The #5 women’s volleyball team swept through the Penn State Classic at Rec Hall this weekend, downing Maryland-Baltimore County, 30-14, 30-12, 30-12, Yale, 30-16, 30-14, 30-11, and West Virginia, 30-18, 30-20, 30-18. Coach Russ Rose’s squad remains undefeated at 9-0 this season.
Senior Ashley Pedersen and freshman Kate Price tallied 11 kills each to lead the Lions past UMBC on Friday, while frosh Melissa Walbridge pitched in a career-high ten. Junior libero Kaleena Walters posted 20 digs, while classmate Sam Tortorello set up 41 assists.
Price’s match-high 13 kills paced the Lions past the Bulldogs on Saturday morning. Sophomore Cassy Salyer pounded 12 kills, while Pedersen added ten. Tortorello dished out 46 assists, and Walters led the defensive charge with 22 digs.
Pedersen blasted 13 kills, added while Price ten, as State coasted past the Mountaineers in Saturday’s late match. Senior Syndie Nadeau notched her third double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs. Tortorello posted her third straight 40-plus assist effort, and earned tournament MVP honors. Walters and sophomore Kim Holm joined Tortorello on the All-Tournament Team.
The #5 women’s soccer team inaugurated newly renovated Jeffrey Field with a 5-0 thumping of Bucknell on Tuesday, followed by another shutout, 4-0, at #16 Wisconsin on Friday, before battling to a 0-0 overtime tie at James Madison on Sunday. Coach Paula Wilkins’s Lions improve to 5-1-1 on the season. The new and improved Jeffrey Field boasts new bleachers, expanding the seating capacity to 5,000, a new press box and video screen, and new turf for the pitch.
Senior Sophie Hiler found the net in the 12th minute for the game-winner against the Bison. Junior Tiffany Weimer connected on a pass from junior Carmelina Moscato in the 53rd minute, and passed to senior Amanda Lentz less than a minute later for 3-0 Penn State lead. A Weimer penalty shot, and Hiler’s second tally of the match rounded out the scoring, as the Lions extended their home winning streak to 31 games.
Lentz scored on a header in the 23rd minute for the winner in the Big Ten opener against the Badgers. Weimer added three goals in the second frame for her second career hat trick to ice the match. The preseason All-America leads the team with eight goals.
Junior goalie Erin McLeod made two saves and recorded State’s third straight shutout, but the Lions could not find the net after 120 minutes of soccer against the Dukes in Harrisonburg, Va.
The #19 field hockey team evened its season record at 4-4 with three straight shutouts this week. Coach Char Morett’s Lions dominated home wins over Temple, 4-0, on Wednesday, and Lafayette, 6-0, on Friday, and dropped host St. Joseph’s, 1-0, on Sunday.
Freshman Shaun Banta blasted a centering pass from sophomore Annelise Legel with five minutes to go in the first half for the game-winner against the Owls. Banta added the first of three Penn State insurance tallies five minutes into the second frame, off a centering feed from junior Natalie Berrena. Three minutes later, Berrena passed to freshman Kiersten Wood for another goal. Legel rounded out the scoring, knocking in a Wood penalty corner.
Senior Michele Rigby scored her first career hat trick, as the Lions rolled past Lafayette during a torrential downpour. Rigby dribbled through the middle of the Leopard defense for the game-winner with 12 minutes to go in the first half, and two minutes later sent a pass to Banta, who scored her fourth goal of the season for a quick 2-0 lead. Legal and Rigby traded scores throughout the remainder of the match, which was moved from Bigler Field to Holuba Hall for the last 12 minutes, thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ivan.
In a hard fought match in Philadelphia, senior Karin Grap gathered a loose ball in front of the net early in the second stanza and blasted it home to give the Lions the win over the Hawks.
Junior goalie Megan Akstin made a strong case for a second straight Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award, keeping all State’s opponents out of the net through the three matches.
The men’s soccer team extended its unbeaten streak to nine games over two years by winning the Penn State Nike Classic with a 2-1 overtime victory over Virginia Tech Saturday and a 4-0 victory Sunday over previously unbeaten Akron, which had dumped Ohio State, 3-1, Saturday.
Freshman goal keeper Conrad Taylor, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week the last two weeks, posted his second shutout for Coach Barry Gorman’s squad against Akron. Chad Severs scored on assists from Mike Lindemann and Anthony Calvano. Larry Yeboah kicked in his first career goal on a pass from Severs, and freshman Geordie MacNeill got his first for Penn State by heading in a corner kick by David Walters. The scoring was completed by Richard Costanzo, who also booted the game winner against Virginia Tech in the home opener on the new Jeffrey Field. Simon Omekanda got the first goal against the Hokies on a feed from Lindemann. The Lions record this fall is 3-0-3.
The men’s golf team placed second at the Northern Intercollegiate tournament over the weekend. Host Wisconsin captured the title with a score of 862 (-2), while Penn State finished at 868 (+4). Seniors Ted Neville and Greg Piewczynski tied for fourth place individually by shooting a 214 (-2). Freshman Robert Rohanna finished in a tie for 20th, shooting a 221 (+5).
