Lady spikers look to break history this weekend

By DONNIE COLLINS
Collegian Staff Writer

On the evening of Nov. 24, 1995, the Penn State women's volleyball team lost to Big Ten opponent Illinois at Rec Hall. The Illini were the last team to leave Happy Valley with a win.

That loss -- a 15-17, 13-15, 15-9, 15-3, 11-15 heartbreaker -- was the team's third- consecutive defeat during a late-season slump. Only four players currently on Penn State's roster -- Lindsay Anderson, Christy Cochran, Tomuke Ebuwei and Emily Stout -- were in uniform that night.

In the 40 matches the team has played at home since that night nearly three years ago, the Lions have not tasted a single defeat.

With a sweep of New Orleans, Morgan State and American University in the Penn State Classic this weekend, the Lions will break the record for the longest home winning streak in school history. The previous record of 42 matches was set from Sept. 23, 1989 to Sept. 28, 1991.

The No. 1-ranked Lions (7-0) can make it 41 straight when they take on New Orleans at 8 p.m. today in Rec Hall. The Penn State Classic continues at 1 p.m. tomorrow against Morgan State followed by the potential record-breaking game against American at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Breaking a winning streak, however, is not in the forefront of Lauren Cacciamani's mind. The junior middle hitter, who earned MVP honors in both the Penn State Invitational and the USA Cup this season, said she didn't know the Lions were in position to break the record this weekend.

"I don't think we look at stuff like that," Cacciamani said. "Home winning streaks don't mean anything when you're in pursuit of a national title."

None of the three teams the Lions face this weekend have been victims during the streak. Penn State last faced New Orleans in '96, a match in which the Lions swept the Privateers in three games.

American hasn't visited Happy Valley since before the winning streak began. The Eagles faced the same fate as New Orleans did -- a three-game sweep.

Although it's unlikely any of the three squads could prevent the Lions from seizing the record, they're hardly pushovers.

When Penn State head coach Russ Rose talks about New Orleans (3-3), two words come to mind -- scrappy defense. He said he expects the Privateers to utilize a workmanlike approach against the Lions.

"They're going to be a pretty good defensive team," Rose said. "When we played at New Orleans a few years ago, that's how they played when we were there. I expect them to play that well now."

The American Eagles (8-1) could prove to be one of the tougher non-conference opponents the Lions have faced this season.

Coach Barry Goldberg's team made the NCAA tournament last season, but suffered a four-game loss to Colorado State in the first round. The only blemish on American's record this season is a five-game defeat at the hands of No. 25 Minnesota. Much of the Eagles' roster consists of experienced overseas players, and because of this, Rose said American probably won't be intimidated by the top-ranked Lions.

"I expect American to be a very good team, a very experienced team," Rose said. "They probably won't be too impressed or too concerned about playing at Penn State."

Whether or not American is concerned about playing at Rec Hall is one thing. The 25 different opponents who have come to Penn State, only to be unceremoniously dropped by the Lions, are another. During the winning streak, the Lions have lost just five single games. They haven't lost one since dropping the third game against Minnesota last October. Amazingly, no team has been able to take the Lions to a fifth game in Rec Hall.

Cacciamani may not have known much about her team's opportunity to break the school record this weekend. But that doesn't mean it won't have a special meaning, especially for a team working on a dream season.

"I think it's great," she said. "In this year of records being broken, it's kind of fun."

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