STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Nov. 28, 2002 - The Penn State women's volleyball team (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten) returns home to host ninth-ranked Minnesota and Iowa this weekend at Rec Hall. On Friday, Nov. 29, the Nittany Lions host the Gophers (30-4, 17-2) in a 7:00 p.m. contest before taking on the Hawkeyes (8-21, 2-17) on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m. Both matches can be heard on the radio on WMAJ 1450 AM and also on the internet at www.GoPSUsports.com. Saturday night before the Iowa match, Penn State will honor its two seniors, Mishka Levy and Tina Huisenga.

On Sunday, Dec. 1, ESPNEWS will air live the NCAA committee's selection of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET. The first and second rounds of the tournament will be held on campus sites the weekend of Dec. 6-7 with regionals taking place the following weekend, Dec. 13-14. The semifinals of the NCAA Tournament will be Dec. 19 in New Orleans with the national title game taking place on Dec. 21.

Last weekend, Penn State split matches, defeating Wisconsin in three games before falling to Northwestern in four games. The win over the Badgers marked the first time Wisconsin had been swept at home since Penn State accomplished the feat on Nov. 6, 1998.

At the UW Field House in Madison, 6,761 fans saw junior Cara Smith (Lafayette, Ind.) tie a career-high with 19 kills on 29 attempts to hit .667 for the match while senior Mishka Levy (Houston, Texas) put down 15 kills to hit .423. Freshman Kaleena Walters (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) led all players with 11 digs in the contest while Smith posted a match-high eight blocks as Penn State outblocked Wisconsin 13.0 to 5.0. Freshman setter Sam Tortorello (Shorewood, Ill.) dished out 42 assists to lead the Lion offense. As a team, Penn State outhit the Badgers .364 to .260. The following night at Northwestern, four Lions tallied double-digit kills led by Smith with 13, sophomores Ashley Pederson (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Syndie Nadeau (St. Georges, Quebec) both posting 11 and Levy with 10. Northwestern juniors Iwona Lodzik and Erika Lange combined for 46 of the team's 76 kills while limiting Penn State to 52 kills as a team. Walters fell one dig shy of a career-high with 14 while Tortorello again posted 42 kills and added five aces. Smith and junior Robyn Guokas (Burr Ridge, Ill.) both posted four blocks as the Wildcats outblocked the Lions 12.0 to 8.0 and also hit .317 to Penn State's .189.

As a team, the Nittany Lions are hitting .295 to lead the Big Ten. Penn State is averaging 15.88 kills per game and 3.25 blocks per game. Defensively, the Lions are picking up 13.40 digs per game while also recording 1.93 service aces per game. Tortorello is dishing out 12.27 assists per game to lead the offense and Smith continues to lead the conference in hitting percentage, tallying a .427 mark for the season which is also second-best in the nation.

Minnesota defeated Iowa in straight sets (30-15, 30-19, 30-26) Wednesday night in Minneapolis. Gopher junior Cassie Busse tallied 14 kills to lead all players with teammate Trisha Bratford adding 11. Sophomore Laura Simpson posted 10 kills to lead the Hawkeyes. UM recorded 22 more kills (53 to 31) and outhit Iowa .246 to .049. Minnesota did not allow the Hawkeyes to hit above .080 in any of the three games. Three Gophers recorded double-digit dig figures, led by Busse with 12 while Simpson led Iowa with 12. Iowa won the blocking battle, 11.0 to 8.5 led by junior middle hitter Abby Tjaden with six blocks.

The Gophers come into Friday night's match after a record-setting outing against Iowa on Wednesday. With the win, Minnesota earned its 17th conference victory and its 30th overall victory, both of which tie school records set during the 2000 season. Junior Cassie Busse leads the team with an average of 4.14 kills per game while hitting .321. Sophomore setter Lindsey Vander Well directs the Gopher offense with 12.74 assists per game and freshman libero Paula Gentil heads the defensive front, racking up a Big Ten-leading 4.56 digs per game. Junior Bethany Brafford is the team leader in blocking with 1.20 blocks per game as the squad averages 2.84 blocks per game. As a team, Minnesota is hitting .254 with 15.85 kills per game, 1.97 service aces per game and 16.00 digs per game.

The Nittany Lions lead the series with the Golden Gophers, 21-5. The last meeting was a three-game (30-27, 30-20, 30-19) Minnesota win on Oct. 19 in Minneapolis. Penn State's Cara Smith tallied a team-high 12 kills as four Gophers posted double-digit kill figures, led by Cassie Busse with 14. Minnesota outhit the Lions .343 to .123 while Penn State won the blocking battle 8.5 to 7.0. The last Penn State win was marathon five-game victory (30-20, 30-26, 27-30, 28-30, 18-16) on Nov. 24, 2001 in Minneapolis in the last game of the Big Ten regular season. The last matchup between the two teams in Happy Valley was a three-game (30-22, 30-19, 30-27) Penn State win on Oct. 12, 2001.

The Hawkeyes are in the midst of a 13-match losing streak, with their last win coming over Purdue on Oct. 12. Injured junior Renee Hill leads the team with 3.76 kills per game. Hill suffered a season-ending knee injury against Ohio State on Oct. 27. Junior setter Jitka Stehnova dishes out an average of 10.92 assists per game and sophomore Pam Kavadas leads the defense with 3.50 digs per game. Junior middle Abby Tjaden tops the blocking stats with 1.21 blocks per game as the team averages 2.46 blocks per game. As a squad, Iowa is hitting .167 with 14.07 kills per game, 1.18 service aces per game and 15.36 digs per game.

The Nittany Lions lead the series with the Hawkeyes, 23-0. The previous meeting this season was a three-game (30-23, 32-30, 30-25) Penn State win on Oct. 18 in Iowa City. Cara Smith posted 15 kills for the Lions and Iowa's Renee Hill tallied a match-high 17 kills. Penn State outhit the Hawkeyes .245 to .171 and also outblocked them 9.0 to 3.0. The last meeting in Happy Valley was a three-game (30-21, 30-28, 30-16) Nittany Lion victory on Nov. 23, 2001.

This weekend, all faculty can receive admission for $1 this weekend upon presentation of their faculty id at the Iowa match on Saturday.

For complete Penn State women's volleyball statistics and match notes for the weekend, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.