
will be without a significant piece of its lineup on Wednesday night.While cutting around a screen at shootaround
on Wednesday morning, senior Cammeron Woodyard suffered a fracture of the fifth
metatarsal bone in his right foot.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Frazier, G - Colella, G - Marshall, F - Travis, C
- Graham Purdue: G - Smith, G - Jackson, G -
Johnson, F - Hummel, F - Carroll
First Half: 15:15 - Penn State 9, Purdue 9 Junior point guard Tim Frazier is off to a superb start in Mackey
Arena.The Texas native is perfect from
the floor and the foul line.He has
scored all nine of Penn State's points thus far.The Boilermakers have missed a couple open
looks from the perimeter, but the Lions are off to a good start in front of a
packed house inside Mackey.
11:47 - Penn State 14, Purdue 14 The Nittany Lions are
5-for-9 from the field in the opening eight-plus minutes of game action.A good start on offense was an absolute must
tonight, and Penn State has done just that.The Lions held Hummel without a point before he slipped free under the
basket for an easy lay-in.The Purdue
senior will head to the foul line for two shots after the media timeout.Nonetheless, the Nittany Lions are playing
the type of game they need to thus far.Jon Graham will head to the bench after picking up his second foul,
though.
5:20 - Purdue 29, Penn State 25 Just when we
mentioned Hummel was quiet at the start of the game, the Indiana native poured
in 10-straight tallies to put the Boilers up by eight (22-14).Frazier answered with an old-fashioned
3-point play to make it a five-point game.Frazier is putting on quite a show in the first half with 16 points on a
blistering 6-for-7 shooting performance.No one on the Purdue side of the ball can keep Frazier in front of
them.The Lions are in a very good spot
down just four.
0:00 - Purdue 37, Penn State 32 The Nittany Lions put
together a very good first half of basketball on the offensive end of the floor
after shooting 56.5 percent from the field, but they trail Purdue by five at
the break.Frazier played exceptionally
well in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 16 points with four rebounds and four
assists.He was out-done only by Hummel,
who nailed a big 3-pointer at the whistle to give the Purdue senior 17 points
in the first half of play.Two of the
Big Ten's best scorers gave the packed house at Mackey Arena their money's
worth in the first half.The Nittany
Lions need to take better care of the basketball in the second half after
committing seven turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.Nonetheless, Penn State played exactly how it
needed to in the first half to put itself in a position to contend for a win.
Second Half: 15:56 - Purdue 48,
Penn State 34 The Nittany Lions
scratched and clawed their way to a very solid first half, but a surge from
Purdue has drastically shifted the momentum in the early minutes of the final
20 minutes.The Lions were held
scoreless until Frazier knocked down a floater with 16:15 to play.Prior to that, Purdue scored the first 11
points out of the locker room en route to a 16-point cushion.Since Hummel scored a four-point play with
4:00 to play in the first half, Purdue has out-scored the Nittany Lions 19-4.
11:23 - Purdue 58, Penn State 42 Purdue has taken control of things with white-hot shooting in the first
8:37 of the second half.The Boilers
started the second half 8-for-9 before D.J. Byrd missed a 3-pointer.Marshall scored to trim the Purdue lead down
to 16, but the Nittany Lions must play better defense if they are going to
mount a comeback.The Boilers deserve a
lot of credit for hitting shots, but the offensive possessions have been too
easy for the black and gold.
7:38 - Purdue 69, Penn State 44 The Purdue lead has grown
to 25 on absolutely superb shooting from the Boilermakers.In the second half, Purdue is 12-for-16 from
the field.Penn State has done a decent
job on defense, but Purdue has been in the zone since the second half began.
0:00 - Purdue 80, Penn State 56 After playing a tight
first half, the Nittany Lions fell victim to a red-hot shooting performance
from Purdue inside Mackey Arena.Purdue
shot 65 percent from the field in the second half en route to a 24-point
victory.Frazier was tremendous, once
again, for the Nittany Lions.He scored
24 points on 10-for-16 shooting.Jermaine Marshall also scored in double figures, finishing with 10.After a very strong shooting first half, the
Lions shot 9-for-25 in the second 20 minutes.
Final Thoughts: The Nittany Lions went toe-to-toe in the first half of play, matching
every run the Boilers put together.However, the momentum began to shift at the 4:00 mark when Hummel
converted on a four-point play.From
there until the end of the first half, Purdue went on an 8-2 run.Prior to Hummel's basket, the Lions held a
30-29 lead.
Purdue took a five-point lead into the second half and never looked back.The Boilers were nearly perfect out of the
locker room on their way to a 43-point second half.The Nittany Lions never recovered from the
surge to open the second half.Nonetheless, give Purdue a great deal of credit for a superb stretch on
the offensive end of the floor.Purdue's
senior trio of Hummel, Ryne Smith and Lewis Jackson combined for 17-for-28
shooting on the Senior Night.The
evening belonged to Hummel, though, as the outstanding senior guard finished
with 26 points in his final game at Mackey Arena.
For the Nittany Lions, they return home to take on Michigan Sunday afternoon in
the Bryce Jordan Center.Penn State is
12-18 on the season and 4-13 in Big Ten play.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 29, 2012 3:03 PM
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By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com
Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Rec Hall
has played host to Division I collegiate volleyball for a long time now,
welcoming men's and women's volleyball fans into its stadium seats for weekend
classics, EIVA championships and even national tournament contests.
But on Saturday, the courts in
the main gym of the athletic facility showcased a different kind of volleyball
than the typical Nittany Lion fan is used to seeing. The players on the court
weren't jumping or sidestepping, or even playing on their feet.
They were playing on their butts.
Members of the U.S. Army Wounded
Warriors sitting volleyball team came to Happy Valley to put on two exhibition
matches featuring the game of Seated Volleyball. After the Penn State men's
volleyball team finished its EIVA match against George Mason on Saturday
evening, the Army athletes took the floor against members of the Penn State
Ability Athletics program in its first match.
The 7-foot-11-5/8" net was
lowered significantly, hanging just above the surface of the wood floor. Blue
tape marked the changed court boundary lines, which covered a little more than
half of the size of the typical collegiate floor space, and six players
occupied the area on either side of the net.
The U.S. Army team took the first
exhibition match over the Ability Athletics squad with ease in just two sets,
and then welcomed seven Nittany Lions from the Penn State women's volleyball
team to the court. Ali Longo, Deja McClendon, Dominique Gonzalez, Erica Denney,
Kristin Carpenter, Lacey Fuller and Maggie Harding represented the five-time
national champion team and gave the Wounded Warriors a run for their money, but
lost in three sets to the national squad.
After the loss, freshman
defensive specialist Fuller was still all smiles and said that in a rematch,
she think she and her teammates would definitely be able to come out on top.
"It was different, but I got to play front row so that was amazing because I
got to hit the ball and I got a few kills and it felt good," said Fuller. "A
rematch is called for as soon as possible."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 28, 2012 4:50 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Coming off a dramatic one-point setback to
Northwestern on Saturday, the Nittany Lion basketball team (12-17, 4-12) will
wrap up its road schedule with a trip to Purdue (19-10, 9-7) on Wednesday night
inside Mackey Arena.
Penn State came up just short of scoring its third-straight home victory when
two free throws from John Shurna with 2.6 seconds to play sent the Lions off
the floor with a heartbreaking loss.While
it was a disappointing setback for Coach Chambers and the Nittany Lions, Penn
State returned to the floor with renewed sense of energy and positive attitude at
practice on Monday.
With the rigorous schedule in the Big Ten, teams cannot afford to let losses
linger.The Nittany Lions will meet a
red-hot Purdue in an arena that is not kind to opposing teams.The Boilermakers have won four out of their
last five games, including a 14-point victory over No. 16 Michigan.Additionally, Purdue is 12-4 on its home
floor in West Lafayette this season.
The Nittany Lions are 2-15 all-time in Mackey Arena, but fell agonizingly short
of a win their last season when All-American JaJuan Johnson drilled a mid-range
jumper in the final seconds to lift the Boilers to a 63-62 victory.
Coach Chambers stressed on Monday that there is still a lot to play for and a
great opportunity for the Nittany Lions to grow in the final two weeks of the
season.With two victories in their
final two games, the Lions could still potentially vault to ninth in the Big
Ten standings.
Coach Chambers is looking for effort and attitude at Purdue.Playing good defense and rebounding are
always critical, but the Lions are seeking to avoid a slow start on the
road.Making shots in the first half at
Mackey Arena is crucial for the Nittany Lions on Wednesday night.
The emergence of two freshmen during in the latter stages of Big Ten play could
help the Lions avoid a slow start at Purdue.For the third-straight game on Saturday, redshirt freshman Jon Graham
set or equaled his career-high in scoring with 10 points.True freshman Ross Travis scored 10 points
and pulled down a career-best nine rebounds in 31 minutes of action on
Saturday.
Additionally, sophomore Jermaine Marshall enters the Purdue game on a career-best
string of seven-straight double figure scoring games.When Tim Frazier, who ranks second in the Big
Ten in scoring with 19.9 points per game, has several members in his supporting
cast score in double figures, the Nittany Lions are a completely different team
on the offensive end of the floor.
Translating the double figure scoring numbers from the BJC to Mackey Arena will
be critical for the youthful Nittany Lions.Purdue is averaging 77.3 points per game in its last three contests at
home.That figure is largely due to a
strong finish to the season from veteran Robbie Hummel.
The sharp-shooting fifth-year season enters the game as the Boilermakers'
leading scorer at 16.5 points per game.Hummel
has taken his game to a new level in recent weeks as Purdue closes in on
another NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Nittany Lions will kick off the final week of the regular season at 6:30
p.m. (BTN) at Mackey Arena before returning home on Sunday for a clash with No.
16 Michigan.The Big Ten Tournament
begins one week from Thursday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 28, 2012 4:28 PM
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By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Lorenzo Wrestling Complex in Rec Hall played
host once again to this year's Big Ten Tournament Media Day with the defending
conference champion Nittany Lions. While the rest of his coaching staff drilled
and threw a Nerf football with his athletes at practice on Tuesday, head coach
Cael Sanderson addressed the media to preview the upcoming conference
tournament, which will begin Saturday.
Sanderson identified the whereabouts and progress his 10 competing wrestlers,
and touched on a few of the key things that his team will have to do in order
to have success over the rest of a talented Big Ten conference.
New Year, Same Attitude Last season, Penn State claimed its first ever Big Ten wrestling
championship in the program's history. The Lions inched past then frontrunner
Iowa by just one point with a team score of 139.0 to the Hawkeyes' 138.0
points. This year, Sanderson's team garnered top-12 rankings in the coaches'
poll at eight of its 10 competing weight classes and two of those wrestlers,
David Taylor and Frank Molinaro, hold top spots.
Sanderson said that this year he looks at the conference tournament less as
an opportunity to defend last season's title and more of a chance to establish
a consecutive winning program.
"Winning the Big Ten tournament last year, that was one of the thrills of my
coaching career for sure," said Sanderson. "But overall the Big Ten tournament
is very competitive and it's something that you've got to visualize yourself
winning it and if you're doing that not smiling, you're probably in the wrong
business. Next to the National Tournament it's probably the biggest thing in college
wrestling."
Ruth is Good to Go After a tough dual meet season and a recovery period for Ed Ruth, the 174
pounder was held out of the final two dual meets of the year on precautionary
measures. Sanderson said that the sophomore was held out of competition
strictly as a caution, and freshman Matt Brown stepped in where Ruth was not
wrestling.
After a little bit of rest and some time off of the mat, Sanderson said that
his entertaining athlete is ready to go.
"Ed Ruth is 100 percent," said Sanderson. "The minor potential injury that
he had, he wrestled in the Michigan match with that same thing so he's 100
percent and a couple weeks off have only motivated him even that much more
which is exciting. He's been one of the last guys, if not the last guy, to
leave the room the last couple of weeks just because he's excited - and an
excited and motivated Ed Ruth is a scary dude."
Having Fun and Wrestling Hard for
Seven Minutes The head coach also said that not much changes when his team heads into the
postseason as far as the way it prepares and acts both in and out of the
practice room. Like he and his coaching staff have preached all season long,
the Nittany Lions are looking to wrestle their hardest against any competition
for a full seven minute bout. But they are also going to do it with a smile on
their face.
"I think there's a lot of the personality that we have on the team and they
kind of realize and figure out and remember that this is fun," said Sanderson.
"To do things well you've got to do things seriously but it helps to enjoy them
and you don't need to be on-guard or on on-call 24 hours a day."
Sanderson went on to assure the media that he isn't worried about how his
athletes will handle the big stage of postseason action, because he says they
should be used to it by now.
"They know what to do," said Sanderson. "They're competitors and they've
been down this road many times. The pressure is a complement. If they feel
pressure then that means that they've done something that should warrant that
pressure and that's a blessing."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 28, 2012 10:03 AM
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By Laura Finley, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Adults and children alike were decked out from
head to toe in pink as fans flooded into the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday
afternoon in support of the sixth annual WBCA Pink Zone. People sported pink
tutus, pink wigs and pink boas in a team effort by the Lady Lions, fans and the
community to support breast cancer awareness and celebrate its survivors.
With pink trim on the jerseys and shoes and an honorary pink ball tipoff, the
Lady Lions stated from the start that they wanted to win their last home game
for the survivors. In the end, they did just that, taking the win against
Minnesota 74-51.
"We have so many survivors and so many fans," said senior guard Zhaque Gray. "I
wanted to win it for the survivors. I go to other schools and I see their Pink
Zone and I just think, 'What are they doing' because ours is so great. I am
just excited to watch it grow and I know it is going to keep growing."
And grown it has, as the event honored a record 505 survivors during halftime. With
the lights down, blinking pink ribbon pins dotted the arena like fireflies,
serving as a constant reminder of the 13,849 fans who came out to fill the BJC
in support of the Pink Zone.
"I've been coming here for six years now," said breast cancer survivor Mary
Hower. "It's emotional the way it has kept growing. I'm so grateful to still be
able to come. It's a reminder to enjoy every day and just take it one day at a
time."
With all attention focused on the center court, survivors gathered
around four-time Grammy Award winner Regina Belle during halftime. Belle sang
an emotional rendition of her song "If I Could," dedicating it to those
surrounding her.
"These are the real team players and the real survivors," said WTAJ new anchor
Carolyn Donaldson. "They've fought the good fight and as Coach Coquese
Washington said in her pregame speech, the [Lady Lions] are playing for these
survivors today."
Now in its sixth year, the Pink Zone has raised more than $500,000 with
the money going towards medical research and treatment in the fight against
breast cancer. This year alone, the preliminary fundraising total was $159,795,
not counting money from ticket sale donations, T-shirt sales and the online
auction.
"I've been here every year since 2008," said survivor Christine Marchese. "The
event has grown so much. It's wonderful seeing the crowd and having everyone
recognized. They've really done a lot for [the cause]."
Throughout the afternoon, the Pink Zone held promotions around the BJC
concourse, allowing fans to do their part in supporting the cause. From a
silent auction with over 70 items up for bid, to pink paw face tattoos, it was
truly a collective effort by all in recognizing the achievement of the breast
cancer survivors and ensuring that something is being done to combat the
disease.
Head coach Coquese Washington spoke for her Lady Lions and all the fans in
attendance when she said Sunday's game was not just about winning or clinching
sole ownership of the Big Ten title. It was all about honoring the survivors
and celebrating a great cause.
"Our fan base is outstanding on a normal night," said Coach Washington, "but on
a day like today when it becomes pink, we have a Grammy Award winning artist
doing the halftime show, pink hats, and over 500 survivors it becomes a
phenomenal environment. It is one that I feel honored, privileged and blessed
to be able to coach in and that our kids can play in."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 27, 2012 4:30 PM
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By Jeff Sattora, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK,
Pa. -There seemed to be a special feeling in the Bryce Jordan Center air Sunday
afternoon for the sixth annual Penn State Pink Zone game.With 13,000 plus in the stands wearing pink
to help fight breast cancer, the Lady Lions did their own version of fighting
on the court to get a big win.
The home team came out firing as the Penn State used a 13-0 first half run to
take a commanding 39-17 halftime lead, before going on to a 74-51 win over the
Minnesota Golden Gophers.
While the outcome Sunday never seemed in doubt, it was a different story than
the first time these two squads met.With the Gophers taking an eight point half time lead, before Penn State
battled back to win by 68-65.
"I thought we did a
pretty good job of coming out and playing hard and drawing on the survivors and
the fans that were in attendance," said head coach Coquese Washington."I thought that it gave us a lift in that
way."
Washington also
added how playing at home, not only with the great "Pink Zone" atmosphere, but
also with the shooting familiarity, played a big difference from this game to
the first time vs. Minnesota.
"I thought we got
some pretty good looks when we played them in the first half (the first game) they
just did not go down," she said."We
got some of those looks tonight, but we made them."
One of those
players who seemed to have no problem hitting those shots was sophomore
sharpshooter Maggie Lucas.
Lucas came out
firing from the tip as she scored 17 points in the first half (equaling
Minnesota's 20 minute total) before finishing the afternoon with 24 points, to
go along with her five rebounds and eight assists.
"I think we took advantage of what the defense was giving us," Lucas said."We made the extra pass a few times and we
were able to get out in transition. We were just doing what we usual do."
Another player who
thrived on what the defense was giving her all day long was senior Zhaque Gray.
Playing in her final game at the Bryce Jordan Center she was a huge part of the
win, knocking in 18 points, including 4-7 from three.
"I thought she
played very well. She hit some big shots and shot the ball with confidence,"
Washington said on her senior guard."I
think our kids really fed off of that."
For Gray, while
playing strong was a nice thing to have, it was all about the team.
"It was nice. Then
again, I just wanted to win. It does not matter if I play well or not. I just
wanted to win," she said.
That team-first
attitude is one of the many reasons that Gray's teammates love playing with
her, as Lucas mentioned just how much she means to the group.
"Zhaque has just meant so much to this team and she plays with so much heart
and we just try to follow that example," Lucas said."She sets that example every time she steps
on the court. We want to win it for her, but we cannot win it without her."
With a person like
that to take a lead from this team will have a chance to continue to do great
things.
The first step in that journey will be Friday at 6 p.m. in the second round of
the Big Ten Tournament (Penn State got a first round bye).The Lady Lions will face the winner of the
Minnesota vs. Wisconsin first round matchup.
This past weekend at Rec Hall our men's team played two conference games.We matched up Friday against the Princeton Tigers and Saturday against the George Mason Patriots.This was the sixth time playing each of these teams for me.I was especially excited to play Mason to beat up on my teammate from club volleyball Andrew Dentler.Both games had a similar feeling.Our team played well in stretches, but we found it to be very difficult to maintain our high level of play throughout the match.Both matches were won in three games, but we can't say it was one of our better weekends.This weekend did help us show some of the areas of volleyball that we need to work on so that we are happy come May, for instance our blocking.Our serving is very good and it puts us in great situations, but our blocking doesn't allow us to fully capitalize on them.We will continue to work on closing the block and staying physical at the net this week in practice.
We only have one match to worry about this weekend, No. 8 Ohio State.It will be the eighth time playing them for me in the last three years.The rivalry is well known in football, but Ohio State is the only consistently ranked team we played twice a year, so for our team they are pretty much our only rival, especially considering last May.I know our team will be pumped up, and I hope the game draws the crowd it deserves.Meanwhile it is a midterm week for many of us on the team; I have two this week, along with a drill project in my machine design class, so it will be a busy one.
Thanks to all the fans following our team and coming to our games, I hope to see you at Rec Hall this Saturday
Where my desk is as cluttered as only a home office desk can be! The Nittany Lions went to 6-0 in the EIVA with a 25-13, 25-22, 25-20 win over GMU tonight.
The volleyball evening was made even more complete with the US Army sitting volleyball team competing against the PSU Abilities Athletes and the PSU Women's Team.A vast majority of the crowd stayed around to watch the sitting discipline of volleyball and really got into the competition.
The Patriots had lost to SFU on Friday evening and came into the match with a 1-2 record in the EIVA. The playoff structure of the EIVA has changed from previous years. Now only the top four finishers in the regular season get into the semifinals. GMU certainly doesn't want to dig themselves too deep a hole early in this season. We always expect to see GMU's best but we were ready for even more tonight.
Game one started out just as we expected . Neither team could get an early lead but at 13-11 a Sunder kill got the ball for Goodell's serve. Goodell started with an ace, three GMU hitting errors, a Turko stuff and a Sunder kill and two more Goodell aces gave PSU an insurmountable 21-11 lead. Another GMU hitting error closed out game one 25-13. Leaders for PSU were Goodell (Kills - 3; Aces - 3), Sunder (Kills - 3; Digs - 2), Turko (Blocks - 3) and Goas (Digs - 2). PSU hit .529 and GMU hit .000.
Game twohad PSU get out to a 15-8 lead when GMU made an interesting switch. They pulled their starting setter and made their opposite set. We had not seen this at any point on video. It altered their offense just enough to through us off-stride. It almost made their offense less physical to which we didn't react well enough and after a GMU attack tied the score at 22 it was looking like something was finally going to rock our calm and steady demeanor. It looked even worse when they made a great dig and were taking a swing to go up 22-23; however, the attack sailed wide and we got the point and the ball. Peter Russell went back to serve and forced them into an overpass which Joe Sunder put away and then another GMU hitting error ended game two 25-22. Game leaders were Sunder (Kills - 6), Goodell and Aaron Russell (Blocks - 3) and Goas (Digs - 5). PSU hit .207 while GMU hit .000 again.
Game three hadGMU come out with their standard line-up, but with a renewed determination. They knew they could go toe-to-toe with us. The game was tied at 18 when two kills from Aaron Russell gave us a 20-18. After a GMU sideout, a Goodell kill followed by a GMU hitting error and a Sunder kill moved the score to 23-19. After the teams traded serving errors the final GMU hitting error gave the match to the Nittany Lions 25-20. Game leaders for the Nittany Lions were Goodell (Kills - 6), The Russell Brothers (Blocks - 1) and Wolf (Digs - 3). PSU hit .303 while GMU hit .111.
We knew going into the match we would have to weather some GMU storms and answer back with good play from our side. We did just that. In game three Ryan Wolf came off the bench and came up with three big digs which we converted for points late in the game. I keep waiting to see what will knock this steady group for a loop but it seems like we take everything in stride: the good and the not-so-good. This team finds a way to steady itself and we keep getting contributions at big times from everyone and anyone.Match leaders for PSU were Goodell (Kills - 13; Aces - 3; Points - 18.5), Aaron Russell (Blocks - 5) and Goas (Digs - 9). PSU out-hit Mason .316 to .037; out-blocked them 10.5 to 7; out-dug them 26 to 23 and out-aced them 5 to 1.
If it wasn't for the grittiness of GMU we would have had about three more aces and four more stuffs. They tracked some balls down in Rec Hall and sent them back over and they made some outstanding coverage plays to keep our blocks from hitting the floor. We weren't happy about our blocking mentality yesterday but tonight it was very aggressive and physical. It paid dividends for us tonight.
We are now 6-0 in EIVA play with only SFU left to finish out our first half of the EIVA season. SFU has two losses as they have been beaten by Harvard and Princeton. So we have put some distance between us and the rest of the EIVA field. We need to keep attending to our EIVA opponents.
After our match the US Army sitting volleyball team took on our PSU Abilities Athletes.This was coordinated by Teri Jordan, our Abilities Coach and USAV's Blake Elliot. The US Army is preparing for the Warrior games in early May where they will compete in 15 different sports against the other branches of the US Armed Forces. The team came into town on Thursday and trained through the weekend. They gave a clinic on sitting volleyball to our Abilities Athletes. It was great to see so many of our PSU faithful stick around after our match to watch and support these athletes. After the Army dispatched the PSU Abilities Athletes...who were playing their first ever game of sitting volleyball...the PSU women's team took the court. In a best of three match the Army prevailed with a 15-12 third game win.
I can't say enough about the young men and women who make up the Army team. They are a wonderful group of people who were fun to be around. The sacrifices that many of these soldiers have made didn't go unappreciated here in Rec Hall! There was genuine joy and fun being had in all four games which they played. I would love to get them back in the fall to compete against our guys and again in spring for another date after one of our matches. We wish them all the best in the upcoming Warrior Games and hope they stay safe. We can't thank them enough for what they dofor us all. It was a great night of volleyball in Rec Hall!
Our next match is Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU will be returning to the site where they won their first NCAA Championship this past May. I have no doubts that they will be fired up to take us on once again in our Big Ten face-off. The match starts at 7 PM and we hope to see you there!
Friday evening the Nittany Lions defeated the Princeton Tigers 25-18, 25-15, 25-18 to move to 5-0 in EIVA play this season.
Princeton came into the match with an EIVA record of 2-1. They had defeated Sacred Heart and Rutgers-Newark but had lost to Harvard. Princeton has added a couple of freshmen who will be very good players in the league for the next three years.Coach Sam Shweisky has the program moving in the right direction and Princeton can be a team that can get hot. They have a senior setter and a senior opposite thatwere main cogs in their run to the EIVA finals in 2010. We needed to assert our physical level play constantly and hope to wear them down.
Game one had us creep out to a 9-5 lead only to see the Tigers close to 11-9. PSU managed to extend the lead to 13-9 on a Goodell kill and Princeton error. We were adding a point here and there when a Peter Russell kill gave us a 19-14 lead. A tough serve by Turko resulted in a misconnected set by Princeton then Turko came up with an ace for a 21-14 lead. At 24-18, a Sunder kill gave game one to the Nittany Lions 25-18. Game one leaders for the Lions were Sunder (Kills - 6; Blocks - 1), Turko (Blocks - 1; Aces - 1) and Goas (Digs - 3). PSU hit .542 to Princeton's .300.
Game twostarted out streaky as PSU ran two quick points only to have Princeton tie with their own two points. The game was tied at 8 when a Goodell kill was followed by two Princeton hitting errors and a Turko kill for a 12-8 lead. Little did I know that we were going to pushing the lead even more.At 14-11 we had kills from Sunder andAaron Russell. Then brother Peter served an ace then another Tiger hitting error gave PSU an 18-11 lead. At 24-15 the last Princeton hitting error of the game ended it at 25-15. Game two leaders for PSU were Goodell (Kills - 6), Goas and the Russell brothers (Blocks - 1) and Curry (Digs - 2). PSU hit .480 while Princeton hit .158.
Game three had Comfort and Hendries giving a break to Goodell and Turko. Once again the early points were close as it was tied at 7. A Sunder kill was followed by two aces from Goas for a 10-7 lead. AT 13-10, a Comfort sideout kill gave him the chance to serve. A Goas/Hendries stuff and twokills from Sunder sandwiched a Hendries kill and the lead went to 17-10. From that point on the Nittany Lions just rode out the win with our offense as a kill by Aaron Russell ended the match 25-18. Game three leaders were Comfort (Kills - 5; Blocks - 1), Goas (Blocks - 1; Aces - 2), Hendries and the Russell brothers (Blocks - 1) and Sunder (Digs - 3). PSU hit .379 and the Tigers hit .240.
We did keep pressure on Princeton from our serving and eventually gained the separation we needed . Our transition game was pretty good all match. If Princeton couldn't put a ball away and we kept it off the floor we were doing a very good job at converting those for points. The only drawback to this match was we didn't a very good job controlling the two hitters which we had wanted to control. Our block was somewhat disappointing . I know I may be "painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa", as long-time friend Larry Bock would say, but we have to have a better effort and focus with our blocking.
Match leaders for the Nittany Lions were Sunder (Kills - 10; Points - 11.5; Blocks - 1), Goodell (Kills - 10), Goas (Blocks - 1; Aces - 3; Digs - 5), both Russells, Turko, Comfort and Hendries (Blocks - 1) and Curry (Digs - 5). PSU out-hit the Tigers .462 to .234 and out-aced them 7 to 0. Both teams had 19 digs but Princeton out-blocked us 6 to 3.5.
Our serving and our offense gave us the advantageswe needed. I thought Edgardo Goas had one of his best nights as a setter and our hitters were doing a good job of hitting the court and challenging the Princeton block.
Tomorrow we have the GMU Patriots. They were knocked off tonight in Loretto by the Red Flash of SFU. We will see a desperate GMU teamas they come to PSU with two EIVA losses already. They are 1-2 with the other loss to Sacred Heartand a win over Harvard.
After our match Saturday the US Army sitting volleyball team will be competing against PSU's Abilities Athletes and also against members of our women's team. It should be a fun night of volleyball! I'll be back to you with my thoughts after the match.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 27, 2012 11:22 AM
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By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - On March 17, the Penn State men's volleyball team
will be halfway finished with its regular season conference schedule. After
playing six of the seven teams in the EIVA, the Nittany Lions have established
themselves not only as the frontrunner of the conference but also as the most
dominant team in the league.
Penn State added two more matches to its win column this past weekend,
defeating EIVA competitors Princeton and George Mason in Rec Hall.
On Friday night, the Nittany Lions took the Tigers in three sets and swept
their ninth match of the season. Penn State won out 25-18, 25-15 and 25-18
respectively behind a fast-paced offense and big hitting numbers all-around.
Redshirt senior outside hitter Joe Sunder and redshirt freshman Nick
Goodell led the squad with 10 kills each and paced the Lions' offense from the
very start of the match. Penn State hit .462 on the night en route to its 11th
victory of the season and fifth conference win of the year.
On Saturday night, fifth-ranked Penn State tallied one more shutout victory
over yet another EIVA opponent, George Mason. The Nittany Lions battled a bit
more than the night before, but won out 25-13, 25-22 and 25-20 in three sets.
Sunder and Goodell shared the leading spot on the offense once again with
13 kills apiece and Goodell was especially on point behind the service line,
dishing out a match-high three service aces to keep the Patriots' defense on
its toes.
After Saturday night's match, the Lions' head coach Mark Pavlik said that
he was looking for his team stay focused and execute cleanly, which is just
what he got.
"I thought the way we came out today we really wanted to kind of set the
tone of not necessarily for them across the other side of the net but for us,"
said Pavlik.
Concerning his top two offensive threats, the leading coach said that he
wasn't all too surprised by the big numbers that both Goodell and Sunder put up
all weekend long.
"I think it's part of what we expect from anybody that's out there," said
Pavlik. "Whether it's Joe [Sunder] whether it's Peter [Russell], whether it's
Nick [Goodell] whether it's Tommy [Comfort], there's a certain level of
expectation that we have for those positions and these guys have been filling
it admirably."
For the first two sets of both weekend matches, the five-year veteran
occupied one side of the net while the second-year freshman stood at the other.
Their difference in age and experience, however, has not slowed down the Lions'
attack whatsoever. In fact, it seems to have helped.
"Joe's been through the wars now for four years and Nick's trying to start wars
of his own and I think that's part of what collegiate athletics is about," said
Pavlik. "You get that mix every year. This year's team is a unique team just
like last year's team was and just like next year's time is going to be. Right
now the pieces seem to complement each other very, very well."
With more than three years of experience on the court as a starting outside
hitter, returning All-American Sunder said that he is more than happy to share
the weight of the offensive attack responsibilities with a teammate like
Goodell.
"I just feel more confident when the ball is in the air on the way to him than
I have in a couple of years," said Sunder. "There's no one I'd rather have the
ball go to but him with the way that he's playing right now."
With a 12-1 overall mark and an unbeaten 6-0 record in conference play,
Penn State is halfway through its scheduled matches this year. Next week, the
Lions will host Ohio State for a second look at the Buckeyes and a Big Ten
opponent that never ceases to excite a homestand volleyball crowd.
"We're moving in the right direction and we're just always ready to go,"
said Pavlik.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 27, 2012 10:20 AM
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By Jackson Thibodeau, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Just three games into the regular season, several
freshmen have already made a sizeable impact for the Penn State men's lacrosse
team.
The youth-laden team, consisting of only four
seniors, has called on their younger counterparts to become key contributors at
this early point in the season.
"Our younger guys have brought a lot of fresh
energy to the field," said head coach Jeff Tambroni. "They have made up for
their inexperience with a lot of hard work."
More than a quarter of the Nittany Lion roster
is made up of freshman, making their class the largest represented class on the
team.
In the opening three games of the Nittany
Lions' season, freshmen have already accounted for six points (four goals and
two assists).
Freshman attackman Pat Manley (Arnold, Md.)
has recorded three of those points for Penn State, scoring a goal in his
collegiate debut against North Carolina and striking again with a goal and an
assist in the home opener against Michigan.
Manley was recently rewarded for his
contributions to the team, being named the Colonial Athletic Association's
Rookie of the Week last Monday.
"It feels great to be named rookie of the
week," Manley said. "It is still a long season and we as a team are going to
continue to focus on getting better out there as a group and not just
individuals."
Manley is not the only freshman displaying his
talents at this early point in the season...he is joined by other point scorers
and two defensive starters.
"I like to remind myself that nothing,
including playing time, is ever guaranteed," said freshman defenseman Jack
Donnelly (Toronto, Ont.). "Every week I come to practice and continue to work
hard to make sure I am prepared for our next game."
For Donnelly, collegiate lacrosse brings a
completely new style of play. Not only does the native Canadian need to adjust
to a new speed, but also a new game all-together. The freshman is accustomed to
playing box lacrosse, which is a version of the sport played on a much smaller
surface with smaller goals.
Donnelly is accompanied by another freshman,
JP Burnside (Garden City, N.Y.), as a defensive starter. The duo has combined
to force five turnovers and collect seven ground balls.
Outstanding offensive and defensive play from
freshmen most recently made an impact in Penn State's upset victory over then
No. 2/4 Notre Dame.
Freshman Michael Richards (Skaneateles,
N.Y.) picked up two ground balls and tallied a second quarter goal during
the upset in South Bend.
