The Daily Collegian Online	 - Published independently by students at Penn State SPORTS
[ Monday, Sept. 18, 2006 ]

Fawcett leads Lions in weekend sweep
The No. 2 ranked women's volleyball team remained unbeaten this weekend.

Collegian Staff Writer

After another dominant weekend, the Penn State women's volleyball team cruised past three non-conference opponents in the Penn State Classic and remained unbeaten.

The No. 2 Nittany Lions swept Tennessee State (30-16, 30-19, 30-12) on Friday, Lehigh (30-13, 30-9, 30-19) and Miami (Ohio) (30-21, 30-17, 30-12) on Saturday morning and that night, respectively.

And, not surprisingly, the Lions (11-0) were offensively led by sophomore outside hitter Nicole Fawcett, freshman outside hitter Megan Hodge and sophomore middle hitter Christa Harmotto, who remained steady.

"I thought we played very well tonight, I thought the passing was very good," Penn State head coach Russ Rose said after the Miami match. "And Megan and Nicole were playing at a very high level, this evening, offensively. It really never gave [Miami] a chance to get involved, although I thought [Miami] played very hard."

The RedHawks (4-9) boasted three players averaging more than three kills per game, but with some of the nation's top talent staring across the net, they were reduced to only .076 as a team.

"I thought it was a match where we needed to play well, and we did," Rose said.

Behind Fawcett, Hodge and Harmotto, the Lions hit .467 on the match thanks to a well-directed attack from freshman setter Alisha Glass, who was named tournament MVP.

"Alisha set a good match from the beginning to the end," Rose said.

Glass dished 41 assists against Miami, favoring a left side attack. Fawcett struck 17 kills on .424 hitting, using her trademark swing to hammer past a relatively weak Miami block (only two blocks on the match).

Hodge also finished with 17 kills at a career-best .727 rate and chipped in eight digs.

Harmotto, who seemed pleased with Glass' development as a setter, had 11 kills at a .625 clip.

"Mentally she's getting a lot more comfortable with who to set to and position of the ball," Harmotto said of Glass. "I think she's doing a great job, for sure."

Against Lehigh (0-13), Harmotto led the Lions with 12 kills on .800 hitting. Hodge had nine kills and Fawcett had eight. The Lions outhit the Mountain Hawks .521 to -.021 for the match.

Friday's match started things rolling on the controlling weekend effort.

Penn State hit .392 against Tennessee State, who could only muster a .026 hitting percentage. And it was more of the same from Fawcett and Hodge, who posted 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Harmotto was just behind them with nine kills on .571 hitting.


PHOTO: Cody Goddard
PHOTO: Cody Goddard
Sophomore Christa Harmotto, 3, looks to spike the ball against the RedHawks.

 



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