Dennis Del Valle Class: Junior Hometown: Toa Alta, Puerto Rico High School: Colegio Señora Merced Height: 5-8 Position: L

Lion Career
2008 (Summer): Starting libero for the Puerto Rican Junior National Team at the NORCECA Championship in San Salvador, El Salvador ... team finished fifth in the tournament.

2008 (Freshman): AVCA Second Team All-America ... EIVA Newcomer of the Year ... First Team All-EIVA ... EIVA All-Championship team ... played in all but three games of the season for the Nittany Lions, seeing action in 100 of 103 contests ... led the team and ranked eighth in the nation with an average of 2.64 digs per game ... posted 264 digs for the season, good for eighth on the Penn State single-season digs list ... recorded 11 double-digit dig matches ... produced a career-high 16 digs three times, including in the NCAA Championship match against Pepperdine (5/3), at Saint Francis (1/25) and at Ball State (1/18) ... posted 14 digs in the NCAA National Semifinal versus Ohio State (5/1) ... also picked up 10 digs against George Mason in the EIVA Championship match (4/26) ... reached 12 digs five times, including at Hawaii (1/3), against UCLA (1/4), versus Lewis (1/11), against Ohio State (3/28) and at IPFW (4/12) ... also recorded 81 assists for the season, including a career-high eight against Ohio State in the NCAA Semifinal (5/1) ... passed at a .956 clip for the year, recording only 25 reception errors in 570 total attempts ... also had two kills, including one at Ohio State (1/19) and another at IPFW (4/12).

High School
2007 (Summer): Starting libero for the Puerto Rican Youth National Team at the 2007 Youth World Championship in Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico ... named "Best Receiver" of the tournament ... the squad finished 11th in the world.

2006 (Summer): Starting libero for the Puerto Rican Junior National Team at the 2006 NORCECA Boy's Junior Championship in Monterrey, Mexico ... named "Best Digger" of the tournament, where the team finished fourth ... made history at the 2006 NORCECA Boy's Youth Championship in the Dominican Republic, picking up the Triple Crown of defensive awards, becoming the first men's player and only the second player ever in NORCECA history to be named the "Best Digger," "Best Receiver" and "Best Libero" of the same tournament ... squad finished first in the competition.

Two-year varsity letterwinner for Colegio Nuestra Señora de la Merced High School in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico ... helped the squad to the top varsity ranking in Puerto Rico during his senior season, also reaching No. 4 during junior year ... team captured the L.A.C.C. championship in 2007 and also finished first in Copa El Nuevo Dia ... in 2006, squad was runners-up in Copa El Nuevo Dia ... named to the all-star team at the event ... in 2006 was named the MVP of the Colegio La Merced tournament as a libero ... played setter in freshman and sophomore seasons with the junior varsity team, also playing libero with the varsity during sophomore year ... elected to represent the school in the Presidential Classroom in Washington, D.C., in 2006 ... was the only male in the 2005-2006 National Honor Society and won a leadership award ... ranked fourth in his class senior year.

Personal
Born Dennis Jose Del Valle Villalobos on Jan. 27, 1989 in Santurce, Puerto Rico ... parents are Elizabeth Villalobos and Jose Del Valle ... has one sister, Brenda (24) and three step-siblings, Vanessa (34), Jose (29) and Karen (8) ... uncle Rafael "Madamo" Del Valle was a pro beach volleyball player... names the Dallas Mavericks as favorite pro sports team, Dirk Nowitzki and Novak Djokovic as favorite athletes, "Friends" as favorite television show, "What Happens in Vegas" as one of his many favorite movies, his favorite place to visit is anywhere in Europe and likes to play tennis in his free time ... majoring in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management.

Quoting Coach Pavlik
"Dennis will continue to make the unbelievable, did-you-see-that type of plays that he did last year. He now is more familiar with everything that will come at him and will no doubt be one of the best liberos in the NCAA. He will again be fun to watch."