Defenseman
JP Burnside credits the early impact that freshmen have had to the team's
togetherness.
"The
camaraderie on this team has definitely helped us younger players adjust," said
Burnside. "The older guys always have our back and have helped us out from the
day we stepped on campus."
The
youthful team can be seen in action again next weekend when they travel to
Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 26, 2012 12:56 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.
- Take a look back at Penn State's 74-51 victory over Minnesota at the annual Pink Zone game in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Welcome to the GoPSUsports.com in-game blog for the Lady Lion basketball team.
It is the annual Pink Zone game inside the Bryce Jordan Center, as the Lady
Lions (22-5, 12-3) look to clinch sole possession of the Big Ten regular season
title against Minnesota (14-15, 6-9) on Sunday.Penn State has already clinched the top seed for the upcoming Big Ten
Tournament in Indianapolis, but with a win on Sunday the Lions will lock down
sole possession of the regular season conference crown.
Stay tuned for updates from a special day in the BJC where the Lady Lions honor
breast cancer survivors and fight for a cure to the disease.
Check back throughout the game for updates.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Bentley, G - Lucas,
G - Gray, F - Nickson, C - Greene Minnesota: G - Banham, G - Kellogg, G
- Buford, G - Mastey, F - Riche
First Half: 11:54 - Penn State 18, Minnesota 9 The teams exchanged baskets early before the Lady Lions turned up the wick
on the offensive end of the floor.Maggie Lucas accounted for seven tallies on a 10-0 scoring run.Lucas has been aggressive early with nine
points on 4-for-6 shooting.Nikki Greene
is also off to a good start offensively with four points on 2-for-2
shooting.Penn State is 8-for-16 from
the floor in the early minutes.The
Lions are off to a very good start in a critical game leading up to the
postseason.
3:50 - Penn State 35, Minnesota 11 The Lady Lions have
flexed their muscle in the first half of the regular season finale.After a 10-0 run early in the half, the Lions
mounted a 13-0 scoring spurt to make it a 31-9 game with 5:56 left in the first
half.Penn State's scoring charge has
been led by Lucas, who has a game-high 15 points on 6-for-10 from the
field.The Golden Gophers went 7:25
without a point before a basket from Micaella Riche.Nonetheless, Minnesota is just 5-for-23 from
the field.The Lions have seemingly done
whatever they have wanted on both ends of the floor.
0:00 - Penn State 39, Minnesota 17 The Lady Lions never
trailed in a dominant first half of play on Pink Zone day in the Bryce Jordan
Center.After leading by as much as 24
in the first half, Minnesota trimmed the margin down to 18 with a 6-0 scoring
spurt.Nonetheless, that would be as close
as the Gophers would get as Lucas and Bentley closed out the half with
four-straight points to set the halftime margin at 22.It was the Lucas show in the opening 20
minutes, as the sophomore guard finished with 17 points on 6-for-11
shooting.On the defensive end, Penn
State held Minnesota to just 7-for-30 from the field (23 percent).Penn State played the type of half it needed
to leading up to the Big Ten Tournament.
Second Half: 14:50 - Penn State 48, Minnesota 19 Penn State picked up right where it left off at the end of the first half
with a 9-2 scoring surge out of the locker room.Greene and senior Zhaque Gray have accounted
for all nine points.The Golden Gophers
have not found any type of rhythm on the offensive end of the floor.The Lions are in cruise control mode as they
close in on sole possession of the regular season Big Ten title.
6:25 - Penn State 66, Minnesota 33 It is great to see
Gray playing a strong game in her final appearance inside the Bryce Jordan
Center.The senior is pouring it in
against the Gophers with 16 points on 6-for-10 from the field and 4-for-7 from
3-point range.Lucas has 22 points,
seven assists and five rebounds.Greene
is the third Lady Lion in double figures with 10 points.Greene sent the Lions into the media timeout
with a lay-in, which made it a 33-point game.Penn State has gotten great play from its post players during the past
few weeks during the season.That will
be a big area to watch in the postseason.
0:00 - Penn State 74, Minnesota 51 The Lady Lions capped
off a wire-to-wire finish to earn sole possession of the 2012 Big Ten regular
season in fine style on Sunday afternoon.The Lions built a lead of more than 30 points in the second half,
largely thanks to hot shooting from Lucas and Gray.The sophomore sharpshooter tallied 24 points
and eight assists to lead the Lady Lions.Gray scored 18 points in the final home game of her Lady Lion
career.The Lions shot 45 percent from
the field.They were equally as
effective on the defensive end of the floor, limiting Minnesota to just 36
percent shooting.
Final Thoughts: Penn State wasted little time taking control of the regular season
finale on Sunday afternoon.The Lady
Lions used a 10-0 scoring run mid-way through the first half to build a 16-4
lead on the scoreboard.From there, they
never looked back.Penn State led by 22
at the break and as much as 33 in the second half before walking off the floor
with a 23-point victory.
The win sealed sole possession of the Big Ten regular season Big Ten title for
the Lady Lions.They finished the
conference season with a 13-3 mark in the Big Ten, and the Lions will enter
this week's Big Ten Tournament as the top seed.Penn State could potentially see the Golden Gophers again on Friday in
the conference quarterfinals depending on how the seeding shakes out on
Sunday.Additionally, the Gophers would
need a victory in the No. 8-No. 9 game on Thursday.
Sunday's game was about much more than basketball, though.For the sixth-straight season Penn State
hosted a Pink Zone game in honor of breast cancer awareness.Several hundred breast cancer survivors walked
onto the floor at halftime for a special halftime ceremony.Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien
addressed the crowd in the second half with a pink T-shirt on.He talked about his mother Ann, who is a
two-time breast cancer fighter (survivor).The Pink Zone game and more than 13,000 fans in attendance was a huge
success, once again for Lady Lion basketball.The Lions are 5-1 in Pink Zone games in the Bryce Jordan Center.
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Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 25, 2012 7:27 PM
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.
-Take a look back at Penn State's dramatic 67-66 setback to Northwestern on Saturday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Welcome to the GoPSUsports.com
gameday blog for the Nittany Lion basketball team.
We will bring you coverage from tonight's matchup between Penn State (12-16,
4-11) and Northwestern (16-11, 6-9) inside the Bryce Jordan Center.The Nittany Lions are seeking their third-straight
home victory, while the Wildcats are fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament
field.
Follow along here on the in-game blog for updates throughout Saturday's contest
with Northwestern.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Frazier, G - Colella, G - Woodyard, F - Travis, F
- Graham Northwestern: G -
Sobelewski, G - Hearn, G - Cobb, F -
Crawford, F - Shurna
First Half: 15:11 - Penn State 11, Northwestern 6 The Nittany Lions are off to a very good start on both ends of the
floor.Penn State is 5-for-8 from the
field early without a point from Tim Frazier.Jon Graham and Cammeron Woodyard each have two baskets, with Nick
Colella accounting for the fifth field goal.Both teams have played zone defense in the early minutes.Northwestern is in its trademark 1-3-1 zone,
while the Lions have been playing a 1-2-2.Penn State is very active early.
11:53 - Penn State 18, Northwestern 13 Jermaine Marshall
capped off a 9-0 scoring run with a 15-foot jumper, which put the Lions up
13-6.However, Northwestern quickly
answered with two-straight baskets to trim the lead down to just three.Tim Frazier came right back with a pull-up jumper
before a powerful old-fashioned 3-point play from Sasa Borovnjak.Penn State has returned to its man-to-man
defense, but the story so far is the Lions' 8-for-14 shooting start from the
floor.
7:27 - Northwestern 25, Penn State 20 The Nittany Lions
took a seven-point lead on Graham's third basket of the night, but it has been
all Wildcats since then.Northwestern is
on a 12-0 scoring run (15-2 overall) en route to a five-point lead on the
scoreboard.Penn State has gone 4:06
without a basket while the Wildcats mounted their scoring charge.The Lions need to get the ball in Frazier's
hands.The junior guard has just one
field goal in the first 12:33 of action.
3:59 - Northwestern 28, Penn State 24 Right on cue, Frazier
scored two-straight baskets for the Nittany Lions to pull the Lions within
four.Both teams have cooled off
slightly, now each shooting under 50 percent.Despite going more than 4:00 of game time without a point, the Lions are
still well within striking distance.The
big difference has been on the perimeter with Northwestern 6-for-13, while the
Lions are 1-for-6.
0:00 - Northwestern 34, Penn State 28 The Nittany Lions got
off to a very good start on the offensive end of the floor en route to an
eight-point lead, but a sloppy finish sent Wildcats into the locker room with a
six-point edge on the scoreboard.Northwestern drilled eight 3-pointers in the first half, while the Lions
made just one from beyond the arc.Give
the Wildcats credit for their defensive effort in the 1-3-1 down the stretch in
the latter stages of the first half.Penn State committed four turnovers on four successive possessions, but
fortunately Northwestern was not able to extend the lead beyond six.Frazier led the way with eight points, while
Graham added six and Woodyard tallied five.Penn State shot 41 percent from the field, while Northwestern shot at a 48
percent clip.The Lions are fortunate to
be down just six with the way the first half ended, but well within striking
distance.
Second Half: 15:04 - Northwestern
43, Penn State 34 The Nittany Lions
scored the first four tallies out of the locker room to make it a two-point
game, but Northwestern again answered with a 9-2 scoring burst capped off by
five tallies from Big Ten leading scorer John Shurna.The Wildcats now lead by nine, their largest
lead of the night.When you give Shurna
an inch, he has a very quick trigger.The Lions need to answer out of the first timeout of the second half.
11:37 - Northwestern 46, Penn State 41 Needing a spurt, the
Lions turned to Frazier.The Lion junior
scored five-straight points, including a one-handed slam on an old-fashioned
3-point play to set the score at 43-39 with 14:03.Frazier now has 15 points (6-for-12) and six
assists.Northwestern answered with its
10th 3-pointer of the night to put the Wildcats back up by seven before a dunk
from Ross Travis.
6:55 - Northwestern 58, Penn State 55 Trailing by seven,
the Nittany Lions mounted a crucial scoring run to pull ahead for the first
time since mid-way through the first half.Travis scored the first six points of the run before Frazier and Graham
tallied baskets and Woodyard dilled a 3-pointer in the corner.In all, the 13-3 scoring run covered 3:59 to
put the Lions up 52-49.Northwestern's
3-point shooting is the only thing keeping the Wildcats in the ballgame.Six of the last seven Wildcat field goals
have come from beyond the arc.A huge
triple from Drew Crawford sent Northwestern into the timeout with a 58-55 lead.
0:00 - Northwestern 67, Penn State 66 The Nittany Lions
tied the game on a bucket from Borovnjak with 4:26 to play to set the score at
63-63.Shurna answered with a move in
the paint to put Northwestern on top by two.Frazier fielded an in-bounds pass before kissing a bank shot off the
glass while fouled.He converted the
free throw to give the Nittany Lions a 66-65 lead with 2:48 on the clock.That is where things would stand until the
final seconds.Graham had two
opportunities to extend the Penn State lead at the foul line with 14.1 seconds
to play, but missed both.Northwestern
drove the length of the floor before Shurna pulled up for a fadeaway jumper
from the corner.The shot fell short
because Graham blocked the attempt, but a foul was whistled on the play.Shurna went to the foul line with 2.6 seconds
to play.He made both to send the
Wildcats out of the Jordan Center with a dramatic 67-66 victory.Frazier topped the 20-point plateau for the
15th time this season, finishing with 23 points and eight assists.Travis and Graham each finished with 10
points.Shurna scored 23 points to lead
Northwestern.
Final Thoughts: It was a
heartbreaking loss for the Nittany Lions inside the Bryce Jordan Center on a
very close foul call with 2.6 seconds to play.Northwestern's red-hot 3-point shooting carried the Wildcats to a
victory in a must-win for their NCAA Tournament hopes.The Lions led early in the first half, but
Northwestern went on top with a 15-2 scoring burst mid-way through the first
half.The Lions battled back with a 13-3
run of their own in the second half to go on top, 52-49, with 8:39 to play.
From there it was seesaw affair with neither team leading by more than four
points down the stretch.Frazier's 3-point
play with 2:48 to go put the Lions up by one, but it came down to four foul
shots in the final 14.1 seconds.Penn
State failed to connect on two attempts, but Shurna sank two huge shots at the
charity stripe to send the Wildcats home with a narrow one-point victory.Northwestern finished the game 15-for-29 from
3-point range and just 7-for-21 on two-point attempts.
It was a tough loss for the Nittany Lions on two late free throws, but Coach
Chambers talked after the game about plenty of possessions during the game that
the Lions could have executed better on.Nonetheless, Penn State will look to regroup before heading to Mackey
Arena on Wednesday night for a clash at Purdue.
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Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
Hello friends, family, and fans! I hope everything is going well! I know things here are
going really well for us. We are at the half way point of our season and I feel like it has gone by so fast. I feel like it was just yesterday when I was moving all my stuff into the dorms and was eagerly waiting to start classes and official practices. So, I guess it really is true that time flies when you're having fun! Right now we are on the bus going to Ohio State for a double dual with the men's team. This is the first time that we have done a double dual together on the road. It will be an exciting meet because we are going against the Buckeyes who are ranked 11th and we are ranked 10th. It is always interesting to compete against a Big Ten team because we can compare ourselves to them so we know what we need to work on before the Big Ten competition, which is in four weeks! We have two more home meets and one away meet after this one and then we officially enter post season. Summer is also quickly approaching as we have about two more months left of the semester; can't believe freshman year is almost over. Until next time... We Are!
Last weekend was a very exciting and eventful one. We had our first double dual of the season. We competed against SUNY Brockport, while our men's team competed against the University of Illinois. It was a great night, and both teams came out victoriously. It was really fun competing with the guys and felt just like a normal day of practice. It was also nice to finally be home again in Rec Hall with our Penn State fans after three long weeks of traveling.
Immediately after the meet we had to sign autographs, change, and run to THON. It was absolutely amazing. The atmosphere was so upbeat even at 11:00 at night. The BJC was completely packed. We got there just in time for the pep rally and got to watch all the athletes do their dances before it was our turn up. Even though it was our second year doing this, we were still just as nervous to get up and dance in front of all those people, but it ended up going great. It is always an experience to do something like that for such a great cause. The men's gymnastics team went after us and did a hilarious dance with lots of flips, and ended up winning the whole thing (even over football!). THON ended up raising $10.6 million for childhood cancer, a new record, and we couldn't be more proud! Overall, it was an incredible weekend.
This week in the gym we had some awesome workouts as a team to prepare ourselves for the meet this weekend against Ohio State. It's another double dual, and we actually traveled with the men's team this time. It was a packed bus ride for 6 hours, so we all had to share seats, but it was fun because both teams get along so well. We know it is going to be a close meet tomorrow, since we are ranked 10th and Ohio State is 11th, but we are as ready as we could possibly be, and are excited to go out there and do our thing. It should be an exciting meet!
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 25, 2012 12:50 PM
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By Jeff Sattora, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In
sports, players and teams are often looking for any extra motivation they can
find, looking to play "for" something.A
player can often play for an individual goal, record, rivalry, or even trophy.
Or they can play for something bigger than all of that.
The Penn State Lady Lions will be playing for that something bigger this coming
Sunday at 2 p.m. as they take on the Minnesota Lady Golden Gophers in their
annual "Pink Zone" game to help fight breast cancer.
This will be the sixth annual "pink" game for the Lady Lions, in a cause and
program that has really grown over the years.While the game raised just over $20,000 its first year in 2007, that
figure jumped to just over $197,000 this past year.
In the first five years the game has raised a total of over $359,000 to help
raise awareness and help fight breast cancer.And they are hoping to make a big jump in that total this year.
For both the players and coaches this is a meaningful day, one they circle on
the calendars each year.
"It (the Pink Zone game) means a tremendous amount to me personally," said head
coach Coquese Washington, who has been a part of all but one of the "pink"
games in Happy Valley.
"We have an opportunity to have such a positive impact in so many ways,"
Washington added."As our program has
grown "Pink Zone" is one of the most significant ways we can impact our
community outside of the game."
For the coach, being able to give back and support a community in this way for
an event is just one small way the program looks to return the favor to a fan
base that supports them all year long.
"I'm just pleased and fortunate we have this ability to positively impact the
community," she added.
The game and its impact is not only known by the coach, but felt by the players
as well.
"Pink Zone is going to be amazing, I'm really excited," said guard Alex
Bentley.Adding how Washington's Pink
Zone pregame speeches about being appreciative of what they have and not taking
anything for granted have always really resonated with her.
"The game is important, but we're playing for a much bigger cause, much bigger
battle and we're excited, it's a wonderful day," added guard Maggie Lucas.
Sunday will be a wonderful day for the Lady Lions.No matter who comes away with a win on the
court, the team and program will already have won off it with the cause.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 24, 2012 3:41 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The Nittany Lion basketball team (12-16, 4-11) will be seeking its
third-straight victory in the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday night when it
takes on Northwestern (16-11, 6-9).
Penn State returns to action after five full days off after a 65-55 setback at
Wisconsin on Sunday.The Lions will be
looking to continue a streak of strong defensive performances on their home
floor.In the last four home games, Penn
State's opponents have averaged just 38 percent shooting and 54.8 points per
game.
Northwestern enters Saturday's contest after a tough overtime loss to Michigan
(67-55).The Wildcats are on the NCAA
Tournament bubble as they enter the final three games of the season.John Shurna comes into the game leading the
Big Ten in scoring at 20.0 points per game.With Shurna and Tim Frazier (18.5 ppg) on the floor together, Saturday's
game will feature the Big Ten's top two scorers.The Wildcats are 47th in the latest RPI
(RealTimeRPI), and they have little margin for error down the stretch.
The Nittany Lions have a lot to play for in the final three games of the
regular season, as well.Coach Chambers
has stressed the importance of the team playing its best basketball at the end
of the season, and it is especially crucial with Big Ten Tournament seeding on
the line.With a win against
Northwestern, the Nittany Lions could potentially vault from 12th to a tie for
ninth this weekend.Currently, two games
separate eighth from 12th in the standings.
Associate head coach Eugene Burroughs breaks down the Northwestern game with
GoPSUsports.com.Take a look.
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Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 24, 2012 2:33 PM
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By Cassie Speno, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Captain and 2011 ALC Goalie of the Year Dana
Cahill is a phenomenal player and student to the game of lacrosse. She is a
game changer in more ways than one and her teammates are grateful she is on
their side. Assistant coach, Amy Altig, says Cahill has fantastic natural
ability and very technically sound skills.
"She really has a nose for the ball," said Altig. "She tracks it really
well, no matter what level the ball is shot at. She has great patience and
allows herself the time to make the save."
One of Cahill's many strengths is her ability outside the cage. Last
year she ranked first on the team and second in the conference in ground balls
(47) and finished the season with seven caused turnovers.
"She is becoming better outside of the cage looking for interceptions and
coming up with ground balls," said Altig. "She is a complete and utter game changer. When
things might be a little crazy on the defensive end, you know she's right there
and is going to come up with the big save. She comes up big when you need her
all the time."
Being a captain and a goalie, Cahill has a very vocal presence on the
field. She is a tremendous leader and the anchor to the defensive end.
"She has such a voice back on the defensive end," said Altig. "Due to
her success in the goal cage her teammates really look up to her. They know in
a time of need Dana is going to be there. I think when you're a leader you feel
a little pressure, but she does a great job of channeling that and really rising
above."
Over the past two years, Altig has worked closely with Cahill to
advance her skills even further. Altig says when training they focus on how to
play certain attackers, taking away certain angles and specific opponents
tendencies.
"Dana has a natural ability to really see the ball and just go get it,"
said Altig. "It's hard to teach hand eye coordination and hand speed, but Dana
has those things. She has been a real sponge and great student of the game. She
is always in here asking to do film; individual sessions and we are constantly
throwing ideas at her so she loves the learning part. It is great as a coach
working with a player who wants to learn so much. She was great from the start,
but she has only gotten better because she is such a student of the game."
Cahill's coaches and teammates are extremely proud of all of her
accomplishments and are looking forward to her success this season.
"I couldn't be more proud of her being on the Tewaaraton Watch List right now,"
said Altig. "For her, I hope she looks back at the ends of this year and says I
had an awesome senior year. All the accolades aside, I hope she is proud of herself
for the progress she has made in the last year. I know we couldn't be more
proud of her and I know her teammates are."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 24, 2012 1:03 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
GoPSUsports.com sat down with new assistant coach Charlie Fisher for a
one-on-one interview this week.Coach
Fisher rounded out Coach O'Brien's staff when he was named quarterbacks coach
last Saturday.
Entering his 31st season in coaching, Fisher comes to Penn State after one
season as the quarterbacks coach at Miami of Ohio.Fisher spent nine seasons on the offensive
staff at Vanderbilt prior to his stint with Miami.The list of
players Fisher has coached or helped mentor include Earl Bennett and Jay Cutler
(Vanderbilt), Torry Holt and Koren Robinson (North Carolina State) and Zac Dysert
and Nick Harwell (Miami Ohio).
Fisher, a native of Allenwood, Pa., grew up in a Penn State house with several
family members attending school in Happy Valley.He traveled to games in the late 1960s, as
well.Take a look at an interview with
Coach Fisher.
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GoPSUsports.com Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 24, 2012 12:28 PM
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By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - So far this season, the fifth-ranked men's
volleyball team has rolled over its EIVA competition and remains undefeated in
the conference.
The well-rounded squad has featured 15 of its 17 rostered athletes in the
11 matches that have been played already this year. The Lions have only lost
one battle, which came in their third contest of the season to the Lewis Flyers,
and have taken home wins in the other 10 matches.
Four of those 10 victories have been over EIVA opponents, and each of those
four wins was won without dropping a single set. So literally, the Penn State
team has been sweeping its conference competition.
This weekend, head coach Mark Pavlik said that he and his team will
continue to push the throttle as Princeton and George Mason come to Rec Hall.
"Right now, playing those two teams at home I think gives us the
opportunity to try to make sure we put more distance between us and the rest of
the EIVA field," said Pavlik. "I think after this weekend all that is left is
St. Francis to get us through the first half of the season."
Penn State will match up with the Tigers of Princeton on Friday at 7 p.m.
and follow-up the next evening with another contest against George Mason at 5
p.m.
Two years ago, the Nittany Lions met Princeton in the finals of the EIVA
Championship for what would end in a 3-0 victory in Penn State's favor. But
Pavlik said that ever since, he has noticed a steady progression in the central
New Jersey program.
"They're moving their program forward," Pavlik said of the Tigers. "They've
gotten a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger and we're going to have to
make sure that we win the serve- and pass-game and try to keep them very
predictable."
George Mason has only played two conference matches this far into the
season, dropping one to Sacred Heart and taking one over Harvard. The Patriots
are currently on three-game losing streak after a tough road weekend last week,
but Pavlik said that with a couple of threats and a strong game at the net
George Mason is not a team that should be taken lightly.
"George Mason has always been a tough opponent in the EIVA," said Pavlik.
"Their lineup is getting a little bit bigger with a couple of 6'6 and 6'7
outside hitters in [Andrew Dentler] and [Michael Kvidahl] and their blocking
has always been their strong suit - as long as they've been involved in the
league they've blocked very, very well."
Of the 36 sets that the Lions have played this season, they've won all but
five. Pavlik said that his team prepares for each match the same way and that
this weekend he expects to continue to have the same outcome. Winning.
After the second conference contest on Saturday night, the Nittany Lions
will host a different kind of volleyball match and welcome two more squads to
the courts in Rec Hall.
This time a match will be played with a net that is not at the 7-foot-11
and 5/8" regulation height, but rather just hovering above the floor's surface.
And in this match, the competitors won't be doing any kind of jumping or diving
or even playing on their feet.
They'll be competing on their butts.
Members of the U.S. Army Sitting Volleyball team will put on exhibition
matches in Rec Hall that display what they have grown to know and compete in as
Seated Volleyball. The team is comprised of wounded warriors that have served
in the Army, and now feature their talents in this Paralympic form of the
sport.
The
main difference between Seated Volleyball and familiar Division I collegiate
volleyball is indeed the fact that players compete for the entire match on
their 'bottoms'. The 'bottom' of a player is defined as the upper part of the
body, from a person's shoulders down to their butt. Players are not allowed to
lift their bottoms off of the court at any time while trying to execute a type
of attack, but they are allowed to lift their bottoms from the floor in certain
defensive situations.
Athletes from the Penn State women's volleyball team and the Penn State Ability
Athletics program will be participating alongside the U.S. Army team throughout
the evening.
While Coach Pavlik said that he won't be participating in these
highly-anticipated matches, he did admit that he is pretty excited to watch.
"I've never personally witnessed a match so I'm looking forward to this," said
Pavlik. "It is what it says. Your butt is on the ground and you play
volleyball."
"I think it's just volleyball of another sort and I think certainly the crowd
that has seen enough great volleyball in Rec Hall over the years with both our
women's and men's teams, this will be something that should be very interesting
and a little bit different for them."
This past weekend we went on a trip Harvard and Sacred Heart that I will never forget. Not only was it the first time playing these teams on the road, but we had bus problems even more extreme than the complications we had on our trip to Chicago.
We were about three hours into the trip when the back of the bus began to fill with smoke and exhaust fumes from the engine. Our bus driver decided it was a good idea that we pulled over at a gas station while he checked the engine. After about 30 minutes and a quick bite to eat, we hopped back on the smoke-free bus and began traveling again. No more than about 45 minutes later, the same engine problems we were experiencing earlier began to occur. At this point, we needed a new bus. We pulled over to another gas station and learned that we needed to wait three hours until a new bus drove from State College to our current position. So some of the guys, along with myself, decided to pass the time with a "science experiment". We bought Diet Coke and Mentos from the gas station with our food money. If you don't know about this experiment, the Mentos, when dropped into the Diet Coke, create some kind of chemical reaction to make the Coke fizz over and spray out of the bottle. After a few successes, someone had the idea to keep the cap on after dropping in the Mentos and then throwing the bottle in the air. Me being the only freshman, I was the one to handle this messy task. The experiment ended as we thought it would, exploding when it hit the ground and soaking my jacket. After a few more similar experiments, the bus arrived and we made it to Boston at 5 am.
The next day, we arrived at the Harvard campus and did our usual pre-match routine and for our pre-match meal, we went to an Unos on the Harvard campus. As you can imagine, taking 18 peoples orders can be a lot on a waiter and when he was bringing us our waters, he spilled about 9 or 10 waters on Tommy Comfort. As you can imagine, that made for many laughs at our table and stories to tell those who couldn't make the trip. Later that day, we beat Harvard quickly and got out of Boston and into Sacred Heart at 1 am.
The next day, we headed onto campus to find that instead of our usual serve and pass, a women's basketball game was going on. We waited out the game and then began our serve and pass about an hour off schedule. After a pre-match meal, we headed back to the gym to wait for our match to start. Despite the weird rhythm to the match, we won in three and got on the bus to head home as soon as we could and arrived home at 3 am.
Overall it was a good trip despite the obstacles we had to overcome. Hopefully we can have a good week of practices to get ready for another home EIVA weekend, hosting Princeton and George Mason.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you at the matches this weekend!
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 24, 2012 8:44 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With the Lady Lions clinching a Big Ten title
and a busy month of postseason competition for several teams in March,
GoPSUsports.com caught up with Penn State Acting Director of Athletics Dave
Joyner for an interview this week.Dr.
Joyner talks about the upcoming postseason, Coach O'Brien and a typical week in
his office.
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Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
On Friday and Saturday we faced off against Rutgers- Newark and NJIT respectively, sweeping both teams in three sets to keep our home record at 4-0. It was good to be at home for two weekends in a row, and to be playing great volleyball through that stretch as well. Our whole team stepped up and took care of business, even in the third sets when the starters were taken out. Having such an all-around dominant match just proves how deep our bench can be in times of need. Our team is going to continue to press on through the EIVA schedule in the upcoming weeks into March. We have another road weekend coming up, this next weekend before we take the home floor again before March. Many of us are battling injuries and fatigue from travel, but the team is still putting in some solid work at practice on a daily basis.
Other than that, midterms are either here for many of us or coming up soon, and by this time I'm sure all of us are looking forward to spring break, when the team will be going to California for a week-long trip. In response to Nick Goodell's last post, we all know who the real kings of short court are (shout to my boy Dennis Del Valle). It's a shame what graduation can do to such a dominant tandem in that game. I'm only hoping to pick up where we left off with the addition of Peter Russell.
We hope to see you at the next home matches. Thanks for reading!
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 23, 2012 1:03 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Shortly after head coach Bill O'Brien was hired in January, the Penn State
PRIDE student group organized an opportunity for the students to welcome their
new head football coach.
PRIDE, Penn State Sportsmanship Team, is an organization that was designed to
make Happy Valley a welcoming place for all fans.The group wants to create a positive
environment for fans of both teams at Nittany Lion sporting events.
On Wednesday afternoon, PRIDE members personally delivered a signed welcome
poster to Coach O'Brien in his office at the Lasch Football Building.The group sat in Coach O'Brien's office and
talked for a few minutes before taking a group photo.
As PRIDE president Emily Schultz described what the group does on football
gamedays, Coach O'Brien joked that he doesn't want the organization to be too
nice to visiting teams. Take a look at the meeting.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 23, 2012 10:15 AM
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By Scott Traweek, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK,
Pa. - Ever since losing senior closer Ryan Ignas to Tommy John surgery in the
final month of last season, Penn State has been searching for someone to step
up and fill the crucial vacancy at the end of the bullpen. Now, after Sunday's comeback-win against
Cincinnati, the Nittany Lions may have found their answer.
Joe Kurrasch, a
junior transfer out of the University of California, entered the game in the seventh
inning with Penn State trailing 3-2 and proceeded to shut down the Bearcat
offense, allowing no runs and a mere two hits during the three-inning stretch.The Nittany Lions went on to score three runs
in the eighth inning and emerged victorious by a final count of 5-3.It was the junior lefthander's first official
outing since joining the squad in 2011 and the clutch performance was just what
he had been hoping for.
"It was really good
for my confidence just getting out there and facing live hitters," said
Kurrasch."Getting in that real game
situation, it was really good for my confidence going forward."
The closer is
arguably one of the most important pieces of a well-rounded bullpen.It is his job to enter the game in a tight
situation and hold a one-run lead or keep his team in the game when they are
behind.There is no room for error.He needs to be calm and collected under
pressure, and he needs to be lights out.Kurrasch demonstrated each and every one of these abilities in Sunday's
game and he believes he is prepared to assume the position.
"It's the role that
the coaches gave me and they have confidence in me," said Kurrasch."It's a big responsibility and, moving
forward, just have that be my motivation to go out there and make sure to shut
the game down."
Kurrasch has a wide
variety of pitches in his arsenal including a two- and four-seam fastball, a
change up, a curveball, and a slider.He
likes to freeze hitters with his off-speed pitches, but when the game is on the
line he goes to his overpowering two-seam fastball.
"I'm very confident
in my fastball," said Kurrasch."I think
I can beat a lot of guys with it, so if it's in a tough situation I think that
would be the go-to.Just a good,
well-placed fastball."
Growing up,
Kurrasch was inspired by two different, but talented Major League
pitchers.The first was none other than
former New York Yankees starter and five-time World Series Champion, Andy
Pettitte.
"Growing up, I
always looked at Andy Pettitte," recalled Kurrasch."Just watching him and his mentality and his
demeanor, so calm.I kind of took a lot
from him growing up."
The second was San
Francisco Giants' quirky, yet intense closer, Brian Wilson.
"When [Brian
Wilson] gets out there, he's very confident in his stuff," said Kurrasch."He knows what his job is and he takes his
job very seriously, but he likes to have fun doing it, so I think he's a player
that I look to for some inspiration."
Kurrasch suffered
an injury during his freshman year at California, which led him to transfer to
Penn State.He joined the team in 2011,
but NCAA transfer rules required him to sit out last season.Nevertheless, Kurrasch didn't miss a
beat.He spent the time he had off
recuperating from his injury and preparing himself for when his opportunity
presented itself.
"For me [the
offseason] was really pushing myself physically to get myself in the right
place to where my body can withstand a full season of throwing, get myself in
the right place with regards to my health." said Kurrasch.
He chose Penn State
because he was looking for a new experience.He sought the opportunity to become a better person and he was drawn by the
unity and passion of the Nittany Lion faithful.
"I wanted to put
myself in a place where I could develop myself as a person," said
Kurrasch."I wanted to go some place
unique, some place different.It was
really appealing to me to see the unity that was here and the pride behind Penn
State."
Kurrasch is now a part
of a diverse, but close-knit group of players who have a chemistry that he has
never seen before.They are all
different, yet they value what each teammate brings to the table.In the end, they all have the same goal in
mind: to win.
"We have a very
eclectic group of guys," remarked Kurrasch."Which is great because it keeps things loose, it keeps things
real.The diversity is essential... We
have different personalities, but we have the same goal in mind."
The match is
perfect.Penn State found a gifted
closer and a great addition to the family and Kurrasch found a home away from
home.
"The environment,
the staff, the team, the people, Penn State--We Are Penn State--it's a great
group to be associated with," said Kurrasch."State College as a whole is a great place and I'm proud to be here."
It has been awhile since I last wrote so there is obviously a lot to update everyone on!I have to say...wow does time fly!? I feel like just yesterday we were at our first meet of the season in West Virginia just to find that we are actually now entering our eighth meet! As a team, this year has been nothing but fun and full of great experiences.We are a group of fighters who go in every competition and make the most of the experience we have been given. We have developed some amazing chemistry through all of our travels this year and I can safely say there is unconditional love towards each girl on the team.
