Sept. 17, 2008

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Football's Deon Butler (Woodbridge, Va.) and women's volleyball's Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) have been named this week's Penn State Student-Athletes of the Week.

In the first half of play, Butler led the Nittany Lion offense with seven receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns in Penn State's 55-13 thumping of Syracuse. His two touchdowns were No. 16 and 17 in his career passing O.J. McDuffie for third place on the Penn State career list.

The seven catches were tied for second-highest in his career. Butler helped the Lions gain 344 passing yards, most since 381 vs. Central Michigan in 2005 and tied for No. 10 all-time under Joe Paterno. ABC named him Butler the Chevrolet Player of the Game.

Christa Harmotto

Harmotto increased her conference-leading hitting percentage by .043 percent over the weekend en route to helping the top-ranked Nittany Lions remain unbeaten in matches and individual games at the Chicago Classic at Mother McAuley High School. For the weekend, she averaged 3.00 kills per game on an astounding .615 hitting percentage with one ace, four digs and a team-high seven blocks.

On Friday against Illinois-Chicago, Harmotto recorded a season- and match-high 13 kills on an astounding .706 hitting with her first ace of the season, a season-high-tying two digs and a block. In Saturday's first match versus Illinois State, the senior middle hitter posted six kills on .455 hitting with two digs and three blocks and in the night-cap on Saturday against Louisville, Harmotto posted eight kills on .636 hitting with one assist and three blocks.

2008 Penn State Student-Athletes of the Week
September 3, 2008 - Derrick Williams (football), Allison Scola (field hockey)
September 10, 2008 - Evan Royster (football), Arielle Wilson (women's volleyball)
September 17, 2008 - Deon Butler (football), Christa Harmotto (women's volleyball)