STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Dec. 2, 2002 - The Penn State women's volleyball team picked up a slew of conference accolades today, conference officials announced. Freshman setter Sam Tortorello (Shorewood, Ill.) was tabbed as the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year in volleyball while junior Cara Smith (Lafayette, Ind.) was a unanimous All-Big Ten selection. Senior Mishka Levy (Houston, Texas) gained All-Big Ten honors and Tortorello and junior Robyn Guokas (Burr Ridge, Ill.) earned honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades. Penn State has now racked up a total of 45 All-Big Ten honors since it joined the conference in 1991.

Tortorello becomes only the second Nittany Lion to garner Freshman of the Year honors, joining four-time All-America selection Bonnie Bremner (1996-99), who earned the honor in 1996. A native of Shorewood, Ill., Tortorello's setting accuracy lifted Penn State to a league-best .259 team hitting percentage, as she was fourth overall in conference play with 13.23 assists per game. The Lions also led the Big Ten in overall hitting percentage with a .295 mark. Tortorello was also named to the All-Freshman team and picked up honorable mention All-Big Ten accolades.

Smith, who earlier in the day picked up the first Big Ten Player of the Week honors of her career, was tabbed a unanimous All-Big Ten selection, also for the first time in her career. She has either been leading the nation or ranked second in hitting percentage all season long, currently hitting .432 with an average of 3.30 kills per game. She has also recorded at least one block and at least six kills in every contest this season. She currently stands fourth in the Penn State annals for single-season hitting percentage. Smith joined Minnesota's Cassie Busse, Ohio State's Stacey Gordon, Wisconsin's Erin Byrd and Northwestern's Erika Lange as unanimous All-Big Ten selections.

Levy garnered the third All-Big Ten honors of her career, also picking up the recognition in 2000 and 2001. She leads the team in kills per game with 3.72 and ranks second in blocking with 1.30 blocks per game. Levy now stands in sixth place on the Penn State all-time kill list with 1,449 career kills while also ranking seventh on the all-time blocking chart with 390 career put-backs.

Guokas, the Big Ten's leading blocker in 2000, earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. The junior leads Penn State in blocking with 1.40 blocks per game and has ranked near the top of the conference charts all season long. Guokas set a career high in kills with 14 versus Wisconsin on Oct. 26, in the same match recording a season-high 11 blocks. She has led the Lions in blocking on 14 occasions this season. This is the first time Guokas has received All-Big Ten recognition.

Ohio State's Stacey Gordon was tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Year while Minnesota head coach Mike Hebert was named the Coach of the Year by both the media and his peers. Gopher freshman Paula Gentil earned Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Following is the complete list of Big Ten honors:

2002 Big Ten Volleyball Honors

ALL-BIG TEN

 NAME CL POS. HOMETOWN / HIGH SCHOOL Melissa Brewer, INDIANA JR MB Bloomington, Ind./North Erin Moore, MICHIGAN JR MB Tiffin, Ohio/Columbian Angela Morley, MICHIGAN ST. SR MB Holland, Mich./West Ottowa Cassie Busse, MINNESOTA* JR OPP Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake Christian Paula Gentil, MINNESOTA FR LIB Fortaleza Ceara, Brazil/Lake Highland Prep (Fla.) Lindsey Vander Well, MINNESOTA SO S Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian Erika Lange, NORTHWESTERN* JR MB Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg Stacey Gordon, OHIO STATE* SO OH Oshawa, Ontario/Eastdale Collegiate Cara Smith, PENN STATE* JR MH Lafayette, Ind./Harrison Mishka Levy, PENN STATE SR OH Houston, Texas/Episcopal Erin Byrd, WISCONSIN* SR OH Glen Ellyn, Ill./St. Francis Morgan Shields, WISCONSIN JR S Watertown, Wis./Watertown 

HONORABLE MENTION: ILLINOIS: Sue Webber; INDIANA: Katie Pollom, Christina Archibald; OHIO STATE: Shelly Draeger, Katie Virtue, Suzie Stiling; PENN STATE: Robyn Guokas, Sam Tortorello

 BIG TEN ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM NAME POS. HOMETOWN / HIGH SCHOOL Paula Gentil, MINNESOTA LIB Fortaleza Ceara, Brazil/Lake Highland Prep (Fla.) Jessica Byrnes, MINNESOTA MB Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka Stephanie Higgins, OHIO STATE MB Biggsville, Ill./Union Sam Tortorello, PENN STATE S Shorewood, Ill./Joliet Catholic Acad. Renata Dargan, PURDUE S New Lenox, Ill./Providence Central Sheila Shaw, WISCONSIN MH Muskego, Wis./Muskego 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Stacey Gordon, OHIO STATE
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Paula Gentil, MINNESOTA
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Sam Tortorello, PENN STATE
COACH OF THE YEAR (Coaches & Media): Mike Hebert, MINNESOTA

* - Unanimous Selection

The Nittany Lions take on Penn at 7:30p.m on Friday, Dec. 6at Rec Hall in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The contest can be heard on the radio on WMAJ 1450 AM or on the web at www.GoPSUsports.com. Penn State's match is preceded by the Temple versus Manhattan College match, which will take place at 5:00 p.m. The winners of Friday's matches will square off on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall for the right to continue on to the NCAA Round of Sixteen. For tickets, visit the Bryce Jordan Center Ticket office or call 814-865-5555.

For more information on Penn State women's volleyball, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.