As far as gymnastics goes, after a few weeks of traveling, it was great being home in Rec Hall again! It is always fun competing in front of our home crowd! We have also been making a lot of progress at practice.We have been in the gym focusing on the small details that are going to take us from being good to great!So far we have been making great progress with cleaning up some form issues, adding amplitude to skills and focusing on landings.We hope to see these things carry over into competition in the near future and help us increase some scores!
This past weekend was THON weekend. Our team got the honor of making up a dance for the Student Athlete Pep Rally.We ran right over from our meet and autograph session to the BJC to participate in the breathtaking event. For those of you that are not aware of what THON is, it is also known as Penn States Dance Marathon where selected Penn State Students stay on their feet for 46 hours. Penn State students and organizations work all year to raise as much money as possible to help the fight against pediatric cancer. The money raised goes towards the Four Diamonds Fund, which is charity devoted to defeating pediatric cancer through research and caring for patients at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center Children's Hospital. This year Penn State raised another record high amount, $10,686,924.83 FOR THE KIDS!What an unbelievable achievement!
Next up is Ohio State this coming weekend! We look forward to an amazing in conference competition against the Buckeyes!
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 22, 2012 3:32 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The corner of Curtin Road and University Drive is a hub of construction
activity as the preliminary steps are ongoing for the new home of Penn State
Hockey.
Excavation work at the site of Pegula Ice Arena, the 6,000-seat home of the
men's and women's ice hockey teams, began in early February.The 200,000-square foot state-of-the-art
facility is scheduled for completion in September of 2013.
As part of the site excavation for Pegula Ice Arena, underground blasting began
on Monday.Blasts will take place
between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 and 3 p.m. from Monday-Friday each day for
the next six weeks.Depending on the
location of each blast, traffic along University Drive is stopped during
blasting efforts.The blasting is necessary
to make way for the arena's foundation.
Mortenson Construction is operating the project on the east side of the
University Park campus.Pegula Ice Arena
is one of three Penn State projects the Golden Valley, Minn. based company has
been awarded.The group also built the
new lacrosse facility, Penn State Lacrosse Field, next to the Multisport
Building.Additionally, Mortenson will
work on the Intramural Building renovation project, which is scheduled for
completion September of 2013.
Men's hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky and women's hockey head coach Josh
Brandwene are excited about the progress at the future home of Pegula Ice
Arena.
"We're really excited about what's going in there," Coach
Gadowsky said."The Pegulas do things
right and so does Penn State, and it's a great marriage. This arena is going to be awesome. I think it will be one of the premiere
facilities in NCAA hockey."
"It's just tangible
evidence of where we're going as a hockey program," Coach Brandwene said."To see a change every day and know there's
great work being done by great people is very exciting. Everything that this
wonderful facility will do for the Penn State community, the Centre County
region and State College is going to be great."
Take a brief look at
the construction progress at the site of Pegula Ice Arena.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 22, 2012 10:30 AM
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By Laura Finley, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Confetti and blue and white streamers rained down
on exuberant fans, as the Penn State Lady Lions threw back their heads,
screaming in triumph.
After cruising past Ohio State, 84-66, the Lady Lions received a
standing ovation from over 5,000 fans as echoes of the Penn State Alma Mater
filled the Bryce Jordan Center. This was the emotional scene that played out for
the team on Monday as the Lady Lions won their first Big Ten regular season
title since 2004.
"We stuck together as a team when things got hard," said sophomore guard Maggie
Lucas. "Tonight decided it, but there was a bunch of other games that led up to
this. We took care of business and we're pretty proud of that."
And it was a game to be proud of for the Lady Lions, who worked together to
deny Ohio State the victory. But the team effort did not stop there. With the
trophy presentation over and congratulations given all around, the team assumed
its position under one of the goals as each player and coach cut a single piece
of the net - a small memento of a hard-fought season.
"There are no words," said junior forward Mia Nickson. "It's amazing. We
worked so hard to get here. My team is amazing. I'm so glad I was able to come
here to get this opportunity."
Each player displayed this same sense of awe and thanks, acknowledging the
good and the bad of the season, and their own hope for the future. Hope in
themselves, their team and their university.
"We try our best night in and night out to represent Penn State's
slogan, Success with Honor," said head coach Coquese Washington. "At this
moment, I cannot be prouder to represent Penn State University."
The feeling was mutual for players and fans alike, as the Lady Lions
have battled all season to help bring success with honor back to Penn State.
After starting the Big Ten season 1-2, the team fought hard to get back on
track, working on the team dynamic and defensive skills. Everything finally culminated
on Sunday, as the team played together, with a combined effort to shut down
Ohio State.
"This is a two and a half month journey and there's so many things, so
many variables that impact that," said Coach Washington. "Whether or not you
have the fortitude and mental toughness, not to mention the talent, and the
health, there's so many thing that go into it. For this team to do that this
year given everything we've gone through this year, it really means a lot."
After making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year,
the Lady Lions set the stage to accomplish something more this season. The team
soon found out, however, that not everything goes as planned. After playing in
only three conference games, the team dropped two games at home.
"I remember sitting at that table
then and [the press] was asking, 'You're 1-2, how are you going to win? Are you
feeling pressure?' and I was like, 'No, we'll be fine'," said Coach Washington.
"We just needed to fix some things. We were looking at how that was game three
and we played a bad half, so let's fix some things and go on to game four and
then game five and so on and so forth to get to this moment."
This mentality brought it all
back for the Lady Lions who focused on defending and rebounding. While Maggie
Lucas and Alex Bentley seemed to steal the spotlight, racking up points and
assists, other players hung back, patiently waiting for their time to shine.
And it arrived Monday night.
While Lucas and Bentley handled
the ball, setting the pace of the game, it was the posts who made the plays.
Nickson, junior Nikki Greene and sophomore Talia East took control, feeding off
the energy of the crowd, and showing everything they had worked hard to perfect
this season.
"A big emphasis has been rebounding this year," said Nickson. "We lost Julia
[Trogele] who was a big guard for us. Everybody has stepped up and with that we
didn't lose any momentum."
This momentum will be crucial for
the Lady Lions as they close the regular season this Sunday, hoping to log
another win and head into the Big Ten tournament on a seven-game winning streak.
For now though, the players reflect on their achievements this season and continue
growing together as a team who stands as a testament to what Penn State is all
about, success with honor.
"It means a lot to me for Penn
State to have this experience, especially after this year and all that our
university community has gone through," said Coach Washington. "For us to give
something to be proud of and to remember that there's a lot of good here at
Penn State; there's a lot of things right. All year long we've tried to be
shining examples of what success with honor means. I'm glad that our community
is able to share in this moment with us."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 21, 2012 2:50 PM
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By Jeff Sattora, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK,
Pa. - All season long the Penn State Lady Lions and coaches have been saying
one basic thing, "We're just taking it one game at a time."Eventually that "one game at a time" strategy
will add up to something, and that something came into view Monday night.
The Lady Lions are regular-season Big Ten champions.
Coming into the contest with a half-game lead over their opponent, second place
Ohio State, a win would clinch the top seed in the Big Ten tournament and at
least a share of the regular-season title (while also owning the tie-breaker).
A win is exactly what the team got as the Lady Lions dominated all game long to
walk away with an 84-66 win in the Bryce Jordan Center.
This is the program's first regular-season title since 2004, and the first
under head coach Coquese Washington.
"There are no words. It's amazing. It's just amazing," said forward Mia
Nickson."We worked so hard to get here
and I couldn't see it with anyone else around me. My team is amazing. I'm so
glad I was able to come here to get the opportunity."
"All of these kids come from all over the country - California, Texas,
Atlanta, Chicago - and we said `Hey, come to central Pennsylvania and let's win
a Big Ten title,' For them to have that kind of faith and to come here and have
that experience it really means a lot," added Washington.
This group from all over the country put on a show in central Pennsylvania
against the Buckeyes from the tip, and never looked back.
The inside duo of Nikki Greene and Mia Nickson was a combo that could not be
stopped, combining for 43 points and 30 rebounds.A total of two less rebounds than the entire
Ohio State team.
"It (the rebounding) is incredible and that was one of the things we talked
about going into this game," said Washington."Our post really stepped up."
"We just executed the game plan. Whatever coach said in practice, we
just kind of took it to heart," said Greene."We knew that this game was one of the big ones, so we tried to take
advantage of every minute possible."
Taking advantage was a key statement for the Lady Lions as that's
exactly what they did, especially on the boards.
Not only did the squad outrebound Ohio State 60-32, there was also a 29-0 Penn
State advantage on second-chance points.
As big as the rebounding
edge and second-chance points edge both were, they were not the only things
that head coach Coquese Washington was happy about post-game.
"I thought we did a pretty good job on our team defense," she said."I thought we were aggressive. I thought for
most of the game we tried to make them take tough shots."
That defense forced the Buckeyes into tough shots all night long as they never
seemed to be able to get into an offensive rhythm.
As the Lion defense clamped down early to build a 15-point halftime lead, the
offense and rebounding continued to stay strong as Ohio State was never able to
make a run.
As exciting as the game was Monday night the team still has work to do.The Lady Lions will have one more home game
Sunday against Minnesota before heading on to the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 21, 2012 12:11 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With one game left to play on Sunday, the Lady
Lions already know where they will be seeded for the Big Ten Tournament at
Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Thanks to an 84-66 rout of 11th-ranked Ohio State on Monday night, the Lions
clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title and the top overall seed in the
Big Ten Tournament, which begins on March 1.This will mark the fifth time since Penn State joined the Big Ten that the
Lions will be the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament.
The Lady Lions will open play on Friday, March 2 at 6 p.m. against the winner
of the No. 8-No. 9 matchup, which will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March
1.The winner of the quarterfinal
matchup on Friday will play in Saturday's second semifinal matchup at
approximately 7:30 p.m. on March 3.The
championship game is slated for Sunday, March 4 at 4 p.m.
Nonetheless, as Coach Washington said after Monday's win over the Buckeyes,
there is still one more regular season contest to be played.The Lady Lions are focused on Minnesota, and
Minnesota only.The postseason
preparations will begin immediately after Sunday's Pink Zone game with the
Golden Gophers.
Sunday's clash is a big one for the Lady Lions.A win would hand Penn State sole ownership of the regular season Big Ten
crown.Additionally, it would send the
Lions into the postseason on a seven-game winning streak.Penn State enters the weekend having won 11
of its last 12 games.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 20, 2012 4:00 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Take a look back at Penn State's dominant 84-66 victory over 11th-ranked Ohio State on Monday inside the Bryce Jordan Center. With the win, the Lions clinch a share of the 2012 Big Ten title and the top overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Welcome to the
GoPSUsports.com in-game blog for the Lady Lion basketball team.
With Big Ten title implications on the line, the Lady Lions (21-5, 11-3) are
set to clash with the 11th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (23-3, 10-3) on Big
Monday (7 p.m. ESPN2).The stakes are
clear for both teams.A win for Penn
State would hand the Lions at least a share of the Big Ten regular season
title.An Ohio State victory would vault
the Buckeyes into first place in the standings with two games to play.
Penn State finishes the season with a home game against Minnesota on Sunday,
while the Buckeyes have Minnesota at home and Nebraska on the road.The Lady Lions will be looking to slow down
the guard duo of Samantha Prahalis and Tayler Hill.Prahalis and Hill average a combined 41.1
points per game this season.
The Lady Lions enter the game on a five-game winning streak.Overall, Penn State has won 10 out of its
last 11 games dating back to Jan. 12.A
win on Monday night would mark Penn State's first Big Ten regular season title
since 2004.
Check back throughout the game for updates.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Bentley, G - Lucas, G -
Gray, F - Nickson, C - Greene Ohio State: G - Prahalis, G - Hill,
G - Stokes, F - Beach, C - Adams
First Half: 15:53 - Penn State 9, Ohio State 7
As expected, the pace has been very fast in the early minutes.The Lady Lions have worked the ball into the
paint on every possession but one in the first 4:07.Nikki Greene has two baskets in the paint,
Mia Nickson drew a foul on a post move and Talia East has a turnaround jumper
in the lane.On the other end of the
floor, Ohio State's scoring duo of Tayler Hill and Samantha Prahalis has
accounted for all seven Ohio State points.It looks as though we are headed for a high-scoring affair in the Jordan
Center tonight.
11:02 - Penn State 22, Ohio State 15 Nickson has been superb already in the first
half.The junior forward has already
scored seven points and pulled down seven rebounds.In all, 18 of Penn State's 22 points have
been scored by the Lion post players.It
was clear from the opening tip that the Lions wanted to be physical in the
paint.Thus far, Ohio State has had no
answer on the defensive end of the floor.
7:53 - Penn State 28, Ohio State 19 The Lady Lion lead has grew to 11 after a
driving layup from Alex Bentley.Prahalis answered with a jumper from the elbow, but Penn State is still
in control because of its physical play in the paint.The Lions are shooting 42 percent and lead by
nine.Ohio State has missed some open
shots, but the Lions have done a nice job on the defensive end of the floor
thus far.
3:16 - Penn State 37, Ohio State 26 The Buckeyes closed to within four at 28-24 with
6:49 to play, but the Lions answered with a big 7-0 scoring spurt.Greene tallied a basket before Maggie Lucas
got on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer.Gray then sank a transition jumper to quickly put the Lions back up by
11.Greene has been strong in the first
half with 12 points and eight rebounds to lead the Lions.Nickson currently has nine tallies and eight
boards.
0:00 - Penn State 45, Ohio State 30 Thanks to a 17-6 run to close out the first
half, the Lady Lions have a 15-point lead at the break.The Penn State post players were dominant in
the first 20 minutes of action with Greene tallying a first-half double-double
with 16 points and 10 rebounds.Nickson
added nine tallies and nine rebounds.Penn State scored 20 of its 45 points in the paint, and the Buckeyes
truly had no answer for the Lions' post play.As a team, the Lions shot 41 percent from the field, while the Buckeyes
managed just 37 percent shooting.The
Lions played a very strong first half of basketball en route to a 15-point
cushion.
Second Half: 15:33 - Penn State 54, Ohio State 38 The Lady Lions claimed their largest lead of the night (19) after a jumper
from Gray at the 17:37 mark.Penn State
picked up right where it left off in the first half with very physical play in
the paint on offense.Nickson and Greene
have accounted for 30 of Penn State's 54 points thus far.Looking at the stats, Penn State should feel
very good about things with a 16-point lead, despite Lucas being just 1-for-11
from the field.
11:54 - Penn State 60, Ohio State 42 The Lions pushed their lead to 20, but
four-straight tallies from the Buckeyes trimmed the margin down to 16.Ohio State had possession of the ball looking
to slice the lead even further, but failed to convert.On the other end of the floor Nickson grabbed
an offensive rebound and tallied a put-back to put the Lions back up by
18.Nickson joined Greene in the
double-double club tonight with 16 points and 11 rebounds.The Buckeyes likely have another run in them,
but Penn State has done a great job keeping the tempo fast throughout the
contest.
7:53 - Penn State 70, Ohio State 49 Just when it was beginning to feel like the
Buckeyes were mounting a run, the Lions answered.Ohio State trimmed the Lion lead down to 15
at 64-49 with 9:28 to play.Three-straight free throws from Lucas and Greene and a deep 3-pointer
form Gray at the top of the key put Penn State up by 21.The Lions are simply out-working the Buckeyes
in the paint.
3:29 - Penn State 77, Ohio State 59 The Lady Lions are well on their way to
clinching a share of the Big Ten regular season title and the top overall seed
in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.Penn
State has been dominant on the boards from start to finish.The Lions have out-rebounded the Buckeyes
57-27.The Lions have 29 offensive
rebounds.The Buckeyes have 27 total
rebounds.
0:00 - Penn State 84, Ohio State 66
The Lady Lions turned in a wire-to-wire victory in the biggest game of the season,
and they did with supreme effort. The final numbers tell the story, with Penn
State dominating the glass, 60-32.Penn
State pulled down 29 offensive rebounds and out-scored the Buckeyes 29-0 in
second chance points.Greene led five
Lady Lions in double figures with a career-high 25 points and 15 rebounds.Nickson tallied 18 points and 15
rebounds.Lucas was the third Lady Lion
with a double-double, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds.Gray had 12 points, and Bentley finished with
10.The Lions led by as much as 21 in
the second half.
Final Thoughts: When the final whistled sounded, the confetti
began to fly as the Lady Lions celebrated their sixth regular season Big Ten
title.Penn State's dominant performance
against the Buckeyes handed the Lions at-least a share of the conference title
for the first time since 2004 and the top overall seed in the upcoming Big Ten
Tournament.Penn State posed for
pictures next to the conference championship trophy before cutting down the net
on the east end of the arena in celebration of fulfilling the goal they set out
to accomplish at the beginning of the season.
Penn State set the tone on its opening three possessions with
back-to-back-to-back passes into the post that resulted in two baskets from
Greene and two free throw chances for Nickson.The Lady Lions worked harder than the Buckeyes throughout the contest,
and it showed in the final score.When
you out-rebound the 11th-ranked team in the nation by 28 boards it is a clear
indicator of the type of night the Lady Lions put together in the BJC.Penn State hosts Minnesota in the regular
season finale on Sunday afternoon on Pink Zone day.Should Penn State defeat the Gophers, it will
be the outright champs in the Big Ten for the regular season.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 20, 2012 1:46 PM
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By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The same way that it started just
over three months in Rec Hall, the Penn State wrestling team's regular season
came to a close on Sunday afternoon. In true Nittany Lion fashion, the ending
dual was nothing short of exciting.
Second-ranked Penn State downed ninth-ranked Pittsburgh in front of yet another
sold out crowd on its senior day by a score of 33-6. The Lions remained
dominant, as they have for the majority of their season, scoring more than 30
dual points for the 10th time this season. Head coach Cael Sanderson said that
he was especially satisfied with his team's attitude so close to the
postseason.
"Especially two weeks from the Big Ten, your eyes are on the end and then you
have a match before that so it's important to stay focused," said Sanderson. "That's
a tough team there. Every weight class there is pretty tough and they came out
wrestling hard."
Penn State put on a show for the 6,755 spectators that filled Rec Hall, and the
entertainment that started with the first bout of the day carried through to
the final contest.
The Lions took eight of the 10 bouts on the afternoon with three decisions,
three major decisions and two pins. The faithful fans that came to watch the
final competition of the season rose to their feet a total of seven times in
standing ovation, but one of those was for a particularly last-second
excitement.
With the dual score tied at three apiece, junior Lion Bryan Pearsall took the
mat in the third bout of the day to face fellow 141-pounder Travis Shaffer. The
bout started like any another, two wrestlers standing face-to-face and shaking
hands, but ended with Shaffer on his back.
Pearsall had struggled in front of Rec Hall crowds heading into Sunday's match
with four losses in all four appearances of his appearances at home duals. At
the start of his match against Shaffer, it looked like the outcome would be a
similar one.
The freshman Panther jumped to an early 4-0 lead in the first period with a
takedown and two back points, and continued to control the battle throughout
the second period as he tacked on another takedown. Trailing 6-0 at the start
of the third period, it was Pearsall who struck next. The Nittany Lion
delivered his first takedown of the bout within the first minute of the final
period, and picked up a stalling point short after to cut Shaffer's lead to
6-3. Desperate for any kind of points he could get, Pearsall countered a late
shot by Shaffer and locked him up in a cradle with just :08 to go and with only
three seconds left, got the pin.
And the crowd went wild.
Sanderson made two fists and put his arms in the air as he walked back to his
team's bench while associate head coach Cody Sanderson sported the same look
paired with some jumping up and down with a big grin on his face.
After the match, Sanderson said that he was just as surprised as the rest of
the crowd.
"Bryan needed that match and I'm really happy that he was able to turn it
around the way that he did," said Sanderson. "It looked like he was getting his
butt kicked and in the end he was able to come out on top and that's really an
indicator that he's a worker and a fighter and I think everyone on this team,
as we've seen at some point this season, they're all capable of the same."
Pearsall attributed his fighting performance to the way that his coaches have
taught him to "wrestle hard and then wrestle even harder" no matter what period
of the match it may be.
"It was nice to be able to show our fans and everyone that comes out to watch
Penn State wrestling what I could do and what I have been able to do so far
this season, this time just in Rec Hall," said Pearsall.
The final dual win gives Penn State an overall record of 13-1 for the 2011-'12
season and is the last competition that the team will see until the first week
of March when it heads to the Big Ten Championships at Purdue.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 20, 2012 11:48 AM
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By Chardonnai Johnson, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK,
Pa. - Chlorine? Check. Pool? Check. Buckets, paddles, swim gear, and dozens of
goggled swimmers diving and surfacing simultaneously? Double check.
This was sight at
the McCoy Natatorium during the days leading up to the Big Ten Swim Meet. The men's
meet, scheduled to begin Feb. 22.
"The thing with
swimming is," said men's and women's swimming coach John Hargis. "You're going
to be hard pressed to find another sport that puts in the hours that swimmers
have to put in."
Both pools in the
natatorium are filled with swimmers in different lanes whose heads are
consistently appear and disappear while Hargis is talking. The whole room is
filled with the sound of splashes and whistles. This is an everyday practice
scene according to Hargis.
The swimmers put in
about 20 hours a week during a typical season for training and practice. A lot
of the athletes put in extra time weight lifting and training at their own
accord though.
"Some of the goals
these kids have take place in the summer," said Hargis. "So the dedication they
have is pretty impressive."
Hargis said that
because swimming is a year-round sport, the team never really stops practicing.
Save for the Big Ten though. Most would expect the practice to be amped up and
more intense around that time. This isn't the case.
Practice is routine
and structured any other day. It's only leading up to a big meet when things
surprisingly die down a little.
"Right now it's just rest and sharpening really," said Hargis. "They've put in
months and months of training. Now it's time to let their bodies recover and
sharpen up."
The conference meet itself is four days said Hargis and it's pretty intense for
the swimmers. There are seven sessions in the conference including two relays
the first night. The next day will call for three individual events as well as
the 400 medley relay.
"Some of these kids
will be competing a lot in just three days," said Hargis. "They'll be swimming
a lot."
As if to emphasize
this point, one of the swimmers in the pool closest to Hargis dumps a bright
orange bucket of water into the pool making a loud splash. The other swimmers,
alternating between male and female, reach the end of their laps and surface.
There are red paddles attached to their hands used during practice to add
resistance to their strokes. Hargis wasn't kidding when he said it's all about
the details and sharpening before the Big Ten meet. He has high hopes for the
team at this meet and he doesn't want to exhaust them.
"We want to just
get the most qualifiers we can get to the NCAAs," said Hargis. "Honestly, we
want to go there and just win the meet."
The time leading up
to the conference doesn't seem to fly by as quickly as the actual conference
does. Hargis said the meet happens pretty quickly and then it's over.
"The Big Ten Meet
is probably one of the fastest meets in the country," said Hargis. "It'll be a
good meet though. A fun meet."
After stopping to
instruct the swimmers to "go 50 easy and check their buckets," Hargis said that
the meet is not only exhausting for the athletes, but also for him.
"It's a fun meet, but it's very intense," he said with a laugh. "I don't
sleep.But it's fun to be a part of."
Preparing a team for any big competition no matter what the sport is always a
tough job, but Hargis said that coaching for him isn't just about the sport
itself. He teaches them to be better athletes, but he also said coaches should be
a teacher and a role model for their athletes.
"We try to shape the swimmer all four years and in all aspects," said Hargis.
"Make them better people and better students. We look at the entire person, not
just the swimmer."
With past
experiences with meets and swimmers, Hargis said that he's expecting a little
nervous energy from his athletes during the Big Ten Championships. It's normal
and perfectly natural.
"It's a matter of not letting the nervous energy turn into negative energy,"
said Hargis. "I don't want them to doubt themselves. I'm thinking positive."
Something about the
determined strokes of every athlete at this practice just a week ago tells me there
will be nothing to worry about come Wednesday.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 20, 2012 10:40 AM
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By Jackson Thibodeau, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- A halftime spark propelled the Penn State men's lacrosse
team to a victory over Michigan on Saturday.
Following a slow start, the Nittany Lions came out of the locker room after
halftime with a flurry of shot attempts and goals.
The slow start was characterized by turnovers and missed shots but was quickly
turned around when Penn State scored nine times in the third quarter.
"In the first half we were playing as a group of individuals when we needed
to play like a team," said freshman attack Pat Manley (Arnold, Md.).
Manley tallied a goal and an assist during the contest, making it the
second-straight game with a score for the freshman.
For second-year coach Jeff Tambroni, the slow start could be attributed to
the team's focus.
"I was hoping we would come out and establish a tone earlier in the game,"
Tambroni said. "Maybe our guys were a little too amped up and excited about
playing for the first time on our new field."
The victory served as a milestone for the Nittany Lions, as it was their
first ever win on the new Penn State Lacrosse Field and the first win of the
Creator's Trophy series.
The Creator's Trophy is an award that was established by Coach Tambroni,
Michigan head coach John Paul, and Ohio State head coach Nick Myers.
The trophy signifies the up-and-coming presence of lacrosse in the Big Ten
Conference. One of the three Big Ten Conference lacrosse teams will be awarded
the trophy each season if they can earn a perfect 2-0 record against their
conference counterparts.
"This win was awesome for us," said senior attack Jack Forster (Jenkintown,
Pa.). "It was great to get a win in our first game on our new field and move
one win closer to the Creator's Trophy."
Forster was one of nine Nittany Lions scoring in the game, as he tallied
five total goals and three assists.
Along with his coaches and teammates, Forster was disappointed in his
team's first half struggles.
"I thought we could have played a lot better in the first half," Forster
said. "I was glad to see us get back to the basics, move the ball around and
get everyone involved in the second half."
The win over the Wolverines does not only serve as the first of the season
for the team, but also the first of what Tambroni describes as "phase one".
The team's first phase is described as the first five games of the
season...two of which have already been played.
"Our goal is to win phase one," Tambroni said. "If we can go 3-2 or 4-1 in
our first five games, we will feel like we have accomplished that goal and it
would have been against some pretty good competition."
Penn State's 16-9 victory over Michigan evens the season record up at 1-1
in non-conference play.
The Nittany Lions will be in action again on Sunday, Feb. 26 when they
travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame at 1 p.m.
We are heading out of Connecticut on the way home to Rec Hall after defeating the Sacred Heart Pioneers 25-15, 25-20, 25-15 tonight to raise our EIVA record to 4-0.
Sacred Heart has been making strides over the last three years. They have a team that can be pretty physical at the pins and, no doubt as a homage to Jeff Seavy, a left-handed middle blocker! The offense they run is a pretty high and pretty slow offense. We felt we if could slow them down and block a few here and there our serving and sideout game would provide the rest.
Game one was tied at one when SHU committed three hitting errors in a row for a 4-1 PSU lead. Then at 7-5 PSU ran four straight kills as Goodell, Peter Russell, Turko and Peter again gave us an 11-5 lead. PSU kept pushing the lead and at 24-15 a Hendries/A. Russell stuff closed it out at 25-15. Game one leaders were Goodell and Turko (Kills - 3; Blocks - 1), P. Russell (Kills - 3), Goas and A. Russell (Blocks - 1) and Curry and Sunder (Digs - 4). PSU hit .407 while SHU hit .074.
Game two saw the Nittany Lions commit some uncharacteristic hitting errors early. They were coming during our transition opportunities and were a direct result of SHU's physicality. We weren't taking care of our first contacts very well. This was causing our second contacts to be tougher and we weren't doing a good job of bettering the ball. It all culminated in poor third contacts where we didn't better the ball again. We settled down after a timeout at 12-14 and a Turko stuff got us tied at 15. I remember thinking I liked our chances in a game to ten points. With the game at 18-18, Sunder had a kill, the brothers Russell stuffed a ball and Goodell put a ball away for a 21-18 lead. At 24-20, Sunder ended the game with his swing 25-20. Game two leaders for PSU were Goodell (Kills - 5; Digs - 4), Aaron, Peter and Turko (Blocks - 1) and Curry (Digs - 4). PSU hit .250 while SHU hit .132.
Game three saw Tom Comfort and Ian Hendries get the starting nod. With PSU up 5-4, a SHU service error got the ball to Peter Russell for his serve. Sunder then delivered a kill, Comfort and Aaron Russell combined for a stuff block and then those two were joined by Joe Sunder for a triple block. Peter Russell and Sunder then added their kills and the score was 11-4. That was essentially the match as we gained a 24-15 lead and closed it out on a Comfort ace for a 25-15 win, Game three leaders were Comfort (Kills - 3; Blocks - 2; Aces - 2), Sunder (Kills - 3; Blocks - 2), A. Russell (Blocks - 2) and Curry (Digs - 5). PSU hit .208 but SHU hit -.029.
We did slow their offense down with our outside blocking and, for the most part, converted the opportunities which that provided. Were we overly efficient with our transition game? No but we never let SHU runpoints and our serving kept them off the net so their ability to hit off the top of our blocks never really was effective as our defense controlled their transition game. One particular play best summed up the personality of this team. It was 22-14 in game three. The match was solidly in hand. SHU was just playing out the string when then swung at a ball and it careened off one of our diggers. It was going to land a good fifteen feet off the court - diagonally from our right back corner. Peter Russell took off after the ball. He went through our guys at the end of the bench. His dive got to the ball and with his left hand he popped it back up in the air; however, it went over the end line bleachers we couldn't get it. Not only was the effort by Peter impressive, when our attention went from Peter's effort back to the court there was five other Nittany Lions trailing the play to help Peter out. That type of effort, without regard to the score, is what Colin, Jay and I have been seeing in the training gym from all the guys. It showed everyone in the gym that Nittany Lion effort never shuts down! It is serving us well! Maatch leaders for the Lions were Sunder (Kills - 9; Points - 10), A. Russell (Blocks - 4), Comfort (Aces - 2) and Curry (Digs - 13). PSU out-hit the Pioneers .289 to .060; out-blocked them 7.5 to 5.5; out-aced them 3 to 1 and out-dug them 42 to 26.
So the guys rose to the challenge in overcoming some travel issues this weekend. They looked very comfortable playing in two gyms in which they have never played beforeand they adjusted to two very different offenses to block and defend against in back-to-back nights. This team gives effort in every facet of competition and it is going to pay off for them!
So we now get ready for EIVA weekend #3 as Princeton and George Mason roll into Rec Hall next. The
GMU match starts at 5 PM next Saturday and will be followed by an exhibition by the USA Seated Volleyball team at 7 PM. The Rec Hall volleyball crowd has experienced watching some outstanding volleyball over the past several years with our great women's teams, our men's teams and the assorted NCAA matches also. This will be another type of volleyball that I am sure everyone will find very interesting!
So we hope to see you in Rec Hall next weekend to see us take on the Tigers and the Patriots and to see USA play!
We are heading out of the Boston area and headed toward Sacred Heart. The Nittany Lions defeated the Harvard Crimson tonight 25-20, 25-13, 25-17 to move our EIVA record to 3-0.
Harvard had defeated Princeton last weekend in three games and their video showed a team that was capable of playing stretches of some very good volleyball. They have a couple of guys who aren't afraid to swing at the ball and some good servers. We felt we needed to win the passing and serving parts of the match and we needed to be physical with our transition. We also felt that if we came out early and executed crisply we could take the wind out of their sails. My concern was that if the match went long we may experience a drop off because of the travel issues (again!) we had experienced last night.
Game one did have us playing crisply early but as we figured Harvard stayed with us. We were up 11-10 when kills by Goodell, Peter Russell and Sunder forced Harvard's first timeout at 14-10. We stayed steady and kept picking up a point with our next four servers. Eventually, a Sunder kill ended the match at 25-20. Game one leaders for the Nittany Lions were Goodell (Kills - 7), Goas and A. Russell (Blocks - 1), Sunder (Aces - 1) and Curry (Digs - 3). PSU hit .625 while the Crimson hit .318.
Game two had PSU edge out to a two point lead at 12-10. After an Aaron Russell kill got the ball for brother Peter to serve, Peter made the most of it. Another Aaron kill, followed by a Crimson hitting error, Goodell kill, Sunder/A. Russell stuff, Sunder kill, another Crimson error and another Goodell kill made the score 20-10. At 24-13 a Sunder ace wrapped up the game at 25-13. Game two leaders were Goodell (Kills - 4), Sunder (Blocks - 1; Aces - 1), A. Russell (Blocks - 1) and Goas (Digs - 3). PSU hit .348 while holding Harvard to a -.045.
Game three saw PSU not convert on a couple of opportunities early and the game was close. It was tied at 13 when a Goodell kill and a Crimson error was followed by two aces from Goodell. We had the separation we needed. At 23-17, another Goodell kill was followed by a Ryan Wolf kill to end the match with a 25-17 win. Game three leaders for PSU were Peter Russell (Kills - 6), Turko (Blocks - 1; Aces - 2), Goas (Blocks - 1) and Curry (Digs - 3). PSU hit .476 and Harvard hit .409.
The guys did come out strong in game one and sent the message to Harvard that they would have to stay at a high level for a long time. Our passing and serving settled in to a solid level and we didn't give up any easy points very often to Harvard. There were stretches of our transition game that if Harvard didn't put away their first swing we certainly put away ours...with aggression! Match leaders were Goodell (Kills - 14; Aces - 2), Goas and A. Russell (Blocks - 2), Turko and Sunder (Aces - 2) and Curry (Digs - 8). We out-hit Harvard .485 to .227; out-blocked them 3 to 0; out-aced them 6 to 2 and out-dug them 25-13.
