Lion career
2007 (Junior): AVCA First Team All-America ... NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team ... AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region ... NCAA University Park Regional All-Tournament Team ... unanimous First Team All-Big Ten ... Big Ten Player of the Week (10/8) ... Yale Classic All-Tournament Team ... Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team ... unanimous preseason All-Big Ten ... started all 36 matches of the season and played in 120 of 122 games ... for the NCAA Tournament (20 games), averaged 4.20 kills per game on .387 hitting with 12 service aces, 22 digs and 26 blocks ... for the season, averaged 4.44 kills per game, good for second on the team and seventh in the Big Ten ... finished with a hitting percentage of .313, good for 10th in the Big Ten ... surpassed the 1,000 kill plateau in the season-opener against Texas (8/24) and ended the 2007 campaign with 1,512 career kills, good for fifth on the all-time list ... her career total also makes her only the fifth player in Lion history to surpass the 1,500 career kills mark ... her 533 kills in the 2007 season rank ninth on the PSU single-season list ... led the team in kills 13 times ... recorded double-digit kills in 31 of 36 matches and has double-digit kill numbers in 92 of her 103 collegiate matches ... recorded a rally-scoring-era school record 31 kills in the five-game win over Cal Poly (8/31), also setting a new career high ... had six contests with more than 20 kills ... led the team and ranked second in the Big Ten with 47 service aces for the season, a number that more than doubled her previous career total of 40 heading into 2007 ... produced five aces against Indiana (11/3) and had 15 multiple-ace contests ... recorded 177 digs for the season, including three double-digit matches ... ranked fifth on the squad with 1.48 digs per game ... produced 101 total blocks for an average of 0.84 blocks per game ... ended the 2007 season with 278 career total blocks, good for 14th all-time on the Penn State charts ... recorded a career-high 11 blocks in the NCAA First Round win over Siena (11/30) ... had at least two blocks in 24 contests.
2006 (Sophomore): AVCA First Team All-America ... AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region ... unanimous First Team All-Big Ten ... NCAA Seattle Regional All-Tournament Team ... Big Ten Player of the Week (9/4) ... Texas Invitational Most Valuable Player ... Penn State Invitational Most Valuable Player ... LSU Classic Most Valuable Player ... Academic All-Big Ten ... unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten ... played in all 35 matches of the year and 113 of 114 games ... averaged 4.27 kills per game, good for second on the team and eighth in the Big Ten ... finished the season ranked fourth on the team and sixth in the conference in hitting percentage (.331), the only pure left-side hitter in the league within the top six ... ended her second season with 979 career kills, just 21 kills shy of reaching 1,000 for her career ... her 483 kills in 2006 rank 14th on the single-season record chart ... led the team in kills on 14 occasions ... posted double-digit kills in 30 matches, including the last seven matches of the season ... recorded 15 or more kills on 12 occasions and notched 20 or more kills four times ... tallied a season-best 24 kills in the NCAA Regional Final match at Washington (12/9) ... averaged 4.89 kills per game on .500 hitting against Eastern Kentucky, Duke and West Virginia at the Penn State Invitational ... attacked a season-high clip of .607 at Purdue (9/30), racking up 19 kills and only two errors on 28 swings ... averaged 4.86 kills per game on .315 hitting in the two matches with seven service aces at the NCAA Regional Championship against Purdue and Washington (12/8-9) ... also for the season recorded 27 service aces, 96 digs and 89 blocks ... posted a career-high four service aces twice, including at Michigan (11/18) and versus Purdue in the NCAA Regional Semifinal match (12/8) ... had at least one dig in every match of the year, including a season-high seven at LSU (8/26) ... tallied at least two blocks in 23 matches ... notched a career-high six blocks twice, including at Texas (9/8) and against Wisconsin (10/7).
2005 (Freshman): AVCA National Freshman of the Year ... AVCA Second Team All-America ... AVCA Mideast Region Freshman of the Year ... AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region ... Big Ten Freshman of the Year ... First Team All-Big Ten ... Big Ten All-Freshman Team ... three-time Big Ten Player of the Week (Sept. 26, Nov. 14, Nov. 28) ... Hawaiian Airlines Classic All-Tournament Team ... Nebraska Players Challenge All-Tournament Team ... Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team ... first-ever Penn State player to earn AVCA National Freshman of the Year accolades ... her selection to the All-Big Ten team makes her one of four Penn State freshman to ever garner the honor, joining fellow freshman Christa Harmotto along with Bonnie Bremner and Lauren Cacciamani, who both earned the honor in 1996 ... also became the first PSU freshman to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors ... started all 34 matches of the year ... set an NCAA Tournament record for hitting percentage by attacking at a career-high .889 clip (16-0-18) against Long Island (12/3) in the second round ... led the Lions and ranked third in the Big Ten with an average of 4.51 kills per game on .309 hitting ... also ranked second in the league in conference-only matches with 4.53 kills per game ... led the team in kills on 28 occasions ... recorded 31 double-digit kill matches, including a career-high 26 kills at Hawaii (9/2) ... tallied 10 or more kills in 31 matches, including 16 matches with 15 or more kills ... her 496 kills during the season ranks 11th on the single-season record chart and her 4.51 kills per game average ranks seventh all-time for a season ... hit .300 or better with 11 kills on 22 occasions ... ranked fifth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.341) in league-only matches ... an all-around player, ranked fifth on the team in digs per game with 1.80 ... picked up five or more digs in 23 matches ... recorded a career-high 16 digs against Wisconsin (10/28) ... had 24 multiple-block matches, including a career-best five blocks on three occasions, with the last at Minnesota (10/22) ... recorded first career double-double in first collegiate match against Stanford with 12 kills and 12 digs at the AVCA/NACWAA Showcase in Omaha, Neb. (8/26).
High School
Four-year volleyball letterwinner and three-year track letterwinner for Benjamin Logan High School in Bellefontaine, Ohio ... four-year team captain in volleyball for the Raiders ... two-year member of the USA Junior National Team, including the 2004 squad that won the NORCECA gold medal in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ... member of the 2003 USA Youth National Team ... 2004 Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year ... Volleyball Magazine "Fab 50" ... Ohio High Magazine Player of the Year ... led the team to 92-13 scholastic record, including three league championships and the district and regional runner-up titles in 2004 ... three-time First Team All-Ohio honoree ... earned four First Team CBC honors, four First Team District IX accolades and three District IX Player of the Year awards ... set the school record for kills in a season four consecutive years ... holds the Ohio state record for career kills ... regional track high jump finalist in 2004 and 2005 ... member of the Team Atlantis Volleyball Club ... National Honor Society member ... named to the Fall Sport All-Academic Team and the honor roll.
Personal
Born Nicole Marie Fawcett on Dec. 16, 1986 in San Antonio, Texas ... parents are Bob and Kim Fawcett ... has one brother, Joe (18) ... mother Kim played volleyball for Wright State ... maternal grandfather was a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles in 1945 ... majoring in Human Development and Family Studies ... names Coldplay as favorite musical artist, New York Yankees as favorite professional sports team, "Angels & Demons" as favorite book and "Grey's Anatomy" as favorite TV show ... nickname is Nic.
Quoting Russ Rose
"I thought Nicole had a great junior season and she continues to improve in the areas that we've identified. She is one of the few players in the country who can make a significant impact in the front row as well as the back row. As she continues to step into more of a leadership role, she will continue to enhance her prospects for a future in professional volleyball. She is a great scorer and teammate."
Fawcett's Expectations
"To meet and accomplish every one of our goals that we have set together as this team."
