Senior men's volleyball player Keith Kowal has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II men's volleyball National Player of the Week, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced yesterday. The honor is the second of Kowal's career, as he was honored last season on Feb. 23.

Kowal was named to the Golden Dome Classic All-Tournament team after leading the fifth-ranked Nittany Lions to sweeps of IPFW (30-28, 30-26, 30-22) and No. 12 Ohio State (30-24, 30-20, 30-21). Earlier in the week, Kowal was also vital in Penn State's three-game victory over Division III No. 1 Juniata (30-18, 30-21, 30-24).

Earlier in the week against Juniata, the 6-foot-7 middle racked up six kills on an errorless 13 swings to hit .462. Kowal also was a force at the net, recording eight blocks, including three solo efforts. Against IPFW on Friday night, Kowal provided 13 kills and hit .545 with four blocks for 15.0 points, and against the Buckeyes on Saturday night, he recorded six kills and three blocks.

For the weekend, Kowal averaged 2.78 kills per game while hitting .489 with 0.44 digs per game and 1.67 blocks per game.