Harvard will be heard from over the next couple of years. They have some good young players and Brain Baise is working hard to keep the program moving in the right direction. I was worried that as the match wore on we would show the effects of getting into the hotel at 5 AM! In another challenging road trip we experienced some adventure. As we entered route 84, (about three hours into the trip) the guys in the back of the bus came forward and said they were smelling fumes in the back. With the overhead lights on it looked like a smokyin the back. It was exhaust fumes that we were smelling. So we pulled over at the next exit. The bus driver checked over the engine and found nothing. Meanwhile, the guys grabbed something to eat and we got back on the road. Two minutes later the fumes were back. We pulled off at the next exit and waited for a new bus. Three hours later we were rolling toward Boston. The guys just roll with the inconveniences and nothing really seems to bother them. They had a good pass-and-serve then went to a pre-game dinner where they didn't show any ill effects of the travel. When it came to the match we never really dropped off. They kept the pressure on Harvard and never let the Crimson believe they could hang with us.
Now we visit Sacred Heart for the first time a very long time. They have three hitters with live arms. It'll be a match where our blocking needs to slow them down. It'll be a fun match and I'll be back to you as we head home tomorrow.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 19, 2012 5:35 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Watch freshman Nico Megaludis score a sudden victory after a hard-fought bout
at 125 pounds.See what Penn State
football coach Bill O'Brien had to say on the microphone at intermission.Additionally, head into the media room for
post-match reaction from head coach Cael Sanderson and seniors Frank Molinaro
and Cameron Wade.
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Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 19, 2012 12:21 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.
- Take a look back at Penn State's 33-6 victory over No. 9 Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon in front of 6,755 fans.
Welcome to Rec Hall for a Big Ten showdown between the second-ranked Nittany
Lions and ninth-ranked Pittsburgh.
Penn State (12-1, 7-1) returns to action after a dominant victory at Utah
Valley last weekend.The Nittany Lions
will wrestle inside Rec Hall for the final time on Sunday.Senior starters Frank Molinaro and Cameron
Wade will be taking the mat for the last time as Nittany Lions inside Rec
Hall.Stay tuned for updates throughout
the dual as the Lions cap off the regular season with an eye towards the month
of March.
125: #8 Nico Megaludis Edges #15 Zanetta in
Dramatic Overtime Freshman Nico
Megaludis and No. 15 Anthony Zanetta from Pittsburgh wrestled to a scoreless
tie in the opening period of action.Zanetta got on the board first after a hard-fought escape 25 seconds
into the second period.Megaludis
returned the favor to open the third period with an escape point of his
own.From there, the two wrestlers
battled through a scoreless extra period.Zanetta scored an escape point in the first of two 30-second extra
frames.Megaludis did the same at the
start to the second 30-second extra period to make it 2-2.With another 60 seconds on the clock of
sudden victory time, Megaludis worked for a double-leg takedown to score a
sudden victory, bringing the Rec Hall crowd, including Penn State football
coach Bill O'Brien to his feet.The
victory set the overall match score at 3-0.
133: Mack Gets Late Takedown and Riding Time to
Knock Off Frank Martellotti In the second bout of
the afternoon, sophomore Frank Martellotti scored a first period takedown to
claim a 2-0 lead against Shelton Mack.Mack scored an escape point to make it 2-1 early in the second period.Martellotti added an escape point to set the
score at 3-1, but Mack answered with a clutch takedown to knot things at
3-3.From there, Mack built more than
one minute of riding time in the final seconds of the third period to clip
Martellotti on riding time by a score of 4-3.Mack's victory tied the overall match score at 3-3.
141: Bryan Pearsall Pins Shaffer in Final
Seconds Pittsburgh true
freshman Travis Shaffer scored a takedown and two near-fall points in the
opening minute against Bryan Pearsall to claim a 4-0 lead after one
period.Shaffer also managed to build
2:51 of riding time after one.Shaffer
was on top for all but nine seconds of the first period.In the second, he scored a second takedown to
set the score at 6-0 after two periods.From there, it looked like Shaffer was going to cruise to a victory, but
Pearsall was not done.He scored a
takedown and a stalling point to trim the score down to 6-3.Pearsall kept working and turned Shaffer in
the final three seconds for an improbable win by pinfall.It was truly an incredible turn of events
after Shaffer built more than 4:20 of riding time and a 6-0 lead in the match.
149: #1 Frank Molinaro Defeats #12 Nauman in
Final Home Match Undefeated and
top-ranked Frank Molinaro battled No. 12 Tyler Nauman in his final bout inside
Rec Hall.Nauman scored the first
takedown, but Molinaro rallied late in the first for an escape and a takedown
to build a 3-2 lead.He added an escape
to open the second to make it 4-2.Molinaro
started the third period on top, and he used it to his advantage, building 1:53
of riding time on his way to a 5-2 victory.The Lion senior finished his regular season with a 25-0 record.His victory put the Lions up 12-3 after four
matches.
157: #5 Dylan Alton Holds Off Tasser Dylan Alton wasted
little time scoring a takedown against Pittsburgh's Donnie Tasser.Tasser scored an escape point to set the
score at 2-1.Alton scrambled for a
second takedown to build a 4-1 cushion and 59 seconds of riding time after the
first period.The Lion redshirt freshman
worked for an escape point in the second period to push his lead to 5-1 after
two.Tasser benefitted from a caution
point and an escape point to open the third, and he quickly cut Alton's lead to
5-3.That is where the match would end
with the Lions taking a 15-3 lead into the break.
165: #1 David Taylor Majors Wilps Top-ranked David
Taylor went to work early in the first period of his bout against Pitt's Tyler
Wilps.Taylor scored four takedowns in the
first period on his way to an 8-3 lead after one period.He also built 1:15 of riding time after
one.Taylor's precision in the second
led to three more takedowns and a 14-6 lead on the scoreboard.Taylor cruised to a 20-9 major decision for
his 23rd victory of the season.Like
Molinaro, Taylor ended the regular season undefeated.Taylor's major put the Lions up 19-3 on the
scoreboard.
174: Matt Brown Dominates Tasser
After two-straight matches at 197 pounds, redshirt freshman Matt Brown took
the mat for the Nittany Lions against Pittsburgh's P.J. Tasser at 174 pounds for the second-straight week.Brown wrestled for Ed Ruth, who is healing
from some bumps in bruises to be at full strength for the month of March.Brown scored an early takedown and nearly
caught Tasser on his back, but the Lion redshirt freshman took a 2-1 lead into
the second period.He opened the second
with an escape to make it 3-1.Again in
the second period, Brown nearly put Tasser on his back, but the period whistle
sounded.Nonetheless, he managed to
score a takedown and two near-fall points for a 7-1 lead after two.Brown opened the third frame with a reversal
to go up 9-1.Brown went on to score a
12-2 major decision victory to put the Lions up 23-3 on the scoreboard.
184: #2 Quentin Wright Cruises Past Vaughn Defending national
champion Quentin Wright continued his string of dominant performances against
Pitt's Andy Vaughan.Wright quickly
scored a takedown on the edge of the mat before two near-fall points to take a
4-0 lead.He took a 6-1 lead into the
second period. Wright added to his lead
with a takedown and an escape to set the score at 9-1 after two periods.The Lion redshirt junior tallied a reversal
in the third before adding a riding time point to set the final score at
12-2.Wright's major decision gave the
Lions a 27-3 overall edge in the match.
197: #4 Wilps Holds Off #12 Morgan McIntosh Freshman Morgan McIntosh
and Pittsburgh's No. 4-ranked Matt Wilps wrestled to a scoreless first period
in the ninth match of the afternoon.Wilps
opened the second with an escape and a takedown to score a 3-0 lead.However, McIntosh tallied a key reversal to
make it 3-2 before Wilps notched a late escape to set the score at 4-2 heading
into the final period.McIntosh closed
within one point after an escape in the third.A shot late from McIntosh fell just short of a takedown, handing the
fourth-ranked Wilps a narrow 4-3 victory.The Pitt victory set the overall score at 27-6.
285: #6 Cameron Wade Pins Yahner Sixth-ranked Cameron
Wade took a 2-0 lead over Pittsburgh's Joel Yahner after one period of action
in his final bout inside Rec Hall.Wade
added a second takedown to make it 4-0.From there, he turned Yahner on his back for a pin in his final home
match.Wade waved to the crowd as he
jogged off the mat one last time.His
pin set the final score at 33-6, Nittany Lions.
Final Thoughts The Nittany Lions
claimed eight victories on the final day of regular season action for
2012.With two pins and three majors on
Sunday afternoon, Penn State put an exclamation point on a superb dual match
season.Following a 23-14 setback to
then-No. 4 Minnesota on Nov. 20, the Nittany Lions scored 12-straight dual
match victories to finish 13-1 in the regular season.
Sunday was an especially special day for Molinaro and Wade, who both scored
victories in their final performances at Rec Hall. Wade put an exclamation
point on a strong afternoon of wrestling with a pin.Molinaro scored a 5-2 victory at 149
pounds.The Penn State performance of the
afternoon belonged to Bryan Pearsall.He
rallied from 6-0 down in third period to score an improbable pin with three
seconds to wrestle.Penn State will take
a great deal of momentum into the postseason.The defending Big Ten Tournament champions and national champions have
two weeks off before traveling to Purdue for Big Tens.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 18, 2012 4:38 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Forty members of the Nittany Lion football team
welcomed 25 THON Make-A-Wish children and their families to a special tour of
the Lasch Football Building on Saturday afternoon.
The Make-A-Wish event is circled on the calendar for the Nittany Lions every
year.The THON families gathered inside
the home of Penn State football to take photos, get autographs, tour the facility
with the Nittany Lions, eat ice cream from the Penn State Creamery and take a
photo in the weight room.
Head coach Bill O'Brien spoke to the group after it received the facility tour
and signed autographs with the THON kids.Take a look at the Make-A-Wish event at the Lasch Football Complex on
Saturday.
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GoPSUsports.com Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 18, 2012 10:16 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
After tallying its second-straight victory on Thursday night, the Nittany Lion
basketball team will head back on the road Sunday.
Penn State will travel to Madison in preparation for Sunday's game against
Wisconsin on Saturday.The Nittany Lions
go through a very detailed gameday when they are away from home.GoPSUsports.com went behind the scenes with
the Nittany Lions during their most recent road trip to Michigan State.Take a look at gameday on the road.
Gameday Itinerary: 9:45 a.m. - Team Breakfast and Film
Session 11 a.m. - Shootaround at Breslin
Center 12:30 p.m. - Team Lunch 2:45 p.m. - Team Meal, Film Session
and Taping 4:45 p.m. - Depart for Breslin
Center 6:30 p.m. - Game Time 8:45 p.m. - Postgame Press
Conference 10:00 p.m. - Depart for University
Park Airport 11:15 p.m. - Arrive in State College
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Welcome to GoPSUsports.com coverage of THON 2012. In addition to several members of the Penn State Athletics community dancing for 46 hours inside the Bryce Jordan Center, the Nittany Lion sports teams and coaches are actively involved in the 40th Penn State Dance Marathon for pediatric cancer.
Take a look at coverage as it transpires over the weekend.
Head coach Patrick Chambers and the Nittany Lion basketball team visited the THON festivities on Friday evening before they traveled to Wisconsin for Sunday's game in Madison.
Coach Chambers and team captain Tim Frazier addressed the thousands of individuals packing the BJC for THON 2012.
"As long as I'm coach of Penn State basketball, our program is all in in support of THON," said Coach Chambers.
______________________________________________________________________________ 12 a.m. on Saturday (Friday night):
VIDEO - Head Coach Bill O'Brien Speaks at THON
Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien took the
stage at THON for the first time in his career at midnight early on Saturday inside
the Bryce Jordan Center.
Coach O'Brien received a standing ovation before firing up the crowd for the
2012 season.
"One of the reasons I accepted the job here was because of people like
you...because you are Penn State. We are Penn State," Coach O'Brien said.
Coach O'Brien told the crowd that he will annually buy season tickets for the
couple that raises the most money at THON each year.He capped off his speech with an enthusiastic
"We Are...Penn State" cheer.Take a look.
VIDEO: THON Dancer Shane McGregor Interview on the Floor
Nittany Lion quarterback Shane McGregor started his Friday with a 4 a.m. wakeup call to get ready for the football team's 5:30 a.m. run outside the Lasch Football Building.
From there, McGregor participated in the upper body lifting session in the football weight room at 7 a.m. Less than 12 hours later, McGregror was beginning his quest of dancing 46-straight hours on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center at THON. We caught up with McGregor on the dance floor shortly after midnight early on Saturday for an update. Take a look.
______________________________________________________________________________ 2 p.m. on
Saturday:
VIDEO
- Football Hosts THON Make-A-Wish Event
Forty members of the Nittany Lion football team
welcomed 25 THON Make-A-Wish children and their families to a special
tour of
the Lasch Football Building on Saturday afternoon.
The Make-A-Wish event is circled on the calendar for the Nittany Lions
every
year.The THON families gathered inside
the home of Penn State football to take photos, get autographs, tour the
facility
with the Nittany Lions, eat ice cream from the Penn State Creamery and
take a
photo in the weight room.
Head coach Bill O'Brien spoke to the group after it received the
facility tour
and signed autographs with the THON kids.Take a look at the Make-A-Wish event at the Lasch Football
Complex on
Saturday.
______________________________________________________________________________ 10:30 p.m. on
Saturday:
The student-athletes from a large list of Nittany Lion teams competed in front of a packed house at the annual THON pep rally on Saturday night. The Nittany Lion men's gymnastics team stole the show with a superb dance medley.
After knocking off No. 3 Illinois (347.800-346.500) earlier on Saturday in Rec Hall, the Nittany Lions won the crowd over from the moment they started a high-flying acrobatic ensemble to "Shout." By the time the dance ended, the crowd, already on its feet, roared with approval. The men's gymnastics team, men's ice hockey team, football squad and men's / women's fencing team were among the final four in the competition, but the crowd vote went overwhelmingly in favor of the men's gymnastics.
VIDEO: THON 2012 Pep Rally Recap
Take a look through a complete photo gallery from the Pep Rally from a packed house in the BJC.
______________________________________________________________________________ 4 p.m. on
Sunday:
2012 THON Raises $10,686,924.83 for Pediatric Cancer
The largest student-run philanthropy effort reached new heights on Sunday afternoon when it was announced at the end of the 46-hour dance marathon in the BJC that efforts of the Penn State students raised a record $10,686,924.83 for pediatric cancer treatment and research this year.
Congratulations to everyone involved in THON 2012 and the members of Penn State Athletics who helped raise money, dance and participate in the THON festivities throughout the year and over the weekend in the Bryce Jordan Center.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 17, 2012 5:46 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Dark skies outlined the illuminated turf practice field adjacent to the Lasch
Football Building on Friday morning.The
thermometer read 35 degrees.The clock
read 5:27 a.m.
In the center of the field pacing back and forth like a caged lion was Penn
State football's new Director of Strength and Conditioning, Craig
Fitzgerald.Clad in a gray Penn State
T-shirt and khaki shorts, Fitzgerald wasn't even phased by the near-freezing
temperatures of pre-dawn.He and the
whistle hanging around his neck on a red lanyard were ready to go to work.
In unison, the entire Nittany Lion football team emerged from the locker room
doors in identical attire - blue shorts, blue shirts, blue Nike cold gear on
their arms and legs, white socks and black Nike cleats.
Head coach Bill O'Brien called the group into a huddle before the week's second
early-morning run commenced.
"We are out here to finish drills," Coach O'Brien said."We are out here to work hard...You will thank
me for doing this in the fall."
In front of the entire coaching staff and a collection of local media, the team
broke the huddle and kicked off a high-energy 60-minute test of speed, stamina
and endurance.The workout session was
broken into different stations featuring anything from speed and quickness
drills to one-on-one wrestling to a complete team 300-yard shuttle run.
Two portable speakers along the sideline sent sounds of high-octane heavy metal
music - ranging from Ozzy Osborne to AC/DC's TNT - into the silence of the
chilly morning.Coach O'Brien joked that
he loves music, but not that type of music.He will have a conversation with Coach Fitzgerald to see if he can
adjust the playlist.
Every second of every drill was competitive.Coach Fitzgerald and his staff were in the trenches throughout the
workout with intense words of encouragement.Coach O'Brien talked afterwards about the importance of working out with
the mindset of winning every drill, and it showed on the field.
"You either win or you lose, there's really no gray area in football," Coach
O'Brien said.
No player wanted to be
last in anything.After a pre-planned
halftime period as the clock struck 6 a.m., the team broke off into groups with
a "One, Two, Three - Turn Up The Heat" chant.
The highlight of the morning was a drill Coach Fitzgerald calls "The Tug."With the entire team encircling the 5-yard
line, two players were called into the center of the circle to grab onto a hard
plastic saucer-like device with two handles on it.An offensive player grabbed the end with his
back facing the goal line, while the defensive player grabbed the end with his
back facing the 10-yard line.
Coach Fitzgerald blew the whistle around his neck and the players began a tug-of-war
with the offensive player trying to pull the defensive player into the end zone
and the defensive player trying to pull the offensive player beyond the 10-yard
line, all while the team and coaching staff cheered on the clash.
Running back Derek Day ousted safety Malcolm Willis in the first battle.Running back Michael Zordich and linebacker
Gerald Hodges then engaged in a fierce rumble for more than a couple minutes, with Zordich getting the
edge.Defensive tackle Jordan Hill then
knocked off offensive lineman John Urschel in the final bout.
The 60-minute early-morning run was the first of two workouts on the final day
of the week for the Nittany Lions.The
drills ended with the sun beginning to rise above Mount Nittany at 6:30
a.m.Just 30 minutes later, the first of
four groups began their fourth 90-minute lifting session of the week in the
weight room.
The players are currently lifting for 80 to 90 minutes Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and
Friday.The team participates in
60-minute morning runs on Tuesday and Friday.Monday and Thursday lifting sessions consist
of lower body work.Tuesday and Friday
sessions are focused on upper body work.The team is split into groups that have the option, depending on course
schedules, to lift at either 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. in the
weight room on the four lifting days.
The weight lifting sessions are just as intense as the early morning runs with
high energy and enthusiasm throughout the weight room.Coach Fitzgerald has been very impressed with
how hard the players have been working in the weight room thus far.
"The reception has been great," Coach Fitzgerald said."I think it is a credit to the coaches before
who recruited them.I think it is a
credit to them being excited about Coach O'Brien coming here.They are jacked up.They have a good base of character, and they
are ready to work."
From a player's perspective, senior Michael Mauti said the team loves the
intensity level during the workouts.Mauti said that Coach Fitzgerald does every single item on the player
workout cards himself.
"It is intense every single day we come in here," Mauti said."Every day we come in here ready to work and
we want to get better every day."
Spring practice begins in 38 days.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 17, 2012 3:29 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Like the rest of the Nittany Lion football team, Shane McGregor woke up in the
4 a.m. hour on Friday to be ready for the team's 5:30 a.m. run on the turf
practice field next to Lasch Building.
From there, the quarterback participated in his Friday lifting session at 7
a.m. in the Penn State weight room.With
two hours and 30 minutes of vigorous physical conditioning down, the team
settled in for a weekend off before lifting begins again on Monday.
Not McGregor, though.
The Ebensburg, Pa., native's work for the next two days had barely even begun
on Friday morning. McGregor will stand
46-straight hours on his feet at the 40th annual Penn State Dance Marathon,
otherwise known as THON.He will be one
of more than 700 dancers on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center beginning at 6
p.m. on Friday.THON will end on Sunday
afternoon at 4 p.m.McGregor (pictured
in the weight room on Friday to the right) will then resume lifting with the
team on Monday.
Since 1977, THON has partnered with The Four Diamonds Fund
at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital with one goal in mind: conquering
childhood cancer.To date, more than $78
million has been raised by THON.
McGregor is one of
several Penn State student-athletes slated to dance in the annual dance
marathon.In all, 10 members of the
Student-Athlete Advisory Board will be dancing in THON this year.Maddy Evans, Krissy Tribbett, Meghan Gill and
Kristin Hartmann from the women's soccer team, Vernon O'Garra from the men's
fencing team and Brigid Frey from the women's fencing team will all be dancing.
Additionally, Alyssa Esposito and Chris Held from Penn State cheerleading and
Natalie Sarver and Amy Duray from the Lionettes squad will be dancing in THON.
We would also like to wish Penn State Athletic Communications student assistant
Laura Bologna the best of luck as she dances over the weekend, and the several
student assistants actively involved with THON.
Look for updates from McGregor on GoPSUsports.com as he dances 46 to help
conquer pediatric cancer.
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Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 17, 2012 1:24 PM
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By Kelsey
Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff
Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For second-ranked Penn State, Sunday afternoon's
dual meet against ninth-ranked Pittsburgh is the last scheduled contest of the
2011-'12 regular season.
Penn State carries a 12-1 overall record heading
into the final weekend of the regular season, and will wrestle on its home mats
for the seventh time this year. The Lions have won five of the six duals that
they have hosted this season, as their only loss this year came against
Minnesota in the team's second dual on the schedule.
Of those six contests that have come to Rec
Hall, three of them have welcomed sold out crowds at a capacity level of more
than 6,800 spectators. The other three home duals saw crowds of less than the
capacity level, but each featured more than 6,000 attendees as well.
Sunday's match against the Panthers is another
one to add to the list labeled, "Sold Out".
For senior Nittany Lions David Crowell, Frank
Molinaro, Clay Steadman and Cameron Wade, the dual also marks the last
competition that they will be a part of within the confinements of Rec Hall.
Molinaro and Wade have spent their last five
years in the blue and white singlets and have been featured as parts of the
starting roster for the last four. Both of the athletes were redshirted in
their first season in State College.
Heading into his last dual under that one
spotlight that shines above the Nittany Lion logo, heavyweight senior Wade said
that when he thinks about it, it all seems pretty surreal.
"Looking back on my career it's just crazy to
think that I had the opportunity to wrestle in Rec Hall," said Wade. "Every
match we wrestle, whether it's home or away, there's a ton of people."
Wade said that compared to his debut season with
the Lions in 2008, he has seen a noticeable change and increase in the fanbase
that surrounds the Penn State wrestling program. The veteran said that aside
from the fact that State College and its surrounding areas have always seemed
to be interested in the sport, Nittany Lion fans have an added incentive to
come and watch.
"I just think that people like the way that we
wrestle - just hard for seven minutes," said Wade. "They come there on their
Sundays and they just love to watch wrestling and I mean kids come up to you
asking for autographs and they just really love everything about Penn State."
Wade said that spectators can thank the hard work of his coaches, and
especially his head coach Cael Sanderson, for bringing a fresh mentality and
even more dedicated work ethic than the program had seen two years ago. Wade
said that he and his teammates are able to "try and kick each other's butts in
practice" but still maintain that "perfect mixture" of having fun and being
competitive.
In the same way that the heavyweight recognizes
what he called a dedication from the fans toward the athletes, Wade said that
wrestling in Rec Hall wouldn't have been the same without the people that have
come to watch.
"The fans at Rec Hall, they're awesome," said
Wade. "There is no doubt in my mind that we not only have the best facilities
to wrestle in in this country, but also the best fans and support that
wrestling has seen in this country."
Wade and his fellow Lions have already finished
their conference season with a Big Ten regular season best record of 7-1 to
share the regular season conference title with Minnesota, who posted the same
record this year.
On Sunday, Penn State will look to add one more
number to its win column and gain a 13th victory before gearing up for the
postseason. In his last dual meet, Wade said that there's only one venue that
he would want to be competing at.
"There's no place I would rather be and I'm so
glad that I picked this school," said Wade. "It's tough wrestling here for
other guys. The fact that we get nervous going out there in front of those
fans, you can only imagine how nervous other people must be."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 17, 2012 12:58 PM
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By Laura Finley, GoPSUsports.com
Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -Penn State gymnast Sharaya Musser positions herself at the
corner of the practice mat, waiting for her cue to start. Eyes focused with a
steadfast look of determination, she begins her floor routine, gliding through
each turn and floating through the air on each combination.
Musser makes it look easy, completing her routine with the
utmost precision.
"She comes into the gym and she has the mindset just to get
it done," said associate head coach Rachelle Thompson. "I don't know if it's
her work ethic or her God-given talent, but she knows she can come in here and
knock-out the routines and make it look easy."
With this work ethic, Musser has become a standout gymnast,
catapulting herself to the front of every competition. In her third season, she
is undefeated in the all-around competition, taking the title in each of the
six meets that Penn State has competed in. With these performances, she has also
picked up four Big Ten Gymnast of the Week awards.
Musser is humble when asked about the recognition she has
received, but has her sights set on the future, and attaining the ultimate
goal. She wants more for the team.
"Two of my biggest goals for the team are winning the Big
Ten championship and qualifying for nationals as a team," said Musser. "I want
to do whatever I can to help the team get those positions. Individually I would
like to win a Big Ten championship again in all-around, and to qualify for
Nationals and hopefully place in the Top 5 individually."
This motivation and determination pushes Musser day in and
day out during practice and at competitions. She will stop at nothing to
improve herself and her routines.
"Even when she thinks she has a bad day, no one else
notices," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "That's how good she is. She's been
very successful this year. She's had less of those mental breaks and she's
really close to being able to do every routine in competition like she does in
practice. Once she gets there, the kid is unstoppable."
And Musser knows this. She acknowledges that the key to her
success lies in performing in competitions just as she does in practice. It is
all about finding the right mentality when competing, and this is something she
is working to perfect.
"My mindset is going into each workout and being efficient,"
said Musser. " I need to make every turn count and act like this is my
competition setting. I have to put myself in a competition situation and really
just try and make the most of every turn."
Musser will tell anyone that finding the right balance
between practice and competition has been a struggle for her in years past. As
a high school student, she used to practice under the direction of former
Olympic competitor Jaycie Phelps, who Musser acknowledges has instilled in her,
the physical and mental aspects of gymnastics.
"Back when I was in club, I couldn't for the life of me hit
a beam routine in competition," said Musser. "In practice I would never fall,
but in competitions, I would just fall apart. Jaycie worked with me on it, and
really helped to develop my mental toughness. That was one of the biggest
challenges for me. Learning how to compete is all mental."
Musser's ability in finding this competition mentality and completing each
routine with precision has not gone unnoticed by her fellow teammates. The team
knows it can rely on Musser when it comes to her routines.
"We all know she can hit her routines," said sophomore
Kristin Blades. "That's one person we're always confident in and it motivates
us because we want to work just as hard as her. Last year when I first got
here, I didn't really know her, but when I saw how hard she worked, I wanted to
be just like her. She's always a big motivation."
The team's confidence in Musser, has allowed Penn State to
excel at its meets, as each gymnast works harder to reach her fullest
potential. But it is not just team confidence that has gotten Penn State to
where it is today. Self-confidence is where the true power lies according to
Musser.
"Coaches used to tell me 'You need to have confidence, you
need to believe in yourself'," said Musser. "People can tell you you're great,
but if you don't believe it, it's not going to happen. I would tell anyone it's
really just believing in yourself and knowing that you can succeed in practice
and in competition."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 17, 2012 8:53 AM
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By Brian Tripp, GoPSUsports.com Radio Voice Brian Tripp is the radio analyst for
every Lady Lion game broadcast.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - When Penn State needed a lift Thursday night on the road
in front of 8,681 raucous fans at Purdue's Mackey Arena, the Lady Lions knew
exactly where to turn.After Purdue
scored the final six points of the first half to close within two, the
Boilermakers opened the second half with a bucket by Sam Ostarello to knot the
game at 35.Then, it was Maggie Lucas'
turn.
Lucas scored eight straight points en route to her game-high 28 to give the
Lady Lions a 43-35 lead, and despite a few Purdue rallies, there was no doubt
Penn State's sharpshooter had found her stroke. The sophomore guard finished the game
10-for-18, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and reached her highest point
total in conference play since posting 33 points in a home loss to Michigan State
on Jan. 7.
"It's hard to describe, it's like a zone," Lucas said of her second-half
shooting barrage. "Once you see it going in a couple times, you just feel like
everything is going in and the basket is twice the size it usually is."
It was a milestone victory for the Lady Lions over a Purdue team that has
notoriously held Penn State's number for the last decade.Thursday's game gave Penn State its first win
in West Lafayette since Jan. 2, 2004, which was two and a half years before
Coquese Washington became head coach.Last season, Washington's squad snapped an 11-game losing streak to the
Boilermakers with a win in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
"We knew it was going to be a heavyweight boxing match, but that was punch for
punch right there for a long time," assistant coach Fred Chmiel told the Penn
State Sports Network after the game. "We hit some big shots, to get a little
separation and played some defense, and that was good."
Redshirt junior forward Mia Nickson, who posted 12 points and nine rebounds
against the Boilermakers echoed her coach's sentiments.
"I think it's so exciting for us, our goal is to be Big Ten champs and we are
just so much closer now," Mia Nickson said."Going into Purdue it's such a hard place to play and they are such a
tough and physical team that maybe last year or years before we wouldn't have
had the strong performance that we did today."
Perhaps Nickson is right.Penn State has
struggled down the stretch over Washington's first four seasons. The Lady Lions
finished a combined 5-15 over the final five games in each of Washington's
previous campaigns at the helm.Now,
riding a five-game winning streak, Penn State is looking to use its momentum to
capture the program's first Big Ten regular season title since 2004.
"We had been pumped for this game all week," Chmiel said. "This is the game we
wanted for a long time."
Coming up next is another highly anticipated clash, as Penn State begins a
two-game homestand to close the regular season. The Ohio State Buckeyes visit
the Bryce Jordan Center Monday night for the two teams' only meeting this
season. The Buckeyes trail the Lady Lions by only a half game for the Big Ten
Conference lead and feature the Big Ten's top one-two scoring duo in Samantha Prahalis
and Tayler Hill.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 16, 2012 6:00 PM
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -Take a look back at Penn State's 69-64 victory over Iowa on Thursday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Welcome to the GoPSUsports.com gameday blog for the Nittany Lion
basketball team.
We will bring you coverage from tonight's matchup between Penn State (11-15, 3-10)
and Iowa (13-12, 5-7) inside the Bryce Jordan Center.The Nittany Lions are seeking their
second-straight victory after knocking off Nebraska (67-51) on Saturday.Penn State and Iowa met just 12 days ago,
with the Hawkeyes using a 17-point halftime lead to score a 77-64 victory in
Iowa City.
Follow along here on the in-game blog for updates throughout Saturday's contest
with Iowa.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Frazier, G - Colella, G
- Woodyard, F - Travis, F - Graham Iowa: G - Gatens, G - Oglesby, F - Marble,
F - McCabe, F - White
First Half: 15:56 - Penn State 10, Iowa 5 The Nittany Lions picked up right where they left off on Saturday against
Nebraska.Penn State is 4-for-7 from the
floor early, including six tallies from the bigs in the paint.Jon Graham has four points and three rebounds
early.Jermaine Marshall just found Sasa
Borovnjak for an easy lay-in to put the Lions up by five.Production in the paint from the Penn State
forwards is huge for the team's confidence.
11:09 - Penn State 16, Iowa 10 Iowa manufactured a 7-0 scoring run to set the
score at 10-10 before Coach Chambers used a timeout.The Lions responded to the Iowa spurt with a 6-0
run of their own to make it, 16-10 after a leaner from Woodyard along the
baseline.Woodyard, Frazier and Graham
all have four tallies to lead the Nittany Lions.Penn State is 7-for-16 from the field.
7:32 - Penn State 25, Iowa 12 Tonight's game has been the polar opposite of
the first half in Iowa City 12 days ago.The Nittany Lions are shooting 50 percent from the field in the first
half, while the Hawkeyes are shooting just 24 percent.Penn State has been terrific inside the paint
during the early portion of the first half.The Lions have 14 points inside, compared to just two from Iowa.
3:51 - Penn State 27, Iowa 21 After falling behind by 13, Iowa has quietly trimmed the Penn State lead
down to just six at the final media timeout of the half.The Hawkeyes have scored five of their nine
points on a 9-2 scoring spurt at the foul line.Frazier, who has two fouls, sat during most of the Iowa run, but the
Lion junior has returned to the floor.Penn State needs a strong finish to what has largely been a good half.
0:00 - Penn State 38, Iowa 24 Iowa scored the first basket of the game, but that was the only time the
Hawkeyes led in the opening half.A big
3-pointer from Woodyard at the 3:58 mark kick-started an 11-3 scoring run to
close things out.Woodyard accounted for
eight of the 11 points on the scoring spurt.Matt Glover tallied a free throw with 0.6 seconds left in the half to
set the Lion lead at 14 heading into the locker room.Woodyard led the way in scoring with 12
points on 4-for-6 shooting.As a team,
the Lions shot 44 percent from the field, while Iowa managed just 7-for-26 from
the floor for 27 percent shooting.The
Lions played very well in the paint, scoring 14 points to Iowa's six.The Lions also out-scored the Hawkeyes 10-1
off the bench.
Second Half: 15:46 - Penn State 45, Iowa 33 Two quick free throws from Graham in the opening 13 seconds handed the
Lions their largest lead of the game at 16, but Iowa answered with
five-straight points to cut the lead down to 12.That is where things stand at the first media
timeout.Graham has now equaled his
career-high with eight points.The
redshirt freshman also has five rebounds.Iowa freshman Aaron White has a game-high 14 points to lead the
Hawkeyes.
11:27 - Penn State 50, Iowa 40
Back-to-back baskets from the Hawkeyes brought Iowa within eight on the
scoreboard (48-40), the closest the Hawkeyes had been since the 2:27 mark in the
first half.Nonetheless, Frazier raced
down floor on the ensuing possession for a pull-up floater to put the Lions
back on top by 10.Penn State needs to
take better care of the basketball down the stretch and find open looks.
