The landscape of women's college volleyball may be quite different from that of men's college volleyball, but the Penn State volleyball teams share one thing in common--success. The men got their season started last weekend at the Outrigger Invitational in Hawaii, where they recorded two wins and one loss.
Last season, Penn State made it to the National Championship for the third time in five years, but lost to Stanford in the title match. The Nittany Lions finished with a 24-8 record and won their 22nd Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Championship. Penn State returns five starters from last year, including Joe Sunder, who led the Nittany Lions in kills last weekend.
As the NFL heads into Sunday's conference championships, Penn State will be well represented with four former Nittany Lions looking for a chance to play in Super Bowl XLV.
Defensive end Anthony Adams and kicker Robbie Gould, both of whom play for the Chicago Bears, will take on the Green Bay Packers and tight end Andrew Quarless who starred for Penn State from 2006-2009 in the NFC Championship. That game is slated for 3:00 p.m.
In the nightcap, the stout defenses of the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets will meet in the AFC Championship. The field position battle will be an important one in this game, so former Penn Stater punter Jeremy Kapinos could give the Steelers a winning edge in the 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
Classes will take place as usual, despite the sure to be forthcoming outcry from students who live off campus. They risk life and limb to get to their 8:00 am classes on time, braving the packed CATA buses and poorly plowed roads of the borough. Well someone sympathizes you, though he's rather unexpected.
http://www.youtube.com/v/rPjedzSDC0M?rel=0&showsearch=0&fs=1
The Penn State Icers rebounded from two tough losses by sweeping Robert Morris (PA) over the weekend. The Icers scored 16 goals over two important wins that kept them in the playoff hunt.
On Friday, Tim O'Brien got things started for the Icers in a 9-4 win by scoring the only goal of the first period. In the second, Eric Steinour got a short-handed goal to put the Icers up by two, but Robert Morris got one back six minutes later. Dominic Morrone, George Saad and O'Brien all contributed goals in the period, yet Penn State took only a slim 5-3 lead into the third.
Maggie Lucas broke the record for most three-point shots made by a Penn State freshman, and the Penn State women's basketball team cruised to an 83-62 victory over Illinois on Sunday afternoon.
Penn State started the game slowly but more than made up for it with great three-point shooting as the first half wore on. Facing a 9-2 deficit, the Lady Lions went on a 12-0 run that included a behind-the-back pass from Alex Bentley to Lucas, who hit the three-pointer. Illinois tied it at 16 before Penn State used a 10-0 run to break the game open. The Lady Lions went into the break-up 41-23 thanks to 14 points from Lucas and a great 46.7 shooting percentage.
With Ohio State knocking on the door of the number one ranking in America, it was a couple of freshmen who took the Buckeyes on their shoulders to shut the door on an upset-minded Nittany Lions team.
Aaron Craft scored 19 points and dished out seven assists while National Freshman of the Year favorite Jared Sullinger converted on two straight old-fashioned three-point plays in the final minute to give Ohio State a 69-66 victory at Value City Arena in Columbus Saturday night.