Lady Lions to hold drive to aid hurricane victims
The Penn State women's basketball team will be holding a supply and donation drive to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina tomorrow from 5 to 7 p.m.
The drive will be held at the Bryce Jordan Center's east side Mezzanine Entrance near the Founders Lounge.
All goods and donations will be sent to Avoyelles Parish in Louisiana, the hometown of assistant coach Keila Whittington. Supporters are encouraged to bring non-perishable food, baby items and water only. In addition to these goods, the Lady Lions will be collecting donations.
Players and coaches will be available during the event for autographs and photo opportunities. The Lady Lions will also be giving away several door prizes throughout the evening, including a chance to be an honorary team coach, two tickets to the Nov. 18 home game vs. Duke, and dinner with the team.
"The Penn State family has been great so far in all its efforts in helping to get supplies down to my family and community," Whittington said.
"This is an even bigger venture. We are helping over 6,000 people in the parish, and to know that we can now touch so many lives is an incredible feeling."
Libero Walters receives third conference award
Senior women's volleyball libero Kaleena Walters has been named the Big Ten Women's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week after becoming Penn State's career digs leader and helping the Nittany Lions (17-2, 8-0) remain the only undefeated team in the Big Ten.
Walters' honor is the third of the season and of her career, making it only the ninth time in Big Ten history that a player has received three weekly honors in a single season. It also makes her only the second Penn State player in program history to receive three Player of the Week awards in one year, joining Jen Reimers (1991-93) who earned the accolade three times in 1993. She also enters the elite company of Reimers, Terri Zemaitis (1994-97), Lauren Cacciamani (1996-99) and fellow senior Sam Tortorello as the only Nittany Lions to be honored three or more times in their respective careers.
Wrestling team ranked No. 12 in preseason poll
Already ranked No. 13 and No. 12 in two other recently released national preseason wrestling polls, the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team has grabbed a No. 12 preseason ranking from TheWrestlingMall.com (TWM).
Head coach Troy Sunderland has seven individuals ranked in the widely recognized wrestling media outlet's individual rankings.
Senior Eric Bradley earned his third No. 1 ranking of the preseason at 184. Bradley is coming off a 31-5 season that saw him earn All-America laurels with a fourth-place finish at nationals.
The two-time defending Big Ten Champion is the top returning place-winner at 184 as well.
Sophomore Philip Davis is ranked No. 5 after finishing seventh at nationals in 2005 as a freshman. Davis, who was fourth at Big Ten's, was 37-10 during last season.
Senior James Woodall is ranked No. 9 at 149. The 2004 national qualifier is coming off a medical red-shirt year. He was 10-2 last season before an injury ended his campaign. Senior Joel Edwards is ranked No. 11 at Heavyweight. Edwards was a qualifier in 2005 and went 24-16.
Two Nittany Lions earned No. 12 rankings. Junior Nathan Galloway is No. 12 at 157 after going 31-16 and qualifying for nationals.
Senior DeWitt Driscoll is No. 12 at 141. Driscoll is a three-year starter for Penn State and went 28-15 last year. Sophomore Bryan Heller is the seventh Lion on the lists with a No. 16 ranking at 133.
Heller went 22-17 last year and qualified for nationals.
ABC to televise contest vs. Purdue Boilermakers
Penn State's Homecoming football game against Purdue on Saturday, October 29, will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET in Beaver Stadium. ABC Sports will be televise the sold out contest to a regional audience.
The game with Purdue (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) is No. 12 Penn State's (6-1, 3-1) ninth announced TV appearance of the season. Saturday's contest at Illinois airs nationally on ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Last week's game with Michigan also was an ABC broadcast.
