Sept. 23, 2008

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sophomore linebacker Navorro Bowman (District Heights, Md.) and senior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) have been named this week's Penn State Student-Athletes of the Week. Both earned Big Ten Player of the Week accolades as well after leading their teams to weekend victories.

Bowman made his first career start and recorded career highs with 11 tackles (8 solo), three sacks (minus-13), five tackles for minus-17, a forced fumble and his first career interception. He returned the interception 29 yards to inside the Temple 20. Bowman leads Penn State with 35 tackles (20 solo) this season. - Penn State allowed Temple only 16 rushing yards on 28 attempts (0.6), as the Owls became the fourth consecutive team to fail to crack 100 yards on the ground. For the season, the Lions are permitting 52.2 rushing yards per game and 1.8 yards per carry. - The Lions limited Temple to 10 first downs, 138 yards of total offense, recording a season-high seven sacks and 12 minus-yardage plays. The Owls were 2 of 15 on third down conversions. Tackles: 8 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 11 total tackles, 3 sack(s) for 13 yards, 5 tackle(s) for loss for 17 yards. Fumbles: 1 forced, 0 recovered.

Nicole Fawcett

Fawcett was named Big Ten Player of the Week as well as the Most Valuable Player of the Hampton Inn Penn State Classic after leading the squad to three more three-game sweeps to remain undefeated in both matches and games this season, at 12-0 and 36-0, respectively. Against Yale Fawcett contributed one kill, two assists, five digs and three blocks in a game and a half. Versus New Hampshire on Saturday, the senior posted 15 kills with only one error on 19 attacks to hit a season-high .737 with one assist, five digs and one block for a match-high 15.5 points. Against Saint Louis, Fawcett fell just shy of her season-best with 16 kills on 23 errorless attacks to hit .696 with two aces, five digs and one block. For the weekend, Fawcett averaged 4.00 kills per game on an astounding .689 hitting percentage with four aces, 15 digs and five blocks for a team-high 38.5 total points.

2008-09 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)
September 23, 2008- Navorro Bowman (football), Nicole Fawcett (women's volleyball)