6:48 - Penn State 56, Iowa 49 Iowa senior Matt Gatens, who is the team's
leading scorer, is single-handedly keeping the Hawkeyes in the ballgame.Gatens knocked down three-straight 3-pointers
to draw the Hawkeyes to within seven (56-49) with 8:32 to play.He will also go to the foul line for two
shots after the media timeout looking trim the lead down to five.Penn State's offense has dried up in recent
possessions against the Iowa zone defense.
2:40 - Penn State 61, Iowa 58 The Hawkeyes closed to within three (56-53)
after seven unanswered points, but Frazier stepped up with a critical
sequence.The Lion point guard banked
home a shot on an in-bounds play.On the
ensuing Iowa possession, Frazier tallied a steal and raced to the other end of
the floor before drawing a foul and making two free throws to set the score at
60-53.Gatens answered with his fourth
3-pointer of the second half to make it 60-56.Sasa Borovnjak made one free throw to put the Lions up by five.Iowa's Aaron White came answered with a
basket.Marshall had a chance to knock
down a corner three that rimmed out.Iowa will be at the foul line for two shots after the break looking to
make it a one-point game.
0:00 - Penn State 69, Iowa 64 Marshall drained a big 3-pointer from the top of
the key with 1:45 to play to put the Lions up 66-61.Gatens answered with a basket of his own to
draw the Hawkeyes within three with 1:23 to play.Iowa had a chance to close within one, but
two missed free throws with 50.3 seconds to play handed the ball back over to
the Nittany Lions.From there, Graham
sealed the contest with a pair of huge free throws with the clock reading 24.6
seconds to play, which put the Lions up 68-63.The Nittany Lions led for 39:13 on Thursday night en route to their
second-straight victory.Frazier led
four players in double figures with 18 points.Woodyard finished with 13, while Graham and Marshall added 10
apiece.The Lions shot 40 percent from
the field for the game and 78 percent (22-for-28) from the foul line to knock
off Iowa.
Final Thoughts: The Nittany Lions led for all but 13 seconds in
a virtual wire-to-wire victory over Iowa on Thursday night.Penn State led by as much as 16 early in the
second half before the Hawkeyes mounted a charge.Iowa closed within two on two different
occasions in the final 2:40, but the Lions held strong down the stretch.Graham played a superb basketball game for
the Nittany Lions, finishing perfect from the field (3-3) and the foul line
(4-4) with a career-high 10 points and six rebounds.Frazier made two big shots down the stretch
and two foul shots to lead the Nittany Lions.
Give the Lions a great deal of credit for battling down the stretch in the
tight ballgame.Iowa missed four free
throws in the final three minutes that could have changed the complexion of the
game in the final minute, but Penn State stepped up and made plays when it
needed to.The end result was a
second-straight victory for the Lions for the first time since Dec. 18 and 21
during the non-conference season.Next
up for Penn State (12-15, 4-10) is a trip to the Kohl Center for a clash
against Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. (BTN).
Follow
GoPSUsports.com Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 16, 2012 4:23 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
GoPSUsports.com took a trip inside the Lasch Building's weight room on Thursday
afternoon for a conversation with Director of Strength and Conditioning Craig
Fitzgerald.
Meet the new leader in the Penn State football weight room.
Stay tuned on Friday for an inside look
at one of Thursday's afternoon lifting sessions and footage from Friday morning's
5:30 a.m. run.Footage you won't want to
miss.
Follow GoPSUsports.com Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on
Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 16, 2012 10:25 AM
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By Jackson Thibodeau, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- As junior Danny Henneghan (Beverly Hills, Mich.) steps up
to the midfield line for an opening faceoff, he knows that he is not alone out
there.
"We approach a faceoff in a very team-oriented aspect," said Henneghan. "When
I head out to the midfield line, I know it's not just a battle between myself
and my faceoff opponent. It is a combination of me, my teammates lined up on
the wing, and our opponents."
The midfielder is entering his second season as the Nittany Lions' faceoff
specialist and has won over half of the 300 faceoffs he has taken in games
since suiting up in a Penn State uniform.
Faceoffs run in the family for the Henneghans, as Danny's brother Charley
was also a faceoff specialist at Penn State from 2006-'09.
Faceoff successes appear as a single-man effort on the stat sheet, but the
junior attributes his achievements to his teammates.
"I have to give the most credit to my teammate Tim Golder," said Henneghan.
"I wouldn't be where I am today without him. He pushes me and makes me a lot
better and I try to do the same for him."
Henneghan and sophomore attack Tim Golder (Cochranville, Pa.) compete in
faceoff drills against one another in nearly every practice. While both players
gain experience and knowledge from the drills, the loser of the drills is
subject to pushups.
Henneghan is not the only Nittany Lion that attributes his faceoff success
to teamwork, but coaches do as well.
"We are hoping that possession by committee is more of what we will become
as a team as we work through the season," said Jeff Tambroni, who is entering
his second season as Penn State's head coach.
Although the team plays a crucial role in improving Henneghan's chances of
winning a faceoff, the entire squad gets a boost when the junior is playing
well as an individual.
"When Danny plays well, we get an enormous advantage on the field in
possession time and momentum," Tambroni said. "It is nice to have the luxury of
a specialist like Danny with that mentality and capability."
The opening faceoff in Saturday's game against Michigan will be more than a
routine start to a contest for Henneghan and the Nittany Lions. It will be the
beginning of a new legacy that Penn State lacrosse is striving to create.
"I can't wait to get out on our brand new field in front of our fans," said
Henneghan. "It should be quite the experience walking out for that opening
faceoff for the first game at our new home."
Henneghan and the Nittany Lions look to significantly improve their faceoff
win percentage in this game compared to the last outing at the season opener
against North Carolina. In 28 faceoff attempts, the team only won nine,
contributing to North Carolina's control of possession and eventual victory.
"I just need to get back to basics," said Henneghan. "I need to stop
worrying about what the referees and my opponents are doing and instead I need
to focus on myself and what I have done in faceoffs throughout my career."
The Penn State men's lacrosse team will take their new field for the first
time this Saturday at 1 p.m. against the Michigan Wolverines.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 16, 2012 10:04 AM
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By Jeff Sattora, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK,
Pa. - Twenty-five games down, three to go.
The Penn State Lady Lions, 20-5 on the year, have three games left to make a
final stamp on the 2011-'12 regular season.Sitting in front of the group is the chance to not only make a mark, but
a very big one, as a possible Big Ten regular season championship awaits.
Sitting at 10-3 on the year in conference, a half-game ahead of their next two
opponents (Purdue and Ohio State), the Lady Lions know the situation at hand.
"It's very exciting, we're in control of our own destiny," said sophomore guard
Maggie Lucas."It's up to us to go out
and get these wins."
For senior Zhaque Gray the opportunity that presents itself is a huge one, and
presents something she would love to end her career with, a Big Ten title.
"It definitely means a lot, I've won on every level," Gray said."To put another championship under my belt
would mean a lot to me."
While the team does control it's own destiny and excitement seemed to fill the
air, there is still a lot of work to be done to get there, a fact not lost on head
coach Coquese Washington.
That work starts as the team prepares for its next game, at Purdue Thursday
night.
"They (Purdue) are a very talented team, a very good defensive team,"
Washington said on the Boilermakers."Their backcourt is really good, they can all create their own shot, get
shots for their teammates."
"We've got challenges on both ends of the floor," she added.
On the offensive end the Lady Lions will be looking to score against a team
that is allowing a Big Ten low 57 points per game.While on the defensive end they will be
looking to shut down an offense led by Brittany Rayburn at 14.3 points per game
and Courtney Moses at 10.4 points per contest.
On top of the talent Purdue brings into the game, physicality is another thing
that the team mentioned heading in.
"It's going to be a battle, they're a real physical team and they're a good
team," said Gray on the matchup.
"They're very physical, Purdue's a very hard place to play," Lucas added."It's very loud in there; it feels like the
fans are right on top of you."Also
mentioning how important the team keeping its poise will be.
As intense and important as these games are the next few weeks, the excitement
and fun in the air of playing basketball at this level can't be ignored.
"I told our team, have fun, enjoy this," Washington said."This is why you play basketball; you want to
be in these kinds of games, regardless of the outcome."
With that said, she did add the how having wins in that outcome column would
mean so much more.
"Nobody sits in their driveway and goes, 'Yes, we finished 10th', you don't do
that, you hit the buzzer-beater to win the championship," the coach added.
In a few short days and weeks a championship can be coming to Happy Valley, now
it's time to go hit that shot.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 15, 2012 5:11 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In a season-long promotion at Nittany Lion
basketball games in the Bryce Jordan Center, if Penn State scores 70 or more
points in a game fans can redeem their ticket stub from that game at local
McDonald's restaurants for a free Big Mac.
In Saturday's win over Nebraska, the Nittany Lions reached 67 points with 2:22
remaining in the game.However, Coach
Chambers pulled the starters shortly after and in an act of sportsmanship held
the ball on the last possession of the game.
At the time, the students sitting courtside were chanting for the Lions to
reach 70 so they could redeem their tickets for a Big Mac.Penn State finished the game with 67 tallies,
and Coach Chambers felt bad.
So at noon on Wednesday, Coach Chambers went behind the counter at McDonald's on
College Avenue in State College to hand out free Big Macs to Penn State
students with ticket stubs from the Nebraska game or Nittany Nation shirts
on.Take a look.
Follow GoPSUsports.com
Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 15, 2012 4:16 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion basketball team (11-15, 3-10) will
play its second-straight home game against Iowa (13-12, 5-7) on Thursday at 8
p.m. (ESPNU) inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State shot 52 percent from the field in a 67-51 victory over Nebraska on
Saturday.Tim Frazier, who ranks second
in the Big Ten in scoring at 18.5 points per game, scored 23 points and was one
assist shy of a triple-double in Saturday's triumph over the Cornhuskers.
The Nittany Lions played at Iowa on Feb. 4, with the Hawkeyes scoring a 77-64
victory.The Lions scored 45 points in a
strong second half in Iowa City, but could not overcome a 36-19 halftime
deficit.
GoPSUsports.com talked with assistant coach Brian Daly leading up to Thursday's
clash with Iowa. Take a look.
Follow GoPSUsports.com
Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 15, 2012 2:36 PM
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By Scott Traweek, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State begins the 2012 season in St. Petersburg,
Fla., at the Big Ten/Big East challenge where the Nittany Lions hope to establish
themselves early on the national stage.
Head coach Robbie Wine believes his team has a lot of potential after
emerging from the offseason with a host of experienced veterans, accompanied by
a talented pool of freshmen.The upcoming
competition will provide the coach with his first real opportunity to see his
players in action.
"On paper, I think we look pretty good and nobody else knows about us,"
said coach Wine."We're excited to get
out on the field and prove it."
The first obstacle the players face will be adjusting to playing
outdoors.Though the winter in Happy
Valley hasn't been as bad this year as it has in the past, the Nittany Lions
have had few opportunities to practice on a real baseball field in months.Playing inside Holuba Hall has its benefits,
but it isn't the same as fielding ground balls on dirt or dealing with the sun and
wind in the outfield.
"Being in Holuba you get reps, but it's a lot different," said senior
outfielder Sean Deegan."Infielders
aren't getting [ground balls] off dirt.They're not getting them off grass.Fly balls for outfielders, they're limited, they're not in the sky, in
the clouds.You're not dealing with the
sun."
Deegan proceeded to note that adjusting to playing outdoors is a part of
baseball.He compared the notion of
stepping onto the field for the first time after winter break to riding a bike:
it just comes naturally.
"It's just something you got to deal with as a baseball player," commented
Deegan."When you get outside it's like
riding a bike.You're out there, it's
sunny, it's hot, it's warm, and just being out there playing baseball you're so
excited that it just comes right back to you."
The more experienced players adapt quickly.They know what to expect and will help guide their younger teammates
through the routine.
"We have these old veteran guys, they've done it for three, four years now
so it's nothing new to them," said coach Wine.
"I think having guys that are older and having experienced that already, we
know what to expect when we get out there on the field," added Deegan.
Penn State returns a number of experienced players this year, some of whom
missed the previous season due to injury.Coach Wine was ever mindful of the injury bug during preseason
practices, but, thus far, the Nittany Lions remain unscathed.
"It was kind of in the back of my mind, 'just kind of make it through this
scrimmage and then two more practices,'" said coach Wine."But, health-wise we're good, experience-wise
we're way ahead of the game."
The Nittany Lions have a strong team across the board. The pitching staff
was stout last season and has its ace junior Steven Hill back at the top of the
rotation along with the upstart junior Johnny Walter in the second spot.Finally, the addition of transfer Cody Lewis
has allowed coach Wine to solidify the starting rotation.
"You look across the country at some of the starters, and we go in with a
pretty good starting rotation," said coach Wine."I'm pretty excited about the starting
rotation."
On the other side of the ball is an offense that has been there before lead
by three seniors in third baseman Jordan Steranka, first baseman Joey
DeBernardis, and Sean Deegan in the outfield.Coach Wine couldn't be happier with the team he has put together.
"Things came around pretty good," said coach Wine."We were looking good this year when we get
all these guys like Sean [Deegan], Jordan [Steranka], D-Bo [Joey DeBernardis]
and the guys with potential draft stock, getting those guys back really helps a
college ball club."
The Nittany Lions play Seton Hall, West Virginia and Cincinnati respectively
this weekend.They open the season
against Seton Hall on Friday, with Cody Lewis expected to be on the mound.Coach Wine foresees a pitchers dual.The key to success will be to play smart,
error-free baseball.
"Just don't make mistakes and we'll have a chance to win early in the
year," advised coach Wine."That's
what's great about the Big Ten/Big East Challenge."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 15, 2012 9:48 AM
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By Cassie Speno, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State women's lacrosse team will be
honoring former head football coach Joe Paterno's life and legacy this season
by sporting his initials on their sticks as well as their shooting shirts.
The shooting shirts read "Make an Impact"- JVP. Jay Paterno, Joe
Paterno's son, came to speak to the team and discuss what the quote meant to
him and his Dad.
Captain Dana Cahill said what resonated most with her and the rest of
the team was when Jay spoke about the lacrosse team laying the foundation this
year for the future of the program
"He is a great motivational speaker, he talked to us as a squad when I
was a freshman and I just really enjoy what he has to say," said Cahill. "What
really stuck with me was when he talked about us laying the groundwork for our
program here at Penn State. The University is making a tremendous effort to
build the lacrosse program, so we are really going to need to prove to everyone
how capable we are. This is the year to make our impact."
Joe Paterno was not just a football coach; he was much more than that.
He acted as a mentor to the students, staff and faculty.
The term "Success With Honor" is something that all athletes at Penn
State take very seriously. The values that Joe Paterno preached are near and
dear to all Penn Staters hearts and are the main reason many of the women on
this squad came to Penn State.
Captain Theresa Zichelli wanted to be a part of a program and
University that would not only make her a better athlete, but also a better
person.
"I wanted to play for a program where playing for your school and
teammates meant more than just playing for yourself," said Zichelli. "We have
the opportunity to make an impact this season. Out of all the things Joe
Paterno taught his players and the rest of us athletes we thought this quote
was the most appropriate for our program. "
Head coach Missy Doherty agreed and said the team and the coaching
staff took a lot away from Jay Paterno's message.
"Having Jay, who is a friend of our program, speak to the girls was a
great way to kick off our season," said Doherty. "He is a tremendous motivational
speaker and we were all honored to hear what he had to say."
After listening to Jay, the team went on a bucket list tour of Beaver
Stadium.
"As a senior that just completed my list of things I wanted to
accomplish before I graduated," said Cahill. "When the gate opened to the field
and we all stood in the middle of one of college footballs most historic
landmarks, it literally took my breath away."
After that unforgettable experience and motivational speech the team is
united and ready to begin their season on the road against Bucknell.
The Penn State-Bucknell match-up at 4pm on Wednesday with live stats
and instant scoring updates will be featured on GameTracker. Find a link on the
official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 14, 2012 3:59 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
GoPSUsports.com talks with senior Cameron Wade on the latest installment of
This Week In Penn State Wrestling.Wade,
who is 21-4 on the season with nine pins at heavyweight, will wrestle for the final
time in Rec Hall on Sunday against Pittsburgh.
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Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 14, 2012 12:00 PM
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By Brian Tripp, GoPSUsports.com Radio Voice Tripp is the radio analyst for Lady Lions at every game.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Playing on the road is no easy task, especially in the
Big Ten. Yet, the Penn State Lady Lions continue to thrive away from home this
season. With Sunday's 77-63 win at Northwestern, Penn State (20-5, 10-3 Big
Ten) now posts a Big Ten best 6-1 record in conference road games, particularly
important due to a sluggish home start.
After opening conference play 0-2 at home, the Lady Lions took to the road to
turn things around.Penn State went 4-0
in its first four conference road games for the first time since 2003-'04
before falling 83-77 at Michigan State on Jan. 29. Since that loss, the Lady Lions have bounced
back winning four games in a row, with 2 pivotal road victories, to keep pace
atop the Big Ten Conference.
While Penn State won its first four road contests by an average of 20 points
per game, recent games are proving that playing on the road in the Big Ten
isn't always easy. After losing to Michigan State, Penn State overcame a
1-for-18 start from the floor to battle back from an eight-point deficit
against Minnesota in a 68-65 victory. Then, Sunday against Northwestern, Penn
State led by as many as 21 early in the second half, but struggled to finish
off the Wildcats. Northwestern rallied with a 10-3 run to climb within 12 with
four minutes to play. However, during the game's last moments, Zha-Zha Gray
scored four of the teams final six points to reach 17 points for just the third
time this season.
"Coach Washington talks about that a lot, no team can win with just two players
scoring 35 points per game," assistant coach Maren Walseth said. "Balanced scoring is one thing we talk about,
getting assists is very important ... sharing the ball and not really caring
about who gets the credit."
Recently, the Lady Lions have executed that strategy to near perfection, with
four players reaching double-figures in each of the last two games and with at
least three players in double-figures over the last six. Maggie Lucas leads the
team, reaching double-figures in all six of those games. Alex Bentley and Nikki
Greene have reached the mark four times with Mia Nickson scoring 10-plus points
in three games, and Gizelle Studevent, Ariel Edwards and Gray each achieving
the feat once.
"With the kind of personnel we have, everyone can score with the ball," Lucas
said. "We are executing on offense and when we get great shots, we usually make
them."
She noted that going into opposing arenas takes some time getting used to, but
so far it hasn't seemed to faze the Lady Lions, perhaps another credit to the
team's experience. With senior Zha-Zha Gray and juniors Alex Bentley, Nikki
Greene and Mia Nickson and sophomore Maggie Lucas with valuable starting experience
entering this season.
However, the Lady Lions toughest road test awaits, with a Thursday evening
clash with Purdue at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, IN. The Boilermakers are
just a half-game behind the first-place Lady Lions atop the Big Ten with a 9-3
Big Ten record.Purdue is among the Big
Ten's best in attendance figures, averaging over 8.500 patrons per contest and
features an outstanding duo of Courtney Moses and Brittany Rayburn.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 13, 2012 4:34 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The hard work on both ends of the floor in the
practice gym for the Nittany Lion basketball team translated into a 16-point
victory over Nebraska.
The team's effort level was superb on Saturday, as it has been for the vast majority
of the season.
Why that effort carried the squad to a victory?
Penn State made shots on the offensive end of the floor.
"We are a different team when we make shots," head coach Patrick Chambers said.
The Nittany Lions shot 52 percent from the field against Nebraska.Being able to shoot at a clip north of 50
percent coupled with playing as hard as the Nittany Lions did on Saturday, Penn
State elevates to a different level on the floor.
The trend of shooting better at home than on the road continued against
Nebraska.The Lions are now shooting 42
percent from the field and scoring 67.4 points per game in the BJC.On the road, Penn State is shooting 35
percent and averaging 55.3 points per game on the road.
Junior point guard Tim Frazier was again the catalyst on Saturday for the
Nittany Lions.The Texas native narrowly
missed out on a triple-double.Coach
Chambers said on Monday that Frazier has triple-doubles every day in practice
and that he expects the guard to play that well every night he steps on the
floor.
Redshirt sophomore Jermaine Marshall has established himself as the second
scorer for the Nittany Lions.Marshall,
who scored 12 points against Nebraska, is averaging 10.4 points per contest
this season.Coach Chambers currently
has Marshall coming off the bench for the Nittany Lions.He said that the Lions needed some bench scoring
in the rotation, and Marshall has been very good in that role.
The Nittany Lions return home on Thursday at 8 p.m. against Iowa.Penn State and Iowa met on Feb. 4 in Iowa
City, with the Hawkeyes tallying a 77-64 lead.Iowa built a 36-19 halftime lead before the Nittany Lions out-scored the
Hawkeyes, 45-41, in the second half.
Coach Chambers said that he is focused on the Nittany Lions getting better
during the next two days before shifting attention to Iowa-specific
preparations.His early analysis of the
first meeting against Iowa included a better shooting performance to start the
game and better team defense.
Penn State has five games to play before the Big Ten Tournament in
Indianapolis.The message is still the
same from the first-year head coach.
"Be the best team you can be at the end of the year," Coach Chambers said.
- Freshman guard Trey Lewis returned to the floor in practice gear on
Monday.Lewis participated in shooting
drills, but he will continue to be limited from contact as he recovers from a stress
fracture in his lower back.Coach
Chambers said that there is a chance Lewis could play before for the season is
over.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 13, 2012 11:39 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With their fourth-straight victory and some help
from 10th-ranked Ohio State, the Lady Lions moved into sole possession of first
place in the Big Ten on Sunday afternoon.
The Lions cruised past Northwestern in Evanston, 77-63, thanks to four players
in double-figures.Later in the
afternoon, Ohio State used a late surge to defeat Purdue, 80-71.Sunday's results put the Lions at 10-3 in the
Big Ten and a half game ahead of a tie between Ohio State (9-3) and Purdue
(9-3).Nebraska enters its game on
Monday (at Minnesota) with an 8-3 mark.
Penn State's role in the four-way battle atop the standings will likely be
decided on the floor in the next seven days, as the Lady Lions are set to take
on both Purdue and Ohio State between now and next Monday.
The Lions travel to West Lafayette on Thursday (6 p.m. on BTN) for a showdown
against the Boilers before hosting the Buckeyes on Big Monday inside the Bryce
Jordan Center on Feb. 20 (7 p.m. on ESPN2).Penn State will wrap up its regular season with a home game against
Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 26, which is the annual Pink Zone game.
Mackey Arena has been a tough place for the Lady Lions to play at in recent
seasons.Penn State last defeated Purdue
in West Lafayette on Jan. 2, 2004.Nonetheless, the Lady Lions knocked off the Boilers, 73-61, at the Big
Ten Tournament last season.
Head coach Coquese Washington and the Lady Lions only look at one game at a
time, but the next two outings are big games for the Lady Lions.Not only will they play a direct role in
deciding the regular season Big Ten champion, the contests against Purdue and
Ohio State are great opportunities for the Lions to build their confidence
level heading into the postseason.
Purdue and Ohio State are two teams the Lions have faced challenges against in
recent meetings.The Lions are a
combined 2-23 against the two foes in their last 25 outings.However, Penn State is playing as well as it
has played since conference play began in December.The Lions are 8-1 in their last nine games,
with the lone setback coming in a very close game at Michigan State (83-77).Additionally, the Lions beat both Purdue and
Ohio State once last season.
There are two weeks remaining in the conference season before the Big Ten
Tournament begins on March 1 in Indianapolis.With the addition of Nebraska this season, there will be four games on
the opening day of the tournament instead of three.The top four seeds will all receive a bye and
begin play on Friday, March 1.
Big Ten Regular Season Race and
Remaining Schedules
Big Ten
Overall
Remaining Schedule
1. Penn State
10-3
20-5
at PUR,
vs. OSU, vs. MINN
2. Ohio State
9-3
22-3
vs. IND, at PSU, vs. MINN, at NEB
Purdue
9-3
19-6
vs. PSU, at MSU, at MICH, vs. IU
4. Nebraska
8-3
19-4
at MINN, vs. NW, vs. WIS, at MSU, vs. OSU
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 13, 2012 11:05 AM
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By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - When it comes to the history of the EIVA conference
and the makeup of its teams from season to season, not much has changed since
its debut configuration in 1972.
The No. 5 Nittany Lions downed both Rutgers-Newark and NJIT in their first
conference contests this weekend, winning each match in just three sets to set
their opening EIVA record at 2-0.
On Saturday night after Penn State swept the Highlanders for their second
win of the weekend, NJIT head coach Ryan McNeill said it best that when a team
comes into Rec Hall to play against the "big boys" sometimes there is only one
thing you can do.
"Pray," said McNeill.
For the past 20 years, the Penn State men's volleyball team has opened up
its conference schedule with back-to-back victories. This weekend, that
tradition continued.
On Friday night, the fifth-ranked Lions overcame the Scarlet Raiders with a
strong offensive showing. As a squad, Penn State hit .475 and put up 7.5 total
team blocks. Junior outside hitter Tom Comfort led the team with seven kills as
sophomore outside hitter Peter Russell and freshmen outside hitter Nick Goodell
and middle hitter Aaron Russell followed with five each.
The next night, the same outcome followed suit as Penn State hit .489
collectively against NJIT and another set of offensive threats put up similar
figures. Comfort and Peter Russell again led the team with nine kills this time
and redshirt senior outside hitter Joe Sunder tacked on seven kills as well.
Redshirt senior setter Edgardo Goas controlled the Nittany Lion offense for
most of the weekend and tallied 42 assists in two matches while redshirt
freshman libero Connor Curry showed his strength in the back row with a
team-best 13 digs.
Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said that he was impressed with the way
that his entire team was able to contribute to the winning weekend, but not at
all surprised.
"You've got to protect home court," said Pavlik. "I think when you look at
our history in the league and how tough it is for teams to come in here and
beat us here, I'm not sure that there are teams that believe that they can win
here consistently. So this is a big first weekend for us to just kind of
establish that not much is going to change this year."
All but three athletes on the Nittany Lions' roster were featured in Rec
Hall over the weekend as the defending EIVA champions swept both Rutgers-Newark
and NJIT. Seeing the way that his team kept its momentum and played hard
together in several different combinations, Pavlik said that he is confident in
his lineup from top to bottom.
"It doesn't matter who is on the court for us," said Pavlik. "We're ready
to defend our EIVA Championship."
So for Penn State, the expectation to win EIVA matches this season is
almost more than an expectation - it's a standard.
Sunder said that the way that he and his teammates makes sure that they are
ready for each and every match by sticking to their routine no matter how tough
their opponent may or may not be.
"We just treat every game the same," said Sunder. "[The coaches] don't let us
take anything for granted that we have but personally I've been in a position
where we have taken teams lightly and it didn't turn out well so that's kind of
my personal drive. I don't want that to happen again."
The redshirt senior had 10 kills on 16 attempts over the course of the
weekend, and recorded just one error. Carrying the majority of the load of the
offensive strike for the past couple of years, Sunder said that it is nice to
have some time to sit back and relax while his teammates step up.
"It's a lot of fun," said Sunder. "We're definitely more experienced than
last year and I've said before, it's nice to get a break in the third game for
every match."
The Nittany Lions now sit at 8-1 overall and 2-0 in the EIVA heading
into the sixth week of their 2011-'12 season. Next week, the team will continue
its conference play on the road against Harvard and Sacred Heart.
Semester two has started off on a good foot. Academically it has been a lot easier because I am already adjusted to the college life style and I have learned how to manage my time better. In terms of gymnastics, it is going great! We have competed six meets already and they all have been awesome. We just keep getting better as time goes on. It has been really exciting to learn all the traditions and things the team does to prepare and on meet day. I feel like we all just keep getting closer and closer. I love telling people I am compete on the Penn State gymnastics team! This past weekend we took a very long, eight hour bus ride to N.C. State. We had an amazing meet and scored our season high! We have so much fun and learn a lot about each other while we're on the road. It gets a little tiring traveling or competing every weekend, but it's just something I have to adjust to because I'm not used to it. So far this season has been a blast and I can't wait for the rest of it!
We had a week full of exciting and well accomplished practices. The team focused on utilizing all of our resources given to us in the gym, eliminating all of the distractions, and being focused on fine tuning the details. We left State College at 8 am and after a long but memorable bus ride, we had a team meeting which included a fun team bonding activity that brought a lot of laughs. We are all super excited and pumped for our meet tomorrow night against North Carolina State University, George Washington, and William and Mary. We are coming off five amazing meets so far this season with only one being at home.
Tomorrow we will stay focused in our "blue and white" bubble as we continue to BRING IT BACK!! After the meet we will head home to Happy Valley to prepare for our next meet at "Our House" and continue perfecting our team THON dance. It is going to be great to have a home meet next weekend so we can show all of our family, friends, alumni and fans at Penn State how hard we have been working. The meet will be a Double Dual with the Men's Gymnastics Team against SUNY-Brockport and after the meet we will be headed straight to the Bryce Jordan Center to dance in support of THON 2012! For the Kids!!!
Hope you all have been doing well! I, as well as the rest of the team, have been doing awesome lately. We're now on to our sixth meet of the season, the half way mark! We are continuing to train like champions and it is definitely reflecting in our gymnastics at competition. This upcoming weekend we have a quad meet at N.C. State, and we're super excited for it. It's another "Flip for the Cure" pink meet in support of breast cancer awareness. Next weekend we have our first double duel home meet of the season against Brockport. It's so cool to compete side by side with the Men's Gymnastics team. It's just a completely different experience then a regular meet.
Next weekend is also THON weekend! For those of you who don't know what THON is, it's a weekend long dance marathon where the Penn State student body raises money to help fund research of childhood cancer.Basically, it is the largest student run philanthropy in the world! After our meet we are going right to the Bryce Jordan Center to perform a dance we put together ourselves. We are all so excited for it!
The Nittany Lions made it 2-0 in the EIVA this year by defeating the NJIT Highlanders 25-15, 25-15-25-23 Saturday evening.
We planned on tonight's match being a little different than last night's match against Rutgers-Newark. NJIT started their season with a west coast swing where they lost a five game match against UCSDand a five and four game match to Grand Canyon University. The video showed they were capable of playing stretches of good, physical volleyball. Last night they lost to Saint Francis in four games but they were close games. I was looking forward to see how our team came out tonight after reflecting on how we handled a strange rhythm match last night. One of the strengths of this team is that they seem to figure out the opponent as the match goes on and eventually we make a push. I was hoping that push would come early tonight.
Game one was at 8-7 when we got a three point run on a Peter Russell kill, NJIT error and Sunder kill. That lead held to 15-12 when Nick Goodell found his serving rhythm. After a Goas/Turko block, Goodell came up with an ace then Sunder put away a kill and a poor pass led to a NJIT ballhandling call for a 19-12 lead. At 24-15, a NJIT hitting error closed out the game. Game one leaders were Goodell (Kills - 5; Aces - 1), Goas (Blocks - 1; Digs - 2), Turko (Blocks - 1) and Peter Russell (Digs - 2). PSU hit .647 while NJIT was hitting .208.
Game two was up 9-7 when kills from Peter Russell and Sunder preceded a stuff by Hendries and a Turko ace for a 14-7 lead. NJIT closed it to 19-15 but after a NJIT serving error Sunder blasted two aces, Comfort put a ball away and NJIT ended the game with a hitting error and an illegal back row attack on the setter for a 25-15 win. Game two leaders werePeter Russell (Kills - 6), Turko and Goas (Blocks - 1), Sunder (Aces - 2; Digs - 3). PSU hit .379. NJIT hit .000.
Game three had our non-regulars in there. They struggled to find their game early. We took a timeout to "remind" them that they had given our regulars fits this past week in practice. We expected them to not sit back and wait for things to happen.After the TO, we went out and promptly gave up another point to NJIT! Great coaching! But a funny thing happened on the way to losing game three. WE started to turn it around. Ryan Wolf entered the game and our passing evened out. Our sideout game started to settle down. NJIT took a timeout at 16-17. A Turko ace tied it at 18. The teams traded sideouts and Hendries stuffed a ball to give us a 20-19 lead.After a NJIT timeout with the score 22-20 a terrific defensive play by Kyle Mars not only kept the ball off the floor but sent it over the net on his third contact to keep it alive. We made the dig and Kyle took a swing that resulted in the NJIT middle trying to play it as it came down through his block only to have a lift called. This gave us a 23-20 lead! After a NJIT hitting error took us to match point at 24-20 an NJIT kill was followed by an ace and a PSU hitting error. The score was 24-23. We took our timeout and all we talked about was the sideout play we were going to run to get us the match. As I returned to my chair, I said to one of Susan Bedsworth'sstat people, "Let's see if they serve the ball out of bounds after the timeout." They served the ball out of bounds after the timeout! In the immortal words of the A-Team's John "Hannibal" Smith: "I love it when a plan comes together!" Game three ended 25-23 with a terrific effort from the Nittany Lions! Game leaders were Comfort (Kills - 7; Aces - 1), Hendries (Blocks - 1), Turko (Aces- 1)and Curry (Digs - 2). PSU hit .500 to NJIT's .333.
The guys did come out early in the match with a concentrated effort to make NJIT handle the ball and earn points. Our serving began to take its toll and our block and defense led to point scoring opportunities. WE were converting those opportunities at a pretty high rate. Match leaders were Comfort (Kills - 9; Points - 10), Turko (Blocks - 2; Aces - 2), Hendries and Goas (Blocks - 2), Sunder (Aces - 2) and Curry (Digs - 5). PSU out-hit the Highlanders .486 to .182; out-blocked them 4 to 1; out-aced them 6 to 2; and out-dug them 21 to 15.
