Paterno receives award from AFCA for 5th time

Penn State's Joe Paterno has been selected the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year for a record fifth time in his career.

The announcement was made today at the AFCA Convention in Dallas.

The National Coach of the Year honor is Paterno's fifth for the 2005 season, joining the Associated Press, Bobby Dodd, Home Depot/ESPN and The Sporting News.

He also was named the Dave McClain Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading Penn State to the conference title and a berth in the FedEx Orange Bowl.

Paterno previously was honored by his peers as Division I-A Coach of the Year in 1968, 1978, 1982 and 1986.

The only other major college coaches, besides Paterno, to earn AFCA Coach of the Year more than once are: Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant (three), USC's John McKay and Texas' Darrell Royal (twice).

The other finalists for the 2005 AFCA I-A honor were: Mack Brown, Texas; Pete Carroll, USC; Larry Coker, Miami and Mike Shula, Alabama.

Women's volleyball gets three letters of intent

Three players have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Penn State women's volleyball team for the 2006 season.

Blair Brown, Alisha Glass and Jessica Yanz will be eligible to suit up for the Nittany Lions next season.

Brown is a 6-4 middle hitter from Leesburg, Va. The Virginia Gatorade and State Player of the year.

Brown helped her Loudoun Valley High School squad to 93 wins with only 14 losses during her four-year tenure, including a 55-match winning streak and a 29-0 Virginia AA State Championship season in 2004.

The holder of the Virginia state record with 1,463 kills, Brown is a three-time District Player of the Year and two-time Regional Player of the Year.

Glass is a 6-0 right side hitter and setter from Lake Leelanau, Mich.

Heading into her senior season at Leland Public High School, which takes place in the winter, Glass is already a highly decorated prep player.

The high school senior is both the national and State High School record holder in season aces (296), career aces (685) and career kills (2,686).

Glass is ranked sixth on Prep Volleyball's "Senior Aces" list, and was a member of the 2003 USA Youth National A2 Team and played on the USA Red squad that one the gold medal at the HP Championships in Austin, Texas.

Glass also received the "Best Setter" award at that event.

Yanz is a 6-0 setter from Naperville, Ill. A four-year starter, she led her Naperville Central High School to the 2005 Illinois State Championship, along with the DuPage Valley Conference title.