I really dislike the descriptors of "bench" or "back-ups" or "second team" to describe the guys who aren't on the court as "starters" because they work just as hard and put in just as much time as we ask. They are "the Team" and this season they are creating some terrific competitions in the practice gym! There is nothing like watching guys compete. They are going all out and if either side of the net drops below the standard of execution the other side pummels them. This team is taking great pride in being a team right now. That doesn't mean that everyone is satisfied...or even happy...about their individual roles. It means' that everyone is doing the most they can do to get better individually and keep pushing their teammates. I am seeing that spill over to their academic efforts and social behavior as well.We will need everyone on this team to be at their best at some point this year. It may be in competition or it may be in the training gym. All I know is that from what Colin, Jay and I have seen I have the utmost confidence in everyone of our guys. They are truly Nittany Lions!
We now prepare for our first EIVA road trip. We leave for Harvard (who defeated Princeton tonight in three games) and Sacred Heart (who defeated George Mason tonight in five games) next weekend. We'll leave for Boston on Thursday after practice. So we will be on the bus for another 6-7 hour trip then after we play the Crimson we head down to Fairfield, CT...another three hours...for our Sacred Heart match. Somewhere in the background is Willie singing "On the Road Again".
We would also like to thank Harry and Sue Kauffman and the PSU MVB Booster Club for organizing our first Ice Cream Social of the season on the mezzanine after tonight's match.We had a great turnout and I am told the Peachy Paterno and Death By Chocolate went quickly. Yes, I managed to get my ice cream!I did request of Harry and Sue that our next Ice Cream Social have my favorite Creamery flavor: Happy Happy Joy Joy! For those who haven't experienced the true culinary delight of this frozen delicacy it is Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip! Since V&S left State College with their cheese steaks, Happy Happy Joy Joy has taken its rightful place on top of the Pavlik PSU Favorite Food Pyramid. So keep your eyes and eyes open for the next PSU MVB Booster Club Ice Cream Social...and you had better leave me some!!
I'll be back to you this weekend to give you my thoughts on EIVA weekend #2! Have a great week!
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 11, 2012 11:48 AM
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.
-Take a look back at Penn State's 67-51 victory over Nebraska on Saturday afternoon inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Welcome to the GoPSUsports.com
gameday blog for the Nittany Lion basketball team.
We will bring you coverage from tonight's matchup between Penn State (10-15,
2-10) and Nebraska (11-12, 3-9) inside the Bryce Jordan Center.The Nittany Lions are seeking to snap a
six-game skid on Coaches vs. Cancer day in the BJC."Band Together" day will donate $3 from every
ticket sold to help fight cancer.We are
expecting the biggest crowd of the season on Saturday.
Follow along here on the in-game blog for updates throughout Saturday's contest
with Nebraska.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Frazier, G - Colella, G - Woodyard, F - Travis, F
- Graham Nebraska: G - Richardson, G -
McCray, G - Spencer, G - Walker, F - Ubel
First Half: 15:23 - Nebraska 6, Penn State 3 Senior forward Cammeron Woodyard knocked down a 3-pointer to open the
scoring, but the Huskers have answered with six straight heading into the first
media timeout of the afternoon.Nebraska's
transition offense has accounted for two of its three baskets.The Lions are 1-for-4 to open the game, but
Tim Frazier is at the foul line looking to draw the Lions within one.
11:38 - Penn State 15, Nebraska 11 Thanks to a 6-0
scoring burst, the Nittany Lions have heated up in the Bryce Jordan
Center.Former walk-on Nick Colella, who
is making his second-straight start, drilled a long ball from the corner.One possession later, Woodyard scored his
second 3-pointer of the contest, putting the Lions up 15-11 on the
scoreboard.Penn State is shooting 63
percent from the field in the early minutes.
6:05 - Penn State 25, Nebraska 17 Penn State's second
big scoring run of the first half has put the Lions on top by 10.Marshall kick-started the 9-0 spurt with a
hard dribble drive and lay-in along the baseline.Jon Graham's jump-hook in the lane put the
Lions up by eight before the Huskers burned a timeout.After a defensive stand, Frazier raced
through the Nebraska defense for a finger roll.He will look to finish off an old-fashioned 3-point play after the
timeout.The Lions are shooting 67
percent from the field (10-15) and 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc.Penn State is off to the type of start it
needed in a crucial game.
3:42 - Penn State 33, Nebraska 21 Woodyard is off to a
perfect start against Nebraska.Coach
Chambers has challenged the senior to give the Lions more production, and he
has delivered.Woodyard is 3-for-3 from
3-point range and 2-for-2 at the foul line for 11 points.Frazier is also perfect across the shooting
lines with eight points.Penn State is
still shooting better than 60 percent from the field.The Lions are rolling on offense, and they
lead by 12 in the first half.
0:00 - Penn State 36, Nebraska 26 Boosted by 58 percent
shooting from the field, the Nittany Lions headed off the floor at halftime
with a 10-point lead on the scoreboard.Woodyard
led the way with 11 pointes, while Frazier added 10.Penn State was aggressive on the offensive
end of the floor from the opening tip forward in the first half.Shooting north of 55 percent is a huge
confidence boost for the Lions.Additionally, Penn State did a very nice job on defense, holding
Nebraska to 39 percent shooting from the floor and 27 percent from the
perimeter.The Huskers led early in the
first half, but the Lions took control of things with a 10-0 covering 2:30 on
the clock.
14:50 - Penn State 45, Nebraska 33 Ross Travis threw
down a two-handed flush to push the Penn State lead to 12.The hot shooting trend has carried over into
the second half, as the Lions are 4-for-6 out of the locker room.The Lions are beginning to wear down the
Huskers on the defensive end of the floor, which is leading to opportunities in
the transition game.One thing to keep
an eye on is Frazier's stat line.He is
quietly closing in on a triple-double.The Texas native has 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists early in
the second half.
11:46 - Penn State 51, Nebraska 33 The intensity level
has been tremendous on both ends of the floor in the second half.The Lions are on an 8-0 scoring run on
offense, playing superb defense and diving on the floor.When Penn State plays with the type of
passion and enthusiasm it is accustomed to when it is making shots, the Lions
are a tough team to beat.Credit Frazier
for his up-tempo approach to pushing the basketball.The end result is an 18-point lead on the scoreboard
with 11:46 to play.
7:54 - Penn State 54, Nebraska 36 The triple-double
watch continues in the BJC as Frazier currently sits with 17 points, 10
rebounds and seven assists.Three
assists stand between Frazier and his first career triple-double, but he has
already reached his fifth double-double, which is the most of any guard in Penn
State history.The Lions are on top by
18 and shooting 56 percent.
0:00 - Penn State 67, Nebraska 51
The Nittany Lions led by double digits at halftime, and they never looked
back.Penn State led by as much as 20 in
the second half en route to a 16-point victory against the Huskers.Frazier was the star of the show on Saturday
afternoon.The junior point guard fell
just short of a triple-double, but finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, nine
assists and three steals.Woodyard added
a career-best 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting, while Marshall scored 12 points on
a 5-for-8 effort off the bench.As a
team, the Lions finished the game shooting 52 percent from the floor.Nebraska shot 40 percent from the field and
30 percent from the foul line.
Final Thoughts: The Coaches vs.
Cancer game is always a special day in the Bryce Jordan Center, and the Nittany
Lions backed it up with a great performance against the Cornhuskers.Penn State shot north of 50 percent and
cruised to a 16-point victory, snapping a five-game skid.Frazier played one of the best games of his
Nittany Lion career on Saturday.The
stat line is impressive all the way across, but scoring 23 points on just nine
shot attempts is tremendous.
The Houston, Texas, native is an elite point guard in the nation.His ability to score and get his teammates
involved separates him from most players in college basketball.In addition to his offensive performance,
Frazier played very good defense and set the tone for the Nittany Lions.As a team, Penn State played every defensive
possession with great energy and intensity.When you combine solid shooting on offense and that type of effort on
defense, it is living proof of what Penn State is capable of.
Coach Chambers said after the game that it speaks volumes about the team's
character when it plays with the effort it did on Saturday, despite being 2-10
in conference play.Saturday was a
superb performance for the Lions.They
will look to build on Saturday's win on Thursday night inside the BJC against
Iowa.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 10, 2012 3:39 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion basketball team (10-15, 2-10) returns
to the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday against Nebraska (11-12, 3-9) for the
annual Coaches vs. Cancer game.Penn
State will Band Together to fight cancer, with $3 from every ticket sold going
to Coaches vs. Cancer.
Penn State has played four of its last five games on the road.The Nittany Lions enter their second clash
with the Cornhuskers looking to snap a five-game losing skid.Penn State battled back from a 22-point
deficit to close within five in the second half at No. 11 Michigan State on
Wednesday night before the Spartans pulled away late.
Coach Chambers' message at the postgame press conference was simply put.Penn State showed spurts of the effort
necessary to win, but it needs 40 minutes of consistency.Playing hard, defending and rebounding are
the staples for the Nittany Lions, but Penn State needs to find its shooting
touch inside the Jordan Center on Saturday afternoon.
Former walk-on Nick Colella is coming off a strong outing at Michigan State on
Wednesday.Colella, who started his
first career game against the Spartans, played a career-high 37 minutes and
knocked down a trio of 3-pointers for a nine-point outing.
In the first meeting against the Huskers, Tim Frazier poured in 30 points on
10-for-15 shooting to the lead the Lions.However, Penn State managed just 33 percent shooting for the game and
3-for-24 from 3-point range.The Lions
trailed 34-22 at the half, but played even in the second half.
Nebraska guards Bo Spencer (19 points) and Toney McCray (13 points) led four
Huskers in double digits.The Huskers
shot 55 percent from the field during the game.Nebraska enters Saturday's game on a three-game losing streak after a
62-46 home setback to Michigan on Wednesday night.
The story will likely be different inside the Bryce Jordan Center, but Penn
State still needs to find a way to knock down open looks and play consistently
on the defensive end of the floor.With
Saturday being the first of two-straight home games, the Nittany Lions have an
opportunity to build some momentum as they head into the final stretch of the
season.
Including Saturday, Penn State has six games to play before the Big Ten
Tournament.That span includes four home
games - Nebraska, Iowa, Northwestern and Michigan - and two road games against
Wisconsin and Purdue.The Nittany Lions
are 8-5 inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
Penn State will wear
all gray alternate uniforms for the second time on Saturday against Nebraska.The Lions knocked off Illinois in the first
appearance for the gray uniforms.Penn
State has hosted Nebraska just once in its history.The Lions defeated the Huskers on Dec. 21,
1981 by a score of 60-58.Tipoff is
slated for 1 p.m. in the BJC with television coverage on ESPNU.
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Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 10, 2012 11:39 AM
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By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions welcome their first conference
competition of the season to Rec Hall for another weekend full of bumping, setting,
spiking and digging.
Fifth-ranked Penn State hosts Rutgers-Newark to open the weekend Friday
night at 7p.m., and then it meets NJIT the following evening at the same time.
All three of the teams featured in Rec Hall this weekend are members of the
Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, better known as the EIVA. Last
season, the Lions went 10-0 in conference competition to take home their 27th
regular season title in the last 35 years.
But this season, the EIVA looks a bit different.
Before this year, the conference was made up of two divisions, the Hay and
Tait divisions. The two divisions split up the 11 total teams that made up the
conference. This season three of those 11 teams (Juniata, NYU and Springfield)
moved down to Division III competition, and left the EIVA with just eight
Division I squads and one conference division.
This means that the EIVA will see more regular competition between strictly
Division I teams, and it also means that Penn State will be playing each of its
conference opponents twice throughout the season for a total of 14 EIVA
matches.
The Nittany Lions have been successful in their conference in recent years
and stretching even further back as they have won 13 straight EIVA
Championships and 23 overall. The last time that the team dropped a conference
match was more than a year ago on March 27, 2010, against none other than
Rutgers-Newark.
Winning a conference championship is especially important for Penn State
because, at the end of the season, it gives the team a spot in the NCAA
Championships and can allow the squad to host a part or all of that final
tournament on its home court.
With a young lineup and a 6-1 start this season, head coach Mark Pavlik
says that he is ready for another go-around.
"We get to kick off our EIVA schedule and that's the most important thing
we have," said Pavlik. "We have to win the EIVA to get to the national
championships and this is the way that we want to start off. Our goal is to
make sure we host the EIVA Semifinals and Finals here at Rec Hall in April and
we've got to take our first steps this weekend."
Looking ahead at the weekend, Pavlik particularly noted the veteran offensive
power that the Scarlet Raiders will be bringing to the court on Friday night as
the Rutgers-Newark roster is made up of a four seniors, one junior and three
freshmen. The conference opponent is 4-1 overall this season and 1-0 in EIVA
competition.
"They're always dangerous," said Pavlik. "In the men's game, you get people
who can serve the ball well and hit the ball well and all of the sudden they
can shorten games for their team."
On Saturday, Penn State will face a 4-3 team as the Highlanders from NJIT
come to Happy Valley for the first time since 2009. Pavlik says that he knows
the New Jersey team has struggled in recent years, but expects nothing short of
a battle from a team led by head coach Ryan McNeil.
"Ryan McNeil has had some good experience coaching at Lewis," said Pavlik.
"There's no doubt in my mind that his team's going to walk in here and try to
be physical with us. We're just going to have to maintain a pretty consistently
high level of play and force teams to play well for a long period of time to
beat us."
This weekend marks the second in a row that the Lions will be playing competing
on their home court. Pavlik said that he can see the difference when his Lions
can go to their classes, sleep in their own beds, be with friends and family
and prepare in their own locker room.
"It's just a feeling of comfort," said Pavlik. "Everything is just familiar
and I think that goes a long way to just getting guys relaxed and in the proper
mindset to compete."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 10, 2012 10:42 AM
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By Laura
Finley, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff
Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Lady Lions jumped to the lead and
never looked back during Thursday night's game against Wisconsin. Leading by as
many as 19 points during the second half, the Lady Lions took advantage of
their own defense, forcing missed opportunities by the Badgers and going on to
win 69-54.
"We made it a point to get up and guard them," said head coach Coquese
Washington. "We wanted to get in their space. You have to get out on the
three-point line and you have to defend. Our kids did a really good job of
making sure they matched up and they guarded them. We were aggressive guarding
them behind the three-point line."
The Lady Lions started the night off right with a three-pointer by Lucas to
open up the game followed by successive shots from junior forward Mia Nickson
and junior forward Nikki Greene to make the score 8-0. As the Badgers struggled
throughout the night with their shooting, the Lady Lions were on a roll,
pulling ahead 41-26 by the half.
The three-point shot was critical for both teams, and with previous experience
playing Wisconsin, the Lady Lions knew they had to hold strong and guard the
Badgers.
"Coach prepared us for that," said junior guard Alex Bentley. "She said
they were shooting a lot better from the three recently. We just made sure we
got out on the shooters and made them put it on the floor."
The Lady Lions did just that, holding Wisconsin at zero percent on
three-pointers in the first half, while accumulating 33 percent of the shots
for themselves.
Wisconsin tried to make a comeback after halftime, finding its rhythm and
making shots from the outside to pull within eight points of the Lady Lions
with 11:54 to go. With the Badgers on the run, Coach Washington pulled the
girls aside, stressing the need for patience on the court.
"We were not very patient on offense," said Coach Washington. "So we
talked about being patient on offense and being smarter; making the right reads
and making the right pass. We were not doing a good job of pressuring them on
the three-point line and they adjusted by going to the basket. We just talked
about fixing those couple of things and I thought we were fine after that."
And the Lady Lions were fine after that, holding the Badgers to just 10
points before the end of the game and spreading shots among their own players.
Sophomore forward Ariel Edwards demonstrated her offensive abilities, shooting
5-7 in the second half and tallying 11 points alongside Nickson who accumulated
12.
"[Ariel] was a huge lift on both ends of
the floor," said Coach Washington. "I thought she did a really good job
defensively in using her length, speed and quickness to be disruptive to
Wisconsin. I think because she was getting after it defensively, that gave her
the adrenaline to play and to be attacking and assertive on offense. That was a
huge lift for us."
Closing out the game, Greene led the team
with 10 rebounds, playing a critical role in shutting out the Badgers. Sophomore
guard Maggie Lucas led the offense once again, with 16 points, followed closely
behind by Bentley and Edwards who both had 14.
The defense proved to be the deciding
factor in the game, holding Wisconsin to just 37 percent shooting from the
field, while creating opportunities for the Lady Lions offense.
"I thought after they got it to eight we
kind of made a point to get it in the post," said Lucas. "I think Mia [Nickson]
made a quick bucket and Alex [Bentley] got a stop and a lay-up. I think the
defense turned that around pretty quickly for us."
This past weekend the team was able to defeat Mount Olive and a big Cal-Baptist team for the first pair of home games this season. It was a great feeling to be home after all of the bus rides we've been on. The guys feel like we have been riding on a bus longer than we have been playing in the games themselves! I was getting ready to start packing after our Thursday practice thinking we were getting ready to leave. Seeing our fans, other than our own parents, (Love you Mom!) was a great feeling, especially to hear them yell and scream when ever we get the points. Plus it sounds much better than getting heckled by other fans. We had a great fan base mainly because of the USAV junior boys' qualifying tournament; it was really great to watch some of the young talent that we might be able to steal for our team in the future.A couple of us got up Saturday morning and watched Peter and Aaron Russel's little brother's team play. We were fortunate enough to see them beat a big Canadian team, which was nice.
Besides the weekend, this week's practice has been pretty nice with everyone going at it for positions.Lately I've been working on taking Eddy's spot. I think I'm pretty close, but everyone doesn't agree with me...YET!Another hot new thing that has been going on is that Ryan Wolf and myself have been competing against Matt Seifert and Aaron Russel in a mini game we play before actual practice called "Short Court", which is 2-on-2 inside the ten-foot line.Currently Wolf and I are undefeated. It seems to me the young fellas can't hang with the big boys, even if their combined height is a foot taller than us!Maybe some day they will step up their game.
Hope to see some more of those great PSU MVB fans this weekend!
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Take a look back at Penn State's 69-54 victory over Wisconsin on Thursday night in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Welcome to the
GoPSUsports.com in-game blog for the Lady Lion basketball team.
We will bring you coverage from tonight's matchup between Penn State (18-5, 8-3)
and Wisconsin (8-15, 4-7).The Lady
Lions will be seeking their third straight victory following a 68-65 triumph at
Minnesota on Sunday.Penn State will
honor Maggie Lucas for eclipsing the 1,000-point plateau prior to tipoff.
Check back throughout the game for updates.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Bentley, G - Lucas,
G - Gray, F - Nickson, C - Greene Wisconsin: G - Davis, G - Wurtz, G -
Paige, F - Thomas, C - Rochel
First Half: 15:28 - Penn State 12, Wisconsin 6 After being recognized before the game for reaching the 1,000-point
plateau, Maggie Lucas went right to work on the offensive end of the
floor.Lucas drilled a 3-pointer on the
left wing and added two mid-range jumpers en route to seven of Penn State's 12
tallies in the opening 4:32.The Lady
Lions have done a nice job moving the basketball on offense in the opening
minutes.
7:44 - Penn State 26, Wisconsin 10 Thanks to a 12-0 scoring spurt, the Lady Lions built a 16-point lead on the
scoreboard.Lucas has 10 points on
4-for-5 shooting from the field.Penn
State has been dominant in the paint on both ends of the floor.Wisconsin has struggled to find much inside
the arc.The Badgers are 3-for-15 from
the field and 0-for-6 from beyond the arc.Penn State is in control early in the Bryce Jordan Center.
0:00 - Penn State 41, Wisconsin 26 The Lady Lions never trailed in a dominant first
half of play inside the Bryce Jordan Center.Penn State led by as much as 18 at the 6:25 mark, but the Badgers
mounted a run to slice the lead down to 10.A 10-2 spurt set the score at 34-24 with 2:07 to play.However, a lay-in from Talia East and five-straight
points from Ariel Edwards quickly pushed the Penn State lead back up to 17
before a late basket from the Badgers.Lucas led the way in scoring with 12 points.Edwards added 11 tallies, while Nickson
scored seven and Bentley had six.Penn
State's defense was terrific again in the first half, holding Wisconsin to 32
percent shooting from the field and 0-for-7 from 3-point range.
Second Half: 15:33 - Penn State 47, Wisconsin 33
The Lady Lions have had a balanced attack on the offensive end of the floor in
tonight's contest.Lucas and Edwards are
both over double digits.Bentley and
Nickson have combined for 15 points.In
all, seven different Lady Lions have scored.Offensive balance is very important for the Lions as they contend for a
Big Ten title.The Lions are shooting 54
percent for the game, and they hold a 14-point lead.
11:37 - Penn State 52, Wisconsin 44 Just when it appeared as though the Lady Lions
were putting things on cruise control, the Badgers have mounted a scoring
run.Wisconsin is currently on an 11-2
scoring spurt to close within eight (52-44).Penn State has not scored a field goal since a 3-pointer from Edwards at
the 15:21 mark.
5:47 - Penn State 61, Wisconsin 44 After closing to within eight, the Badgers went
on a dry spell offensively.The Lady
Lion defense held Wisconsin without a point for more than 6:00 of game
time.On the other end of the floor,
Bentley, Nickson and a 3-pointer from Gray pushed the Penn State lead back up
to 17 after mounting a 9-0 scoring run.Penn State is again in a position to put things away.
0:00 - Penn State 69, Wisconsin 54 Penn State never
trailed in another dominant performance inside the Bryce Jordan Center.The Badgers got as close as eight in the
second half, but an 11-0 scoring run covering 5:11 on the clock put the game
away for the Lady Lions.Penn State
turned in another superb performance on the defensive end of the floor,
limiting Wisconsin to just 37 percent shooting.Offensively, Lucas finished with 16, while Bentley and Edwards finished
with 14 points.Nickson added 11 points
and six rebounds.Penn State's largest
lead was 19 early in the second half.
Final Thoughts: Penn State moved to 9-3 in Big Ten play with a
wire-to-wire victory against Wisconsin.Thursday's contest was a streak-filled affair with two big runs, one in
each half, lifting Penn State to a 15-point victory.The Lady Lions continued their string of very
good defensive games on their home floor.Holding a team under 40 percent shooting makes things very difficult for
opposing teams.
The balance on the offensive end of the floor - four players in double digits -
is a very good sign for the Lady Lions as they close in on their final four
regular season games.In addition to the
four players in double figures, Greene tallied seven points and 10 boards.Penn State heads onto the road for a crucial
two-game road trip beginning on Sunday at Northwestern.The Lions then travel to first-place Purdue
on Thursday.
Follow GoPSUsports.com Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on
Twitter @GoPSUTony
The turtle and the guinea pig are relatively quiet tonight and Jack is in bed so I can get caught up on my updates from this weekend.The Nittany Lions defeated the Mt. Olive Trojans 25-20, 25-6, 25-12 Friday evening in Rec Hall.
It was our home opener and what a great feeling it was to be in Rec Hall for the first time in 2012! After three consecutive weekends on the bus for at least six hours one way all of us were extremely happy to sleeping in our beds and playing in front of our great fans! I was curious to see how the team would play in front of the home fans. I have seen times where our teams have come home after playing well at the Outrigger Invitational and press a little to play a bit better on the home court. We had practiced okay in the week leading up to this but I was still curious.
We took the court after Ohio State had defeated Cal Baptist in four games and people were still coming into Rec Hall! Joe Sunder was being rested due to letting his knee recover. Joe has had issues with his knee over the last two or three seasons and we felt it best to let him rest Friday.
Mt. Olive came in with a record of 2-5 but are members of the Carolinas Conference - an NCAA Division II multi-sports conference which is the first conference to sanction a men's volleyball championship - we have hosted them before and know they have some physical guys. If we didn't make them earn 25 points we could be in for a longer game!
Game one saw neither team gain more than a two point lead over the other through the first 20 points. We struggled a little from behind the service line and didn't take advantage of a few opportunities but mostly we weren't very physical at the net with our block. At 18-19, three consecutive kills from Goodell and Peter Russell (twice), a Mt. Olive hitting error and another Russell kill gave us the separation at 23-19. At 24-20, a ballhandling call closed out the game 25-20. Game one leaders were Peter Russell (Kills - 5), Olsen (Aces - 2) and Goodell (Digs - 4). PSU hit .429 but the Trojans were hitting .474.
Game two began pretty much like the first game but after an MOC serving error gave us the early 3-2 lead, NickTurko went back and found his serving rhythm. Turko served us to a 10-2 lead. Even though he had one ace in that run, Turko's serve was simply overpowering the Trojan passers as we had a couple of overpass kills. His serve really forced them into predictable sets and our block stuffed a couple of their swings and slowed some down which we quickly converted into points. Goas was our next server and he continued the run to 15-4. Peter Russell got two points on his serve to take it to 18-5 and then Aaron Russell, aided by two aces, pushed the score to 24-6 where a Jace Olsen kill ended game two 25-6. Game two leaders were Olsen (Kills - 4; Digs - 1); A. Russell (Blocks - 3; Aces - 2; Digs - 1) and Goodell, P. Russell, and Curry (Digs - 1). PSU hit .867 while the Trojans hit -.308.
Game three picked up right where two left off. PSU's servers were scoring points in bunches: Comfort, Olsen, and Hendries all scored at least three points. Covello added five of his own and at 24-12 a Comfort kill ended the match 25-12. Game three leaders were Comfort (Kills - 5; Blocks -3), Hendries and A. Russell (Blocks - 3), Covello (Aces - 1) and Curry (Digs - 6). PSU hit .375 and MOC hit -.129.
In between games one and two, Colin reiterated...rather forcefully...to the group the need for us to be aggressively physical with our block. Sometime it seems as if the guys try to be in the right place at the right time simply because our scouting and game plan calls for them to be there but they lack being there with ill humor toward the hitter. In the next two games, we blocked 11 balls.
The 25-6 win reminded former PSU MVB statistician Neil Kelley about a 2003 match at NYU. We defeated NYU 30-9. "Which win was more impressive?", asked Neil. When I checked the scoresheets I found both games had the same amount of serving terms (6) but we had scored more real points in 2003! Both were eerily similar.
Match leaders for the Nittany lions were P. Russell (Kills - 9), A. Russell (Blocks - 6; Aces - 2), Olsen (Aces - 2) and Furry (Digs - 7). PSU out-hit MOC .507 to .016; out-blocked them 11.5 to 3; out-aced them 7 to 0 and out-dug them 21 to 12.
It was a rather auspicious opening match as everyone got into the match and THERE WAS NO DROP OFF OF EXECUTION! We certainly had the advantages in the match-ups and after being tied at 19 in the first game the Nittany Lions outscored the Trojans 55-19 the rest of the way.
Now onto Saturday night's recap!
The turtle and the guinea pig are still relatively quiet tonight and Jack is still in bed so I can finish my updates from this weekend.The Nittany Lions defeated the Cal Baptist Lancers 25-19, 25-11, 25-17 Saturday evening in Rec Hall.
Wrapping up our competition in the biggest regular season weekend of the year for us was important. Scott Atkinson hosts a USAV junior boys' qualifying tournament on campus this weekend. The Atkinsons run the 90+ team tournament in Rec Hall, South Gym and all three gyms in IM Building beginning at 8 AM Saturday morning and, if the tournament runs on time, they are out by 8 PM Sunday. It is an awesome undertaking and teams from Canada and from up and down the east coast descend on Happy Valley. It certainly affords us the opportunity to check out the 16- and 17-and-under talent for the upcoming recruiting classes. We also get to watch next year's freshmen play for their respective club teams. We can't thank Scott and Rose and their staff enough. It always seems to go well and hopefully we can show them some good volleyball Friday and Saturday evening!
After watching Cal Baptist take on Ohio State the night before, they reminded me of the Saint Francis teams of the Marc Honore years. Their middle, Kristopher Johnson, was cut of the same cloth as was Honore. He was a long, lanky high-flyer that had a favorite shot. If a team couldn't slow that shot down it could be a long night. They also had some experienced outside hitters and a setter who could get the ball to his hitters pretty well. CBU is moving to the NCAA from the NAIA and next year they will be joining the MPSF. They had won several NAIA championships and have given us some tough battles in the past.
Game one was tied at 15. To that point neither team could get an edge or turn any points. A Sunder kill gave the serve to Turko and a P. Russell kill, P. Russell overpass putaway, A. Russell solo stuff, another P. Russell kill and a Turko ace gave the Nittany Lions a 21-15 lead. At 24-19, Sunder ended the game with a kill to make it 25-19. Game one leaders were P. Russell (Kills - 5), A. Russell (Blocks - 2), Goas and Turko (Aces - 1) and Goodell (Digs - 5). PSU out-hit CBU .306 to .000.
Game two had PSU down 5-6 when A. Russell went back to serve. A CBU hitting error started it off. That was followed by a Turko solo block, two kills from Goodell (off of bailout sets from A. Russell), an overpass kill from Turko, an ace and a Sudner kill for a 12-6 lead. At 16-9 and with Turko serving, the Lions strung together five points to go up 21-9. At 24-11, a Sunder/A. Russell stuff gave PSU the game at 25-11. Game two leaders were Sunder (Kills - 4), A. Russell (Blocks - 3; Aces - 1) and Goodell and Goas (Digs - 2). PSU hit .667 while CBU hit -.143.
Game three saw PSU lead 9-4 and never look back. CBU closed to 16-14 but our offense settled out and CBU made four more hitting errors with the last of those coming at 24-17 to close out the match 25-17. Game three leaders were A. Russell (Kills - 2; Blocks - 2) Goodell and Comfort (Kills - 2); Goas(Blocks - 2; Digs -3) and Olsen (Aces - 1). PSU hit .316 for the game while CBU hit -.087.
We did put back-to-back efforts together and did it with everyone from the squad! We were much more physical with our block tonight but our serving didn't back down. We controlled Johnson and forced their outside hitters to combat our block. We also converted the majority of opportunities afforded us. It was a good way to kick off the season at home. Match leaders for the Nittany Lions were Goodell (Kills - 8; Digs - 7), Sunder and P. Russell (Kills - 8), A. Russell (Blocks - 7; Aces - 1) and Goas, Turko and Olsen (Aces - 1). PSU out-hit CBU .397 to -.068; out-blocked them 10 to 2.5; out-aced them 4 to 3 and out-dug them 27 to 21.
We would like to thank coaches Allen Vince of CBU, Cole Talman of MOC and Pete Hanson of OSU for coming to our tournament! All three are outstanding coaches but even better men. It was great spending time with them and we wish them luck as they continue their seasons.
Our crowd was great and on this night it seemed as if the crowd never stopped coming into stands as the boys' tournament was finishing their first day. One thing I failed to mention in the update of yesterday's match was the reaction of the crowd to the team wearing black socks and black shoelaces to honor the life of Joe Paterno. It was a round of heartfelt, sustained and appreciative applause. The crowd did it again as Dean DeVore announced that my black Nikes, white socks and rolled up khaki's was my way of paying tribute to one of the greatest collegiate coaches ever.
Someone asked if I was going to do that tonight. I told them I appreciated the question but once is a tribute, more than once is imitation. Joe cannot be imitated!
I'll be back next week with my thoughts on our home EIVA matches against Rutgers-Newark and NJIT. Hopefully, the turtle, the pig and Jack are as quiet as they have been tonight!
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 9, 2012 10:55 AM
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By Scott Traweek, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - It's rare for a college baseball player to be
drafted by a Major League team after his junior season.When drafted, the player must then decide
whether to accept the invitation or go back to school for their senior
year.Penn State third baseman Jordan
Steranka's decision to remain a Nittany Lion after being drafted his junior
year wasn't easy.
"It was pretty difficult," said Steranka."It's always been my dream to play professional baseball and when I got
drafted it was kind of a dream come true."
Steranka was selected by the Houston Astros in the 30th round of the 2011
MLB Draft after an impressive junior season where he led the team with 57 RBIs
bolstered by a .323 batting average and eight home runs.Following the draft, Steranka discussed his
options with his parents and decided that his education came first.
"My parents always instill that in me," said Steranka."Getting your education first and that's what
I decided to do."
Despite declining a bid to train with the Astros, Steranka drew confidence
from the fact that he was offered the opportunity to play at the highest level.
"Knowing that I got picked and have that ability to play at the next level
is huge," said Steranka."It's a big
confidence booster for me."
His decision to remain at school has further motivated Steranka to work
even harder and increase his stock for the next MLB draft.He proceeded to spend the summer in Happy
Valley taking classes and training to improve his game in preparation for the
upcoming season.
"I worked really hard on my flexibility, getting faster, in the offseason,"
said Steranka."I spent actually my
whole summer at Penn State taking classes, working out every day, making a few
small adjustments to my swing."
Steranka was the anchor of a formidable Nittany Lion offense in 2011 and
his fellow players are excited to have him back.His experience will be instrumental in
preparing newcomers for the collegiate stage and his offensive prowess will set
opposing pitchers on edge.
"It's really good having him back and having that bat in the middle of the
order," said senior outfielder Sean Deegan, Steranka's close friend and
roommate."Just having his leadership
back there and also having his defense is huge."
"It's huge having him come back," added senior first baseman Joey
DeBernardis."Him being a four-year
starter now, this year, he's got the most experience on the team."
Steranka's experience brings with it an air of respect and leadership. Though
in the past he has taken more of a quiet, lead-by-example role, Steranka is
looking to be more vocal this spring.His leadership is key, as younger players will listen to the advice he
has to offer and learn from the way he approaches different situations.
"I'm impassive in leading by example, but this year I'm taking more of a
vocal role," said Steranka."We have a
lot of young guys too that are looking up to me."
Deegan referred to Steranka as a role model for the younger teammates who
are just getting used to the college atmosphere.
"He's always going to be there on time," said Deegan."He's always going to be doing the right
thing, never going to be getting in trouble and sets a good example for the
younger guys on how you should carry yourself as a collegiate athlete."
DeBernardis described Steranka as a humble, easygoing teammate, who enjoys
blasting his music in the locker room.
"He likes his music," recalled DeBernardis."That's what everyone probably knows him best for is his music he likes
to play."
"He's very humble about himself and what he does and what he accomplishes
and just a good guy to be around," DeBernardis added.
The Nittany Lions return a host of veterans in 2012 and with the Big Ten
vs. Big East challenge fast approaching, Steranka is eager for the season to
start.He sees the potential for his
team to have a great season.
"This is by far the best team I've been on since I've been here," said
Steranka."We have a great pitching
staff, really good defense and offensively we're great, so we're going to take
it one game at a time, but we definitely have big expectations."
Head coach Robbie Wine respects Steranka's decision to remain with the team
for his senior year.He praised
Steranka's character and team-oriented attitude.
"Doing something special as a team means more to him than actually getting
a half a season of pro ball under his belt," said coach Wine."It tells me a little something about his
character.He's a team guy and he
cares."
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 9, 2012 10:19 AM
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By Jeff Sattora, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Lady Lions head coach Coquese
Washington knows a little bit about point guards.The former point guard herself who not only
was a top college player, but a professional one as well, and knows what it
takes to be successful at that position.
She's been able to see a lot of those characteristics in a player she's
coaching, the Lady Lions own Alex Bentley.
The junior guard Bentley has been a strong presence for the team all season
long, and is starting to gain national attention with her play as she was
recently named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 list.
Being named on that list was an honor for the junior, but in true point guard
fashion she quickly spread the credit to her teammates as well.
"It means our team is having great success and we're playing great basketball,"
Bentley said of the honor."I wouldn't
be able to be on there if it wasn't for my teammates and the hard work we all
put in."
As much as Bentley wants to spread the credit around, for Coach Washington,
Alex is the one that makes the team go.
"Alex is the heartbeat of this team," said the coach on her point guard.
That heartbeat is currently averaging 14.5 points per game, to go along with a
team-leading 5.2 assists per contest for the Lady Lions.
"We go as she goes," Washington said.Also bringing up that the junior's leadership, confidence and ability to
manage the game have all improved from her freshman and sophomore campaigns.
"We were looking at her stats from this year to last year and they're about the
same," Washington said."What's
different with her is her leadership and ability to manage the game is much
better, I think she's a lot more confident."
As the point guard's leadership has improved so have other parts of her
game.Washington also mentioned how
Bentley has been able to become much more of a true point guard as she has
gotten older, as opposed to more of a scorer as a freshman.
Bentley's skills and leadership changes have not only been noticed by her
coach, but teammates as well.
"I wouldn't rather have any other point guard in the country," said senior
guard Zhaque Gray."She scores the ball,
passes the ball great, gets out there on defense, she does it all."
As much as Bentley has done this season for the Lady Lions she is still looking
to do more.
"I think I've been playing okay, definitely not my best," Bentley said on her
play this season.Adding she hopes to
improve her defensive stops and ability to take care of the ball on the
offensive end.
Bentley will get another chance to keep improving Thursday night as she and the
Lady Lions take on the Wisconsin Badgers at home at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State was able to roll over the Badgers last time the two teams met with
an 82-49 win early in conference play, and are hoping to do the same again.
Despite the lopsided first win Washington and the players are not expecting the
same Wisconsin team.
"They're not the same team, that's for sure," Washington said."They're playing a lot better basketball now
than they were early in the season."Also adding they are getting more contributions from different players.
"They've gotten a lot better since last time we played them," guard Maggie
Lucas added."They shoot a lot of threes,
we have a lot to prepare for.They're a
talented team."
With Bentley leading the way once again and continuing to improve her play
Wisconsin will need quite a bit of improvement to take down this Lady Lions
squad.
By Jeremy S. Fallis, Athletic Communications on February 9, 2012 9:09 AM
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By Alexa
Hetzel
Hello Penn
State Fans,
Welcome
back to another week in Happy Valley.This past weekend a majority of us spent our time swimming in the Senior
meet and watching the Super Bowl.I saw
most of the parents at the meet, but if you didn't get a chance to make it out
to McCoy Natatorium I can fill you in.
This past
Friday the boys had a duel meet against Buffalo.It was a great meet and a lot of the boys
swam fast which is an encouraging and positive sign for the weeks to come.The following Saturday we spent the meet
honoring the Seniors in our last duel meet ever in McCoy Natatorium.Being a part of those 11 men and women was
really an honor to have made it that far but was also very sad.Most of us have been swimming for longer then
we can remember so hearing for real that it is all coming to a rapid end was
emotional.I must say though we are
lucky.This year we actually had teams
make it to the pool.The past two years
Lehigh has failed to come because of the weather, so it was a nice change to
compete against another team.We also
welcomed the Saint Francis women's team to compete.Both the men's and women's team competed well
and really used every chance given to race.
Along with
honoring the 11 Seniors we were also lucky enough to have some Navy members
come and swim their first dual meet of the season at our pool.These men have served in the current war and
some have injuries, but it was such an honor to have them here and to get to
watch them compete.It was such an eye
opening experience and I think everyone really enjoyed it, the Navy men
included.
This past
Sunday we, along with millions of Americans, enjoyed the Super Bowl
action.We made lots of food including
taco dip ,buffalo chicken dip, sandwiches, pasta salad, and much more.We had a lot of options to choose from which
is typical at most Super Bowl gatherings you attend.As we settled in to watch the game most of
the people in the room were cheering on the Patriots because of our newest Penn
State member coach Bill O'Brien.I was
very torn being a New Jersey native and life long Giants fan as well and
bleeding blue and white.So really I had
it the best because no matter which team won I would have been happy.But now that the Super Bowl is over we are
lucky to have Coach O'Brien back at Happy Valley and finally stepping into his
head coaching duties full time.So
welcome Coach O'Brien.
As the days
fly by we are closer and closer to the main event of the season, Big Tens.This team has the potential to do some
wonderful things so I encourage everyone to watch our progress as we head to
Iowa City next Tuesday, the 14th.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Take a look back at Penn State's clash with No. 11 Michigan State on Wednesday night inside the Breslin Center.
Welcome to GoPSUsports.com gameday coverage of Nittany Lion basketball.
Tonight, Penn State (10-14, 2-9) is in East Lansing for a clash against the
11th-ranked Michigan State Spartans (18-5, 7-3) at 6:30 p.m. on BTN.The Nittany Lions enter the game seeking
their third win over the Spartans in their last four meetings.Penn State took two of three contests against
MSU last season, including a 61-48 victory in the semifinals at the Big Ten
Tournament in March.
The clash between the Nittany Lions and Spartans marks Penn State head coach
Patrick Chambers' first meeting against Michigan State and head coach Tom
Izzo.The Nittany Lions held their
gameday shootaround inside the Breslin Center earlier on Wednesday.
GoPSUsports.com caught up with associate head coach Eugene Burroughs, who
scouted the Spartans for the gameplan, at shootaround.Coach Burroughs talks keys to the game for
the Nittany Lions.
Blog Keys to the Game: 1. Five-Man Defensive Rebounding - Michigan State ranks No. 3 in the nation
in rebounding margin.
2. Stopping the Transition Game - MSU averages 78.0 points per game at home.
3. First Half Shooting - Penn State can slow the MSU transition game by making
shots early.
In-Game Blog: Check back for live
updates as the game progresses.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Frazier, G - Colella,
G - Woodyard, F - Oliver, C - Graham Michigan State: G - Appling, G -
Thornton, G - Dawson, F - Green, C - Payne
First Half: 14:54 - Michigan State 4, Penn State 0 The two teams played at a very quick tempo in the early minutes, but
neither team scored until the 16:38 mark when Keith Appling connected on a pair
of free throws.Both squads started a
combined 0-for-14 from the field.Appling's transition layup at the 15:10 mark was the first basket of the
game.Despite the slow start, Penn State
is down just 4-0.The Lions are doing a
nice job competing at both ends of the floor, but shots are not falling, yet.
11:44 - Michigan State 11, Penn State 3 Nick Colella, who is
making his first career start, got the Nittany Lions on the board with a
3-pointer on the left wing at the 12:20 mark.The Nittany Lions have done a very nice job competing on the defensive
end of the floor and on the glass, but another slow start on the road shooting
has dug the Lions a hole.Michigan State
is just 3-for-13 from the field, but Penn State needs to find some offense.
7:42 - Michigan State 16, Penn State 8 A pair of baskets
from Tim Frazier and a free throw from Jon Graham pulled the Nittany Lions to
within six on the scoreboard (14-8), but two Draymond Green foul shots put the
Spartans back up by eight.Both teams are
a combined 7-for-32 from the field.We
expected a very physical game, and that has been the case, but the Lions are
still searching for flow on the offensive end of the floor.Give a lot of credit to Michigan State for
its defense, though.
3:35 - Michigan State 28, Penn State 14 Thanks to an 11-0
scoring run, which was capped off by a Green 3-pointer, Michigan State
stretched its lead to 25-8 with 5:32 to play in the half.From there, Frazier took over on the
offensive end of the floor for the Nittany Lions.The Nittany Lion junior has scored 10 of Penn
State's 14 points.Michigan State is
controlling the glass, 23-11, but a lot of that has to do with Penn State's
4-for-20 start from the field.
0:00 - Michigan State 33, Penn State 19 The Spartans took a 14-point lead into the break, largely thanks to the
11-0 run mid-way though the first half.Frazier scored 10 of Penn State's 19 tallies, but the team collectively
shot 5-for-24 from the field.The Lions
never led in the first half and started 0-for-9 before a Colella three put Penn
State on the board.Colella finished
with six points in the first half.Michigan State managed just 8-for-30 shooting, but a 30-14 edge in
rebounding allowed the Spartans to build a comfortable lead.Repeating what we have said throughout the
week, Penn State needs to make shots.Michigan State is doing a nice job on the glass, but scoring baskets
limits the number of rebounding chances.The first four minutes of the second half are crucial for Penn State.
Second Half: 14:50 - Michigan State 47, Penn State 29 After a quick 5-0 spurt in the opening 34 seconds, Michigan State built a
38-20 lead.Penn State answered with a
basket from Woodyard, but MSU went on an 8-2 run to claim its largest lead of
the night (46-24).Colella has been a
bright spot for the Nittany Lions.He
sank his third triple of the night on a nice pump-fake and one dribble before
draining the shot.He is 3-for-7 from
beyond the arc.Penn State has started
the half 4-for-6.
11:44 - Michigan State 49, Penn State 36 The Colella 3-pointer before the last media timeout kick-started a 10-0
scoring run.Penn State got stops on the
defensive end of the floor and it translated into points.Jermaine Marshall battled his way to an
old-fashioned 3-point play before tallying a post move to pull the Nittany
Lions within 11 on the scoreboard.Tom
Izzo burned an angry timeout to halt the spurt, but Penn State is continuing to
fight, despite being down by 22 earlier in the half.
7:03 - Michigan State 59, Penn State 51
Penn State will not go away from the Spartans.The Nittany Lions are 13-for-17 from the field in the second half.A 7-0 scoring run from Marshall and Frazier
set the score at 52-47.That would be as
close as the Lions would get, but Frazier has added two more baskets to pull
the Lions within six before Green battled for a lay-in at the other end.That is where things stand right now, but the
story has been Penn State's superb offensive play in the second half.
3:07 - Michigan State 72, Penn State 52 Penn State set the score at 57-51 with 7:19 to play.Since that Frazier basket, Michigan State has
out-scored the Lions 15-1 on the scoreboard to go up 72-52.Penn State did a terrific job battling back
fro the 22-point deficit, but the Spartans have been very consistent around the
basket and at the foul line to reestablish control of the ballgame late.
0:00 - Michigan State 77, Penn State 57 Michigan State closed
the game on a 20-6 scoring run to set the final score at 77-57.Nonetheless, the final tally is not
indicative of the effort Penn State put forth in the second half.The Lions trimmed what was once a 22-point
lead down to just five before the late rally.Frazier led the way with 19 points and seven assists.Marshall added 12 points and five
rebounds.Colella finished with nine
points.The Nittany Lions shot 15-for-28
in the second half after going just 5-for-24 in the first 20 minutes of play.
Final Thoughts: After a very slow
first half, Penn State played a very strong second half on the road.The final score is not indicative of the
effort Penn State exerted to slice a 22-point Michigan State cushion down to
just five with 9:18 to play in the contest.The Lions were within six (57-51) with 7:19 to play, but the Spartans
were too much down the stretch.Michigan
State closed things out with a 20-6 scoring spurt to set the final margin at
20.Nonetheless, Coach Chambers saw a
lot of good things from his ball club when its back was against the wall early
in the second half.It would have been
easy to fold things up inside the hostile Breslin Center.However, the Lions battled and shot the ball
very well in the second half.It was
very good to see a 54 percent shooting half heading into Saturday's contest
against Nebraska.Give credit to
Michigan State for its performance, especially Green, who finished with 23
points.The senior is a winner for the
Spartans.
In hindsight, though, it is impossible to beat a team of Michigan State's
caliber after shooting 5-for-24 in the first half and falling behind by 22 in
the second half.Penn State competed
very well in stretches, but it takes 40 minutes of strong play to score a
victory on the road against a team like Michigan State.The Lions will return to the practice gym
before hosting the Cornhuskers.
Follow
GoPSUsports.com Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 8, 2012 1:16 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Less than 48 hours from directing the New England
Patriots offense in Super Bowl XLVI, head coach Bill O'Brien returned to Happy
Valley on Tuesday for his first full-time day as head coach of the Nittany Lion
football team.
Coach O'Brien flew into Happy Valley at mid-day before attending a human
resources orientation at Beaver Stadium throughout the afternoon.
"I flew in around noon time and went over to a human resources orientation
meeting," Coach O'Brien said."I met a
wide range of people, from Herb Combs, the field guy, to Dr. Sebastianelli, our
team doctor, and everybody in between.It was a great day, and I met a bunch of special people that are going
to help us towards our goals at Penn State."
As Coach O'Brien gets settled into program, the first item on the agenda is
analyzing the returning Nittany Lions on the roster.
"We need to get together as a staff and start talking about our current
roster," Coach O'Brien said."We will
evaluate the roster and start plugging guys in where we see them fitting in for
our football team.We will get on top of
our academics with our players...And then we will start hammering out our
playbooks."
Standing outside his newly-renovated second floor office inside the Lasch
Football Building, Coach O'Brien talked about the experience of coaching in the
Super Bowl for the second time during his career.
"Any time you have the chance to go to the Super Bowl, it is a special team and
a special experience," Coach O'Brien said."The Giants made a few more plays than we did on that night...We had a
very special season, and it was a team I was proud to be associated with.Hopefully, I keep in touch with those guys
for the rest of my life."
Coach O'Brien said that getting to know the players on the roster better is
something he is really looking forward to leading up to spring practice.
"One of the things I have been very impressed with here is our players," Coach
O'Brien said.
Take a look at a video interview with Coach O'Brien on his first full-time day
at Penn State.
Follow GoPSUsports.com
Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 8, 2012 10:00 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
GoPSUsports.com talks with undefeated and top-ranked sophomore David Taylor in
the latest installment of This Week In Penn State Wrestling.
Follow GoPSUsports.com Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on
Twitter @GoPSUTony
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion basketball team travels to No.
11 Michigan State on Wednesday night, marking its fourth road game in its last
five outings.
Penn State (10-14, 2-9) is seeking to score its first Big Ten road victory of
the season at the Breslin Center.Michigan State (18-5, 7-3) enters the game having won three of its last
four games and is one game behind No. 3 Ohio State (20-3, 8-2) in the Big Ten
standings.
Get ready for the game with the Starting Five for Penn State men's hoops.
1. VIDEO - Pregame Player Interviews - Hear from Billy Oliver and Cammeron Woodyard.
2. Rebounding Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo's teams are always very effective
rebounders, and this season is no exception.The Spartans rank No. 3 (out of 338 Division I schools) in rebounding
margin.Led by senior Draymond Green,
who averages 10.5 rebounds per game, Michigan State is +10.5 in rebounding
against its opponents.The Spartans
out-rebounded rival Michigan 40-16 on Sunday afternoon.Needless to say, Penn State needs to limit
the number of chances Michigan State gets to pull down rebounds on both ends of
the floor.Making shots on the offensive
end of the floor and a five-man effort on defense is crucial.The Nittany Lions rank first in the Big Ten
in offensive rebounds.That trend needs
to continue inside the Breslin Center on Wednesday night.
3. First Half Shooting Scoring in the first half on the road is something Coach Chambers and the
staff have been working to rectify throughout the 2011-'12 season.Wednesday's clash with Michigan State is
another great opportunity for the Nittany Lions to build confidence on the road
by making shots.It starts with leading
scorer Tim Frazier, who comes into the game averaging 18.3 points per
contest.Coach Chambers wants Frazier to
have the killer instinct necessary to lead the Lions from the moment he steps
into the Breslin Center.Frazier's
ability to score plays a big role in the confidence level of entire lineup.
4. Match the Intensity Michigan State loves to play at home.With the fans on top of the floor, the atmosphere in the Breslin Center
is one of the best in the nation.The
Spartans are averaging 78.0 points per contest at home in Big Ten play.A big piece in Michigan State's ability to
score at home is the transition game.It
is essential for the Nittany Lions to make shots on offense, especially early.Missed shots lead to rebounds against one of
the top rebounding teams in the nation, which ultimately leads to a faster
tempo for the Spartans.Playing at a
high intensity level for 40 minutes is another huge key for the Nittany
Lions.Michigan State has a knack for
setting the tone early with physical play at home.Penn State needs to play its game and battle
every second for 40 minutes.
5. Breslin Center History The Breslin Center has not been the kindest of places for Nittany Lion
basketball through history.Penn State
is 1-18 all-time in East Lansing.However, two of the last three trips to the Breslin Center have been
decided by four points or less.That
span includes a 72-68 victory for the Nittany Lions on Feb. 1, 2009.Additionally, Penn State won two of its three
meetings against the Spartans last season, including a 61-48 decision in the
Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Stay
tuned for coverage from East Lansing.
Follow GoPSUsports.com
Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 7, 2012 10:46 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Head onto the field with former Penn State
lettermen Jimmy Kennedy and Kareem McKenzie as they celebrate winning Super
Bowl XLVI with the New York Giants.
See sights and sounds of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis and hear from the
champions.
Follow GoPSUsports.com
Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In their second of two conference tests this past
weekend, the second-ranked Nittany Lions outpaced, outperformed and outlasted
the 12th-ranked Wolverines in front of another sold out crowd in Rec Hall.
A total of 6, 671 fans and spectators packed the athletic building on Sunday
afternoon to watch Penn State in its final Big Ten dual of the season. The
Lions won eight of 10 bouts on the day for a 34-7 victory over Michigan and
their sixth conference win of the year.
The win gives Penn State a final Big Ten record of 7-1 for the 2011-'12 season,
which ties with Minnesota for the best in conference and earns the team a share
of the Big Ten regular season dual title.
Head coach Cael Sanderson looked on as his wrestlers posed for pictures with
their new conference title trophy after the match, but said that the
accomplishment was not one that he was too concerned with.
"I didn't know there was a dual title to be honest, but it's a great honor,"
said Sanderson. "We're real happy with it obviously; if you win any kind of Big
Ten title that's a great conference with a lot of tough competition so we're
happy with it. That wasn't our goal but it's one of our stepping stones along
the way."
The Lions picked up three decisions, two majors, one technical fall and two
pins to tally 34 dual points over Michigan's seven. Sunday's match makes for
the ninth dual this season where Penn State scored more than 30 points over its
opponent.
Redshirt junior Quentin Wright was one of several Lions to bring the Rec Hall
crowd to its feet that afternoon, registering a second period pin over
Wolverine 184-pounder Hunter Collins. Wright said that he is not surprised at
the way that his teammates are continually dominating their competition.He said that he is individually still working
to be better and better one match to the next.
"We feel like we've got a few more notches to go but we're still making
progress," said Wright. "I know those guys definitely were ahead of me in terms
of the pace. Last year I was just worried about winning and this year I'm
worried about wanting to get those bonus points so it's completely different."
Another performance that got Nittany Lion faithful cheering came from a
relatively unfamiliar face when redshirt freshman 174-pounder Matt Brown took
to the mats. Brown bumped up two weight classes and stepped in at the 197 spot
in place of freshman regular Morgan McIntosh, who was cleared to wrestle but
was held out of competition after tweaking his right knee during last week's
dual match against Ohio State.
Brown, who spent the last two years on a religions mission in Angola and
Mozambique, was featured in a dual competition for just the third time this
season and the second time in the weekend. Up against Michigan's freshman Max
Huntley, who is ranked No. 15 at 197, Brown fought hard enough to keep the
score even at one into the beginning of the third period. In the last six
seconds of the final period, Brown rendered the only takedown of the match to
win and upset Huntley in a 3-1 decision.
"It was pretty awesome," Brown said after the match. "That was the first time I
have wrestled in front of Rec Hall and it was great. I'm just glad I could help
out anyway I could really."
Sophomore 184-pounder Ed Ruth knows a thing or two about wrestling with Brown,
as the two have become familiar drilling partners in the practice room, and
Ruth said that he was not surprised that the redshirt freshman was able to
wrestle at a weight class that is ten pounds heavier than his natural weight.
"Matt is definitely a versatile wrestler," said Ruth. "He can wrestle any way
he wants to and whoever he wrestles, their neck is going to hurt. He's a
definite grinder so yeah I think he can [bump up] the way he did."
Senior Frank Molinaro was alongside his teammates and coaches in the final
seconds of Brown's dual, standing in applause with a bigger smile on his face
than he usually wears.
"We're all just real happy for him because we know how hard he works and it's
awesome when you see someone that works hard reap the benefits," said Molinaro.
The win over Michigan put the Lions at 11-1 overall this season with eight
wrestlers who are ranked and seven of those eight holding one of the top ten
spots in their respective classes. With the closing of the conference regular
season and only two dual meets to go before the postseason, Coach Sanderson
said that he's not expecting for his athletes to slow down anytime soon.
"They're going to improve each week," said Sanderson. "It's little things with
each guy but these guys are gamers so they make the coaches look good. They're
going to wrestle their best and when the lights are on they're going to be at
their best. They'll absolutely continue to improve as we move forward."
By Laura Finley, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sophomore guard Maggie Lucas surpassed 1,000 career
points this past Sunday, becoming the third Lady Lion to reach the milestone as
a sophomore in Penn State history. Lucas made a 3-pointer with 15:30 left in
the second half against Minnesota, to put her over the 1,000-point marker.
Head coach Coquese Washington praised Lucas on her achievement, acknowledging
her athletic prowess on the court.
"Not a lot of people are that prolific a scorer," said Coach Washington.
"For Maggie to be able to reach that milestone speaks of her work ethic, of her
intelligence on the court to be able to find spots and then, she's just a good
player. She's just really good and I'm thrilled to be able to coach her."
Lucas is the 34th Lady Lion at Penn State to reach this milestone and the
second player this season to do so, as junior guard Alex Bentley accomplished
the feat earlier this season. Lucas joins an elite group in Lady Lion history
alongside the only other players to reach 1,000 points as sophomores: Kelly
Mazzante (2001-04) and Susan Robinson (1989-92).
Will Lucas continue with her scoring ways and make it to the 2,000 point
club during her career at Penn State? You be the judge of that as we take a
look at Lucas and how her career numbers stack up against those of Mazzante and
Robinson.
Individual 2011-12 Season: This
season, Lucas has been on a roll, ranking third in the Big Ten with 450 points
thus far. Of the 23 games she has played, Lucas has scored more than 20 points
in 13 of those games. Although hitting fewer 3-pointers than last season, the
Lady Lion ranks second in the Big Ten with 2.5 three-pointers per game and
continues to average 19.6 points per contest.
How Lucas compares: Already,
Lucas has made a name for herself in Penn State history, tallying the most
points during a freshman season (552). This position was previously held by
Mazzante (529). Lucas also holds the record for the most 3-pointers made (112)
with Mazzante once again following behind (102).
Here's a comparison of the only sophomores to reach 1,000 points in Penn
State history: Maggie Lucas, Kelly Mazzante and Susan Robinson.
Note: Lucas' sophomore season is still in progress...
Freshman Year
Lucas 2010-11
Robinson 1988-89
Mazzante 2000-01
Games Played
35
28
29
Field Goals Made
180
196
203
Free Throws Made
80
111
58
Total Points
552
503
529
Points/Game
15.8
18.0
18.2
Sophomore Year
Lucas 2011-12
Robinson 1989-90
Mazzante 2001-02
Games
23
32
35
Field Goals Made
145
235
313
Free Throws Made
102
161
144
Total Points
450
633
872
Points/Game
19.6
19.8
24.9
Freshman and Sophomore Years
Combined
Lucas 2011-12
Robinson 1989-90
Mazzante 2001-02
Games
58
60
64
Points
1,002
1,136
1,401
Points/Game
17.3
18.9
21.9
Penn State Lady Lion History: Penn State All-Time Career Scoring Records 1.Kelly Mazzante 2,919
2.Susan Robinson 2,253
3.Tyra Grant 2,044
Penn State Individual Season Scoring Records
1.Mazzante ('01-'02) 872 pts
2.Mazzante ('03-'03) 837 pts
3.McConnell ('87-'88) 682 pts
It was a real good weekend for the team as we headed to Ohio State to get two huge wins over Stanford and Pacific. The two wins have given the team confidence that our training and hard work is really paying off. All the early morning practices and lifts are making our team tougher. We were able to get some much needed rest on monday after a tough three weekends of traveling as the coaches gave us a day off from practice. Most of the team says that they feel like all they do is take bus rides. Matt Seifert, our other redshirt, and I feel like all we do is lift and at the tallest on the team and one of the smallest on the team we make a good lifting pair.
This weekend brings Mount Olive on Friday and Cal-Baptist on Saturday. We are really anxious to show our home fans how we can play. I am also ready to watch the team play live. Watching games from gametracker is not always the best way to follow the team and I am sure the rest of the people in the dorms will be happy to stop hearing Matt and I yelling after a big win over Stanford. That is all for now. Hope to see you in Rec Hall for our first home weekend.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 6, 2012 1:59 PM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Former Penn State greats Jimmy Kennedy and Kareem
McKenzie capped off a superb playoff run with the New York Giants by winning
Super Bowl XLVI inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Sunday.
McKenzie claimed his second Super Bowl ring with the Giants, while Kennedy
earned his first.Former Penn State
players have been a part of Super Bowl winning teams in 33 of the 46 NFL Championship
games.In all, 35 different former
Nittany Lions account for 52 rings.Take
a look at the complete list.
Former Penn State Players with Super
Bowl Rings Jack Ham (4)
Franco Harris (4)
Matt Millen (4)
Pete Kugler (3)
Chris Bahr (2)
Matt Bahr (2)
Bruce Bannon (2)
Dave Robinson (2)
Kareem McKenzie (2)
Rich Milot (2)
Jay Alford
Ralph Baker
Brad Benson
Andre Collins
Sam Gash
Jeff Hartings
Mike Hartenstine
Kim Herring
Tim Johnson
Joe Jurevicious
Jimmy Kennedy
Larry Kubin
Justin Kurpeikis
Ted Kwalick
Shawn Mayer
Sean McHugh
Bob Mrosko
Scott Paxson
Andrew Quarless
Tom Rafferty
Glenn Ressler
Marco Rivera
Jim Romano
Dave Rowe
Matt Suhey
52 rings among 35 players
Former Penn State Players on Super
Bowl Winning Teams
1967 - Dave Robinson (Green Bay) 1968 - Dave Robinson (Green Bay) 1969 -Ralph Baker (New York Jets) 1971 - Glenn Ressler (Baltimore
Colts) 1973 - Bruce Bannon (Miami Dolphins) 1974 - Bruce Bannon (Miami Dolphins) 1975 - Jack Ham & Franco Harris
(Pittsburgh Steelers) 1976 - Jack Ham & Franco Harris
(Pittsburgh Steelers) 1977 - Dave Rowe & Ted Kwalick
(Oakland Raiders) 1978 - Tom Rafferty (Dallas Cowboys) 1979 - Jack Ham & Franco Harris
(Pittsburgh Steelers) 1980 - Matt Bahr, Jack Ham &
Franco Harris (Pittsburgh Steelers) 1981 - Chris Bahr & Matt Millen
(Oakland Raiders) 1982 - Pete Kugler (San Francisco
49ers) 1983 - Larry Kubin & Rich Milot
(Washington Redskins) 1984 - Chris Bahr, Matt Millen &
Jim Romano (Los Angeles Raiders) 1986 - Mike Hartstine & Matt
Suhey (Chicago Bears) 1987 - Brad Benson (New York Giants) 1988 - Rich Milot (Washington
Redskins) 1989 - Pete Kugler (San Francisco
49ers) 1990 - Pete Kugler & Matt Millen
(San Francisco 49ers) 1991 - Matt Bahr & Bob Mrosko
(New York Giants) 1992 - Andre Collins, Tim Johnson
& Matt Millen (Washington Redskins) 1997 - Marco Rivera (Green Bay
Packers) 2001 - Sam Gash & Kim Herring
(Baltimore Ravens) 2003 - Joe Jurevicious (Tampa Bay
Buccaneers) 2004 - Shawn Mayer (New England
Patriots) 2005 - Justin Kurpeikis (New England
Patriots) 2006 - Jeff Hartings (Pittsburgh
Steelers) 2008 - Jay Alford & Kareem
McKenzie (New York Giants) 2009 - Sean McHugh & Scott
Paxson (Pittsburgh Steelers) 2011 - Andrew Quarless (Green Bay
Packers) 2012 - Jimmy Kennedy & Kareem
McKenzie (New York Giants)
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 6, 2012 11:45 AM
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By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For the first time this season, the fifth-ranked
Nittany Lions were able to do more than just practice in their own facility.
They got to compete.
On Friday night, Penn State welcomed Mount Olive in its home-opener in
front of a crowd of 1,331 in Rec Hall. Behind a strong offensive performance
and what head coach Mark Pavlik called an all-round team effort, the Lions
cruised to a 3-0 sweep of the Trojans (25-20, 25-6, 25-12).
"I told the guys after the match in the locker room that this might be
the best team win that I can remember in the last seven or eight years," said
Pavlik. "It didn't matter who was on the other side of the net. When you looked
at our execution level, our communication level, how we served, how we blocked
- it didn't matter who was out there."
Thirteen of the 17 athletes on the roster saw time in Friday night's
match, and contributed to a dominant team attack percentage of .507. Sophomore
outside hitter Peter Russell led Penn State with nine kills on the night,
followed by sophomore outside hitter Jace Olsen and freshman Aaron Russell who
each tallied seven of their own.
The Russell brothers worked together with one another for the first time
in Rec Hall, and showed the home crowd a sibling chemistry that has formed both
on and off of the court.
"I think early on I was kind of tense, maybe just a little nervous
starting, and [Aaron] just kind of said a couple things and just got me loose
and laughing a little bit," said Peter Russell. "It's definitely great to have
him here."
Aaron Russell has been a new force for Penn State throughout the
beginning of this season, starting in all eight matches that the team has
played and averaging 1.96 kills per set.
Alongside three other freshmen faces that were featured in Rec Hall for
the first time, Aaron Russell and the Lions introduced a few other new
practices to their normal routine as well.
The Nittany Lions capped off a strong home weekend with a 3-0 sweep of
Cal-Baptist on Saturday night.
On Friday, head coach Mark Pavlik walked onto the court for the first
time that night sporting khaki pants rolled up to his ankles and new black Nike
shoes with white laces in honor and remembrance of former Penn State football
head coach Joe Paterno.
Pavlik said that he wrote a note to Paterno's son and former
quarterbacks coach Jay earlier in the week asking permission to honor the
Paterno family in this way.
"If there's a patron saint of coaches, it's got to be Joe Paterno," said
Pavlik. "We're never going to forget him, but I wanted everyone to know how we
think of him here in Happy Valley."
The head coach's athletes paid tribute to the coaching legend too,
exchanging their trademark white high-socks and white laces for black
high-socks and black laces. To show their utmost respect for Paterno, the Lions
will be adopting the new changes to their uniforms for the remainder of the
2011-'12 season.
"Last week with all of the emotions rolling around campus and certainly
within the athletic department, the guys had wanted to do something," said
Pavlik. "[Edgardo Goas] said let's wear black socks and black shoelaces for the
entire season as a tribute to Joe, and it got me thinking."
As a member of the State College community and Penn State family for the
past five years, redshirt senior setter Goas said that he and his teammates
were limited in their choices of altering their uniforms, but all agreed that
they wanted to show their respect in some way.
"We can't wear headbands," said Goas. "We can't do a lot of things
because of the NCAA rules so definitely the socks and shoelaces - those are the
two things that we could do to honor him so like I said, he was a great man and
we definitely have to honor him in every way that we can."
The team jerseys now also feature three small letters above the
kitty-head logo on the left chest of each Penn State athlete: JVP.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Watch the Nittany Lions pose with the Big Ten trophy after clinching a share of
the regular season dual match conference title.Also, head into the media room for post-match comments from head coach
Cael Sanderson, senior Frank Molinaro and redshirt freshman Matt Brown.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 5, 2012 11:40 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Take a look back at Penn State's 34-7 victory over No. 12 Michigan
inside Rec Hall on Sunday afternoon.
Welcome to Rec Hall for a
Big Ten showdown between the second-ranked Nittany Lions and 12th-ranked
Michigan.
Penn State (10-1, 6-1) returns to action after a dominant 31-6 victory at No. 7
Nebraska on Friday night.The Nittany
Lions flew back to State College immediately after Friday's match, arriving
home at 1:30 a.m.Today, Penn State
welcomes Michigan to sold out Rec Hall.The Wolverines suffered a 24-14 setback to Ohio State on Friday.
If Penn State beats the Michigan,
the Nittany Lions clinch either a share of the Big Ten regular season dual meet
title or the title outright.A Penn
State victory and a Minnesota loss to Nebraska in its match at Minneapolis
would give the Lions an outright regular season dual title.Stay tuned for
updates after every match this afternoon.
125: #9 Nico Megaludis Dominates Pizzo Freshman Nico Megaludis has been very effective
setting the tone strong performances to kick-off dual matches.Sunday was no exception, as the ninth-ranked
Nittany Lion kicked off his bout against Michigan's Grant Pizzo with five
takedowns in the opening period.Holding
a 10-4 lead after one period, Megaludis added two more takedowns and an escape
to make it 15-8 after two periods.He
ended the match with 10 takedowns.With
a 22-10 major decision, Megaludis put the Lions up 4-0 on the scoreboard.
133: #16 Zac Stevens Holds Off Frank Martellotti In the second bout of the afternoon No. 16 Zac
Stevens opened a 4-1 lead over Penn State sophomore Frank Martellotti after one
period.Stevens' lead grew to 6-2
following a reversal in the second period.Marellotti tallied three escape points and a takedown to slice Stevens'
lead down to 10-7 late in the third, but that would be as close as the Nittany
Lion would get.Stevens scored an 11-7
victory to set the match score at, 4-3, Penn State.
141: #1 Kellen Russell Defeats Bryan Pearsall
Defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Kellen Russell took control of his
bout with Bryan Pearsall from the opening whistle forward.Russell tallied two takedowns and three back
points to build a 7-1 advantage at the end of the first period.The Michigan standout senior finished the
bout with four takedowns en route to a 12-2 victory.Russell's major decision handed Michigan a
7-4 lead in the overall match.
149: #1 Frank Molinaro Battles Past #7 Eric Grajales Undefeated and top-ranked Frank Molinaro wasted
little time building an early lead against Michigan sophomore and No. 7-ranked
Eric Grajales.Molinaro scored two
takedowns in the first period to go up, 4-1.A quick escape in the second period was the only other tally during the
match.However, Molinaro dominated on
top during the third period to build more than 3:00 of riding time on his way
to a 6-1 decision.Molinaro's 23rd
victory of the season tied the overall score at 7-7 through four bouts.
157: #6 Dylan Alton Notches 5-4 Win Over Brandon Zeerip Sixth-ranked Dylan Alton battled Michigan's Brandon
Zeerip for all seven minutes of the 157-pound matchup.Alton struck first with a takedown, but
Zeerip took a 3-2 lead into the second period.Nonetheless, Alton got back on the board with a takedown in the second
period.One escape from Zeerip tied
things at 4-4 heading into the final 2:00.Alton tallied an escape just into the third period, and from there, the
redshirt freshman blocked shot after shot attempt from Zeerip on his way to a
thrilling 5-4 victory.Alton's triumph
put the Lions up, 10-7, heading into the break.
165: #1 David Taylor Notches Tech Fall Against #14 Dan Yates Top-ranked David Taylor marched to a dominant
5-0 lead in the first period of his match against No. 14 Dan Yates.Taylor maneuvered in for a takedown along the
edge of the mat before turning Yates for three back points.Taylor worked for an escape to start the
second period for a 6-0 lead.Taylor
notched a second takedown before notching four more back points to claim a 12-0
lead after the second period.Taylor
capped off a superb 15-0 tech fall victory with three more near-fall points in
the third period (5:25).Taylor is 21-0
on the season.The tech fall put the
Lions up 15-7 on the scoreboard.
174: #2 Ed Ruth Rolls Past #8 Justin Zeerip
Second-ranked Ed Ruth continued his string of outstanding performances for the
Nittany Lions with a 12-1 major over No. 8 Justin Zeerip from Michigan.Ruth built a 3-0 lead after one period thanks
to a takedown and a stalling point.The
Lion sophomore added an escape point to make it 4-0 after two periods.Zeerip got on the board with an escape to
open the third, but Ruth came right back with a takedown to make it 6-1.From there, Ruth began to wear down
Zeerip.He scored three near-fall points
and finished with 3:50 of riding time to set the final score at 12-1.Ruth's major decision set the overall score
at 19-7.
184: #2 Quentin Wright Pins Hunter Collins Like Ruth and Taylor before him, defending
national champion Quentin Wright wrestled another dominant match against
Michigan's Hunter Collins.The Nittany
Lion junior scored two takedowns and three near-fall points to set the score at
7-1 after the first period.Wright
exploded into a move that quickly sent Collins to his back, ending the match in
a pin for the fifth time in seven matches for Wright.The second-ranked Wright's pin set the
overall score at 25-7.
197: Matt Brown Fights Past #15 Max Huntley Nittany Lion redshirt freshman Matt Brown took
the mat for the second-straight dual match at 197 pounds against No. 15 Max
Huntley.Brown, in the lineup for Morgan
McIntosh (knee) normally wrestles at 174 pounds.This weekend, however, the Lion rookie has
done a superb job at 197 pounds.He
scored a 2-1 win on Friday at Nebraska.On Sunday, Brown fell behind 1-0 after two periods, but he battled for
an escape to open the third to square the match at 1-1.Brown and Huntley were neutral for most of
the third period before Brown mustered a double-leg takedown on the edge of the
mat in the final seconds to tally a dramatic 3-1 decision.Brown's victory set the overall match score
at 28-7 heading into the final bout.
285: #6 Cameron Wade Pins #10 Ben Apland Sixth-ranked Cameron Wade capped off another
dominant outing inside Rec Hall with a pin against No. 10 Ben Apland from
Michigan.Wade built an 8-0 lead after
one period on the heels of a takedown and six near-fall points.Wade tallied the pinfall victory at the 3:58
mark to set the final score at 34-7.
Final Thoughts Penn State celebrated a share of the Big Ten
regular season dual meet title with a dominant performance on Sunday afternoon
in front of another sold out crowd in Rec Hall.The Nittany Lions scored two pins, a tech fall and one major en route to
eight victories on the afternoon.It is
repeated every week, but Taylor, Ruth and Wright are wrestling at an incredibly
high level as the Lions begin to close in on the month of March.Coach Sanderson talks repeatedly about attitude,
and Penn State is competing at a level necessary to battle for a national
title.
All eight Nittany Lions who scored victories wrestled well on Sunday, but Brown's
effort against the 15th-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds stole the show on
Sunday.Brown was visibly 20 pounds or
more lighter than Huntley while wrestling two weight classes higher than he had
all year prior to Friday's win at Nebraska.Penn State travels to Utah Valley on Saturday before hosting Pittsburgh
on Feb. 19 to cap off the dual match season.
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Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 4, 2012 10:30 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Tailback Silas Redd enters the 2012 offseason after tallying 1,241 yards during
an impressive sophomore campaign.
The Connecticut native recently sat down with running backs coach Charles
London to discuss goals and expectations for his junior season.Redd remarked that the meeting went very well
and that he is eager to learn the new playbook in the spring.
"I can already tell that everything is going to be really fast-paced, and that
is something I like," said Redd."That
is something that we are going to benefit from during the season.Just watching the Patriots, if we have a
wrinkle of what they have, I think our offensive will be pretty explosive."
Redd has been a New York Giants fan throughout his life.His head coach is the offensive coordinator
for the Patriots.Who is the talented
running back rooting for in the Super Bowl Sunday?Take a look.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The Nittany Lion basketball team kicks off a two-game road swing at Iowa on
Saturday afternoon.
Seeking their first Big Ten road win of 2012, Penn State (10-13, 2-8) takes on
the Hawkeyes before traveling to East Lansing on Wednesday.Coming off a hard-fought setback to No. 20
Wisconsin on Tuesday night, head coach Patrick Chambers and the Nittany Lions
are looking to snap a string of slow shooting nights away from the Bryce Jordan
Center.
Playing with the principles of Coach Chambers' style of basketball - playing
hard for 40 minutes, rebounding and defending - are at the top of every gameplan.However, finding confidence to shoot better
on the road is crucial for the Nittany Lions at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on
Saturday.
"We worked hard on our offense. I think that was
noticeable," Coach Chambers said after the Wisconsin game."There was a lot more movement - we got a lot
more open shots. Guys have got to get in the gym. They have to shoot extra.
They have to do what they got to do. We just can't keep going on this path."
Shooting at a higher percentage on the road, especially in the first half is
essential moving forward.Penn State has
played eight true road games (1-7) during the 2011-'12 season.The Nittany Lions are averaging 23 points per
game in the first half on the road.
With two road trips up next, the Lions have a very good opportunity to boost
their confidence level on the offensive end of the floor.Tim Frazier's ability to not only score the
basketball, but also get the rest of the Nittany Lions involved will play a big
role in Saturday's game at Iowa.
The Hawkeyes enter Saturday's game with a 4-6 mark in the Big Ten (12-11
overall) after capping off a season sweep of Minnesota with a 63-59 win on
Wednesday night.In addition to a pair
of wins over the Golden Gophers, Iowa has beaten Wisconsin on the road and
Michigan at home.
Senior guard Matt Gatens, who is averaging 13.7 points per game, leads Iowa
offensively.Gatens has made 35
3-pointers this season (34 percent).Sophomore forward Roy Devyn Marble is averaging 11.4 tallies per
game.Freshman Aaron White came off the
bench during Iowa's first 21 games, but the 6-8 forward entered the starting
lineup in the last two contests.He is
averaging 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest.White started in place of 6-foot-7 sophomore
forward Melsahn Basabe.Nonetheless,
Basabe, who averages 8.1 points per game, will play heavy minutes for the
Hawkeyes.
Keep a close eye on the rebounding numbers on Saturday afternoon.Iowa is +3.5 in rebounding during its four
conference victories.The Hawkeyes are
being out-rebounded by 7.7 boards in their six conference losses.Penn State has out-rebounded its opponent in five
of its 10 Big Ten games.
Tip time is set for 3 p.m. on ESPNU inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.Iowa will be wearing throwback jerseys from
1987.
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior quarterback Matt McGloin and the Nittany
Lion offense will spend the offseason learning a new playbook under the
direction of head coach Bill O'Brien.
McGloin and the Nittany Lions are currently participating in offseason workouts
with new strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald.The Scranton native told GoPSUsports.com that
the team has early-morning running two days a week and weight lifting four days
a week.
"It is very, very tough transitioning into new workouts, but at the same time
everybody is excited about it," McGloin said."Everybody is pretty sore and tired, but we are really looking forward
to what we are doing and spring ball."
Watch McGloin talk about winter workouts, a new offense and more on camera
below.
By Jeff Sattora, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Matchups and mismatches can be powerful things in
the world of sports.When you are on the
right side of them it may seem like nothing can go wrong, on the wrong side
however, and your day may never end.
The Penn State Lady Lions seemed to be on the right side of every matchup
and mismatch Thursday as the team cruised to a 76-44 win over the Indiana
Hoosiers at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Maggie Lucas led the way for the home team once again with 24 points, including
17 in the first half for the Lady Lions.
As strong as Lucas played, the big story of the night was the inside presence
of Nikki Greene.The team seemed to go
to her all night long, and she really helped put the Hoosiers away with 17
points on 7-12 shooting.
"I'm really confident in our posts in general," said head coach Coquese
Washington. "I think Nikki set the tone
right away by going up and being athletic and getting those rebounds and
getting the and-ones and getting the put-backs."
Greene really seemed to be taking advantage of her mismatch down low as the
game went on.
She talked about seeing the mismatch in the paint, which allowed for those
17 points to happen.
"We were talking about it right before the game and having opportunities on
the block," Greene said postgame. "I
tried to take advantage of that as much as possible and if there was a double
team, I kicked it out."
Washington also talked about how the team was able to see the mismatches in
the post and take advantage of them.
"I thought we did a good job of taking advantage of our mismatches," she
said."We thought we'd be able to get
the ball inside and I was really pleased with the way Nikki (Greene) played with
power. Talia (East) and Tori (Waldner), both of those guys came off the bench
and really got after it on the boards."
"We kind of took advantage of the fact that our size inside was an advantage
and we worked that very well," Washington added.
With Greene and the posts playing as well as they did and Lucas shooting
strong as usual Penn State had a lot of great things going for them.With that said something besides both of
those might have been the most impressive thing Penn State did all night.
Penn State's bench played great all game long and combined for 29 points,
compared to just 14 for Indiana.
"We've been talking to them (the bench) a lot about how we need everybody
and they have to come into the game and make an impact. I thought they really
did that," said Washington.
The coach also added how pleased she was with how versatile the bench was
all game long, giving the team different things when it needed it.
"I thought Talia came off the bench from the very beginning of the game and
made her presence felt. I thought Gizelle (Studevent) came in and made her
presence felt. She got some rebounds, hit a couple baskets," Washington
said."Ariel (Edwards) always does some
good things for us. She was even running point at the end of the game. She's
just so versatile."
With the starters in Lucas and Greene playing as well as they did to go
along with an extremely versatile bench this Lady Lions team is going to be
tough to stop.
By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's volleyball team is off to what
head coach Mark Pavlik calls a satisfactory start this season. With a record of
4-1 overall, the Nittany Lions have yet to face a conference opponent and they
also have yet to compete on their home court.
This weekend, the Lions will be able to do just that.
After three weeks of being on the road to begin its season, Penn State will
play host in the fourth week of regular-season as it welcomes Mount Olive and
Cal-Baptist inside Rec Hall.
The Lions will square off against the Trojans of Mount Olive on Friday at
7:30 p.m. for their first match of the twin-bill weekend, taking on the Lancers
of Cal-Baptist on Saturday at the same time.
This weekend is the first of two back-to-back weeks that the fifth-ranked
team will get to perform in front of its home fans on its home court.
So far, Penn State has taken down Loyola, Stanford, Pacific and defending
national champion Ohio State. The only loss that the team has recorded during
the beginning of this season came in a 3-1 setback to the Flyers of Lewis.
Five matches into the 2012 season, the starting lineup for the Nittany
Lions is in no way nailed down for the remainder of the year but has seen an
interesting mix of very veteran and very fresh talent.
Three of the six freshmen eligibility athletes on the squad have been
seeing considerable playing time as true freshman middle hitter Aaron Russell
and redshirt freshman libero Connor Curry and outside hitter Nick Goodell have
been top performers for the Lions.
Both Curry and Russell have seen playing time in each of the 18 sets that Penn
State has entered. Goodell has been featured in 13 of those 18.
Redshirt seniors and veterans Edgardo Goas and Joe Sunder have also made
quite an impact just a hand full of contests into the regular season.
Sunder leads the Lions with an average of 3.61 kills per set and has already
delivered 65 individual kills this year, almost doubling the next best mark of
Goodell's 37 kills. The returning All-American outside hitter also leads the
group with 9 service aces.
Coach Pavlik said that he was particularly impressed at the way that his
returning offensive leader is presenting himself not just at the net but also
as an all-around threat on the court.
"Joe is becoming so comfortable with his role right now and it's great to
see," said Pavlik.
Returning All-American Goas still paces the Nittany Lion offense in a
business-as-usual fashion and has already dished up 226 assists this season.
The setter is averaging 12.56 assists for every set that he plays.
It comes as no surprise to Pavlik that his two starting seniors are
performing as well as they are at this point in the season, but the head coach
said that he can see even bigger things happening for the pair this time
around.
"Those two guys, that's kind of what we expect of them," said Pavlik.
"They're talented enough to be the best in their positions in the country this
year."
The Nittany Lions have already seen that they are capable of comeback
victories, standout individual performances and key wins over ranked teams.
Headed into the weekend at home, Pavlik said that he thinks his team has
already shown a greater maturity and a greater sense of fight this season
compared to the last.
"They don't seem to get overly amped up and they certainly aren't overly
celebratory but the good news to that is they don't become overly despondent
either," said Pavlik. "Heads don't drop; they just want to compete and I just
think that this team, from what we've seen so far this year, this team is a
truly competitive team."
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Take a look back at Penn State's 76-44 victory over Indiana on Thursday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Welcome to the
GoPSUsports.com in-game blog for the Lady Lion basketball team.
We will bring you coverage from tonight's matchup between Penn State (16-5, 6-3)
and Indiana (5-17, 0-9).The Lady Lions had
their five-game winning streak snapped in a hard-fought 83-77 decision at
Michigan State on Sunday.After Penn
State's previous four losses this season, the Lions rebounded with four
victories by an average of 23 points per contest.
Check back throughout the game for updates.
Starting Lineups Penn State: G - Bentley, G - Lucas,
G - Gray, F - Nickson, C - Greene Indiana: G - Newbauer, G - McGhee, F
- Sinclair, F - Andujar, C - Chaplin
First Half: 11:59 - Penn State 17, Indiana 9 Boosted by a 13-0 scoring run, Penn State has built an eight-point lead
early in the first half against a struggling Indiana squad.The Lady Lions are off to a good start
shooting the basketball (7-for-15), which is nice to see in a home Big Ten
game.Maggie Lucas, who is closing in on
the 1,000-point mark, has seven early points to lead all scorers.The Lions are finding plenty of scoring
opportunities on the offensive end of the floor.
2:37 - Penn State 31, Indiana 17 The Lady Lions are
beginning to turn it on, and they are doing it with up-tempo basketball.Head coach Coquese Washington wants her team
to play fast, but under control.The
first half has been a very good exhibition of that.Penn State has nine assists on 11 made field
goals thus far.Lucas has 15 points on
6-for-11 shooting.As a team, Indiana is
just 8-for-28 from the field for 29 percent shooting.
0:00 - Penn State 42, Indiana 23 Penn State trailed
just once (5-4) in a dominant first half from the Lady Lions.Penn State used the 13-0 scoring run in the
first half to build a 12-point cushion.From there, the Lions put things on cruise control.Lucas scored 17 points to lead all players,
but Lady Lion center Nikki Greene dominated late to finish with 11
tallies.As we mentioned earlier, Penn
State tallied 10 assists on 15 field goals with just seven turnovers.Indiana struggled shooting the basketball,
finishing just 11-for-32 from the field.Penn State won the rebounding battle, 23-18, in the first half, as well.
Second Half: 15:44 - Penn State 48, Indiana 29
The Lady Lion lead remains at 19 points as the teams rest on the bench during
the first media timeout of half number two.Two powerful moves from Greene in the low post kicked off the
scoring.She is using her size very well
to dominate down low.Greene is 6-for-11
from the field for 15 points and four rebounds.With Lucas playing well on the perimeter and Greene asserting herself in
the post, Penn State is a tough team to defend.
11:44 - Penn State 61, Indiana 31 Thanks to a 17-2
scoring surge from the Lady Lions, Penn State's lead has ballooned to 30
points.Ariel Edwards and Gizelle
Studevent capped off the run with a lay-in and jumper, respectively.The Hoosiers' struggles from the field have
continued in the second half.Indiana is
12-for-43 from the floor and shooting just 58 percent from the foul line.Penn State is well in control inside the Jordan
Center.
0:00 - Penn State 76, Indiana 44 Penn State turned in a dominant finish from start to finish on Thursday
night in the Bryce Jordan Center.The
Lady Lions led by as much as 38 in the latter stages of the second half en
route to a 32-point victory.Lucas led
the way with 24 points on 8-for-18 shooting.Lucas is now just eight points shy of 1,000.Greene played very well for the Lions,
finishing with 17 points and six rebounds on 7-for-12 shooting.Talia East added a career-high nine points
and seven boards off the bench.Studevent
also finished with a career-high (10 points).Again, Penn State played well both inside and outside en route to a
comfortable victory.The Lions attempted
just seven 3-pointers on the night and shot 43 percent.On the defensive end of the floor, Indiana
managed just 28 percent from the field.
Final Thoughts: Penn State heads on
the road at Minnesota on Sunday after a cruising past the struggling Hoosiers
on Thursday.The Lions did not play
their best basketball, but a 32-point victory speaks for itself.The Lions improved to 7-3 in the conference
with six games to play in the regular season.
Penn State can score with anybody in the conference, but Penn State's defensive
effort was again superb on Thursday.The
Lady Lions forced 24 Indiana turnovers on Thursday.Between Greene and East on the perimeter,
Penn State played very physical inside on both ends of the floor.Building towards the postseason, interior
play will be crucial in Penn State's ability to find success in the month of
March.Penn State again proved that it
is dominant after losses this season.The Lions have lost five games this winter, and they are 5-0 in the game
after setbacks.Penn State is defeating
its opponents by an average of 26.6 points per game.Next up is a trip to Minnesota.
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Twitter @GoPSUTony
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior linebacker Michael Mauti is inching closer
towards a return to full activity after rehabbing his left knee following
surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
"Everything is feeling good right now," Mauti said earlier this week.
Mauti has a few limitations on what he can do physically right now, but in a
couple weeks he will be able to get back to physical training for the 2012
season.The Louisiana native was Penn
State's leading tackler when he tore the ACL in his left knee against Eastern
Michigan on Sept. 24.
The senior is eager to learn the new defensive schemes under new defensive
coordinator Ted Roof during the spring practice season.Mauti will play an instrumental role on the
Penn State defensive in 2012.Hear more
from Mauti in the video interview below, including his thoughts on what it
meant to speak at "A Memorial for Joe."
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Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony
By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The second-ranked Penn State wrestling squad will
compete in two dual matches this coming weekend, but the team actually has
three challenges that lie ahead in that same time period.
The Nittany Lions' first challenge presents itself on Friday at 8 p.m.
when they take on No. 7 Nebraska for the first time since the Cornhuskers
joined the Big Ten.
After that, the Penn State grapplers will have just a day's rest before
facing another conference foe, No. 12 Michigan, on Sunday at 2 p.m.
And the third challenge - the Lions will be in Lincoln, Neb., on Friday
night when they meet the Cornhuskers, but are set to square off against the Wolverines
in none other than their own Rec Hall. In one weekend, the Nittany Lions will
be wrestling in two places that are separated by more than 1,000 miles.
But according to the wrestlers who have immersed themselves in the Penn
State program and embraced the teachings of head coach Cael Sanderson,
challenges are always welcome.
Redshirt junior Quentin Wright said that he and his teammates came to
Penn State because they are anxious wrestlers, looking for any and every chance
they can find to not only have a good time but also prove themselves as
competitors.
"We want to be in those high-pressure matches," said Wright. "We want to
be in those situations and we as a team, we thrive on that competition of
knocking off the number one and the number two guy or any time you've got a
good opponent."
The Nittany Lions carry eight ranked wrestlers in their starting lineup
of 10 headed into this weekend's Big Ten test. Nebraska will showcase six
ranked athletes of its own while Michigan boasts another seven top wrestlers.
Wright and his teammates repeatedly admit that they don't pay much
attention to whether or not an opponent is ranked No. 1 or not at all, but they
do enjoy the thrill of going up against tough competition.
"Having somebody test you in your skills, that's why we come to Penn
State and we wanted to be a part of that because we love those situations,"
said Wright.
With a record of 9-1 overall and a 5-1 mark in the Big Ten, it makes
sense that Wright also describes how he and the Lions rely on consistency and
careful preparation before every dual meet.
"It's the little things that win the matches," said Wright. "As long as
we have a plan about what we need to eat, when we need to eat it and how much
we need to warm up, once we do those little things the big things will take
care of themselves."
Coach Sanderson and his team of decorated assistant coaches have done
their homework and know what they are up against this weekend.
Nebraska has notched 14 wins already this season and has only lost one
match, which they rendered to Iowa less than three weeks ago. The Cornhuskers
boast five starting wrestlers who are ranked within the top ten at their
individual weights, and are set to feature four freshmen, one sophomore, three
juniors and two seniors on Friday night.
Michigan has wrestled just nine matches this year with a culminating
record of 6-3 and a Big Ten mark of 4-2. Conference opponents Illinois and
Minnesota have beaten the No. 12 Wolverines, but they have outlasted Wisconsin,
Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan State.
Wright said that up against tough traveling constraints and big
expectations versus conference opponents, he and his fellow Lions have to
remember to simply take each contest as it comes their way.
"It's one match at a time - one day at a time," said Wright. "I can't
think about Michigan on Sunday because I've got to focus on Nebraska on Friday
first. I've got to focus on what I'm going to eat right after weigh-in and how
much I'm going to take in my fluids - when I'm going to start warming up, how
I'm going to start warming up. If I take care of those little things then the
match is going to take care of itself."
This was a rollercoaster of a week to say the least. The week started by our head coach forgetting his shoes for practice. Yes, his shoes. Our first huddle before practice started was with a shoeless Mark PavliK, which caused a laugh among the guys, but right after that we got back to practice mode.The whole week went relatively smooth until Thursday. After our normal serve and pass we were schedule to leave Rec Hall at 5:30pm. At 5:30 p.m. the bus didn't turn on, which complicated the whole trip. We waited for a second bus to get there and around 7:30 p.m. we finally left State College. The problem of leaving so late was that we had to drive through a snowstorm, which caused us to arrive at the hotel later than the scheduled time.
It was a crazy Friday. Our one-hour bus ride turned out to be four-hour bus ride that consequently caused us to miss our serve and pass practice. But after grabbing our pregame meal we were finally ready to play Loyola. Everyone except the referees were ready for the game.We had another delay, which pushed the game back to 7:45 p.m., if I remember correctly. Surprisingly we came out playing really well and smoked Loyola in three sets. For all the seniors it was our first career win at Loyola. After the game we were feeling really well and we were excited to play Lewis. After a usual Saturday game day, we came up short against Lewis.We came out flat from the beginning, missing over twenty serves in a four set match. The drive back home was pretty miserable after a tough loss like that.We knew we beat ourselves more than anything. Many of the guys talked about how we can improve as a team to be ready for Stanford and Pacific next week.
Like I said, it was a rollercoaster of a week from a shoeless Pav and a great win at Loyola to a loss against Lewis.But that's not all, as we all know we lost a great Penn State legend in Joe Paterno and to most of us our hero. It's unfortunate the things we have experienced as a university and as Penn Staters this year.But we need to keep in mind our ultimate goal sand live life like Coach Paterno would want us to. I'm telling you this, on May 5th, we will have our hero JoePa watching us play in the National Championship game from heaven.
By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 2, 2012 10:52 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - GoPSUsports.com sat down with Penn State
offensive line coach Mac McWhorter in the latest installment of a series of
introductory video interviews with Coach O'Brien's staff.McWhorter comes to Penn State after serving
as the associate head coach and offensive line coach at Texas from 2005-'10.
Entering his 32nd season in coaching, McWhorter worked with Coach O'Brien from
2000-'01 at Georgia Tech.Take a look at
an extensive interview with Coach McWhorter.
By Jeremy S. Fallis, Athletic Communications on February 2, 2012 9:48 AM
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By Alexa Hetzel
Hello All Penn State Fans,
Welcome
to February everyone.February
respresents a lot of important things for Penn State.This is the month that we all head to Big
Tens to compete in our biggest meet of the year to hopefully get us to
NCAAs.This is the week that starts a
new chapter for all of Penn State including athletics with the ending of a
legacy and few chapters of history.And
it starts a new chapter.
Last
week was the memorial for Joe Paterno.I
hope most of you had a chance to watch it because it was amazing.It was sad that all of the Letterman, ICA
staff (intercollegiate athletics) and students gathered together into the BJC
for the death of a great man.But truth
be told he brought all of us together for a reason.Hearing story after story about Joe and how
he recruited a player by claiming one mother's pasta was better than Mrs. Cappelletti's
or how every player would earn a quality education every story came back to one
thing, Joe's legacy.He didn't leave
behind 409 wins, the second largest stadium in the country, two national
championships or Big Ten titles.He left
behind all of us sitting in the BJC, and every Penn Stater watching on TV.He left behind young men and women, people
that will go into the world and change it for the better because that is what
he taught us to do.Joe Paterno may be
dead but he will never stop teaching because his way of teaching is the Penn
State way and it will never be forgotten.
I
would say Fran Fisher, the real "Voice" of Penn State and a long time friend of
Joe, said it best, "It's something of an unusual circumstance when an older
man's life is influenced by a younger man.Such is the case when considering my association with Joe Paterno. Just
being around him made me a better person. His legacy lives through the lives of
the thousands of players and associates he touched.He made a difference ... I loved him ... I
will miss him."It is sad to say
that all good things must come to an end, but it's true.We say goodbye to a great man and close the book
he wrote and start a new one.But one
good thing that gives me comfort is the fact that Joe's book will be reopened
and read over and over.
This
month is the best month to start a new book since it will be our highest level
of competition and should be our best one yet.To have been a part of this team the past year has been an honor.Watching everyone grow and work together to
build up to what we have achieved has been so exciting.I will never be able to describe the feeling
of a Big Ten championship.The range of
emotion that runs through you is the widest spectrum of emotion I've ever felt,
but I wouldn't give it up for anything.Penn State swimming and diving has always had to prove itself time and
time again and we have.We rise to every
challenge whether it be not getting a ranking we deserve or not.But I can say this year at Big Tens, we will
rise to the challenge and all 11 other teams better watch out because we will
not slow down and we will run over the competition.
I
hope you all follow the results and the team into competition.With two weeks until the first events there
is a lot of excitement beginning to build.
By Jeff Sattora, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Lady Lions suffered a tough loss to
Michigan State this past Sunday, falling 83-77 to the Spartans on the
road.Despite the tough loss, if there
is one thing this team has shown this season it is it knows how to bounce back.
Following their four previous losses on the year the Lady Lions have bounced
back and won their next game by an average of 22.75 points per game.
That success is something the team is looking to repeat once again, as it gets
ready to face the Indiana Hoosiers Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
For the Lady Lions to get that "W" Thursday night there are a few things the
team mentioned correcting after Sunday's defeat.
"We have to keep improving on our ability to contain the ball and have better
help rotation, as well as transition defense," said head coach Coquese
Washington.
Defense is something that the Lions always seem to focus on each game no matter
who the opponent.It has the potential
to really be a huge factor yet again in this one, with the Hoosiers averaging a
Big Ten low 57.7 points a game.
With strong defense the Lady Lions will have a chance to shut the Indiana squad
down and put themselves in a good position for the win.
Despite Indiana coming into the contest with a Big Ten worst 0-9 record in
conference play, Penn State is not taking this game lightly.
"I think they are one of the teams that are better than their record," Washington
said."They are in most of their games
the first half, they're a very young team and I think some of that stuff
catches up with them.
"I don't care what their record is," Coach Washington added."I know they're going to come in and play
that tough match-up zone, which can give you problems."
"I give all the teams in our conference great respect," said guard Alex
Bentley."I think our conference is
really tough, we have great teams in the Big Ten."
The players mentioned growing from their last game, and improving not only
defensively as Washington mentioned, but on the offensive end as well.
"You learn from it (the loss) and keep it in your mind," said Bentley."You just got to grow, grow every day, grow
every game, and we're definitely going to do that."
"We need to execute the game plan a little more and make sure we get stops
down the stretch," added guard Zhaque Gray.
Looking ahead, despite the setback against Michigan State the Lions
continue to stay right in the middle of the Big Ten title race.
With a 6-3 record in conference play the team sits at fourth place in the standings.Right behind two two-loss teams in Ohio State
and Nebraska, as well as a one-loss team in Purdue.
With three teams ahead of them and seven games to go the team still feels that
it is right in the hunt for the crown.
"I think we're in a great spot, we're confident we're good," said Bentley on
the team's spot in the standings.
"We're just going to win some ball games," she added.
And for Penn State fans there is nothing wrong with that.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Hear from a trio of Penn State assistant coaches - Charles London (Running
Backs Coach/Recruiting Coordinator), Larry Johnson (Defensive Line Coach) and
Stan Hixon (Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers Coach) on National Signing Day
talking about Penn State's 19 signees for 2012.
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Twitter @GoPSUTony
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Head coach Bill O'Brien and the Penn State football program added 19 student-athletes
to the roster on National Signing Day.
Here is a breakdown of Penn State's 2012 recruiting class.
Offense vs. Defense - The class includes 10 offensive players and nine defensive players.
By Position - Defensive Line - 5
- Wide Receiver - 4
- Defensive Back - 3
- Offensive Line - 2
- Tight End - 2
- Linebacker - 1
- Quarterback - 1
- Running Back - 1
By State - Maryland - 5
- Pennsylvania - 4
- New Jersey - 3
- Connecticut - 1
- Georgia - 1
- New York - 1
- Ohio - 1
- Ontario, Canada - 1
- Virginia - 1
- Washington - 1
Ties to Current or Former Players - Defensive back Da'Quan Davis and wide receiver Trevor Williams attended
the same high school, Calvert Hall College High School in Maryland, as current Penn State cornerback Adrian Amos.
- Defensive lineman Austin Johnson played at the same high school - St.
Augustine Prep (N.J.) - as former Penn State defensive end Jack Crawford.
- Offensive lineman Wendy Laurent attended the same high school as current
Nittany Lion defensive tackle Anthony Alosi - The Hun School in New Jersey.
- Defensive lineman Jamil Pollard attended the same high school, West Deptford
H.S. in New Jersey, as former Penn State defensive back Anthony Scirrotto.
- Offensive lineman Anthony Stanko attended Howland High School.Former Penn State defensive back Tony Davis
also attended Howland High School in Northeast Ohio.
- Wide receiver Jonathan Warner is the son of former All-American running back
Curt Warner.
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By Tony Mancuso, Athletic Communications on February 1, 2012 10:15 AM
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - GoPSUsports.com sat down with Penn State associate
head coach Cody Sanderson for the latest installment of This Week In Penn State
Wrestling.Coach Sanderson talks about
Sunday's victory over Ohio State and previews Penn State's matches at Nebraska
and home against Michigan.
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Media Specialist Tony Mancuso on Twitter @GoPSUTony