Middle hitter named Co-Player of the Week

Penn State women's volleyball sophomore middle hitter Christa Harmotto has been named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week, conference officials announced yesterday. She shares the award with Minnesota's Meredith Nelson.

It is the second career honor for Harmotto, who also earned the award last season on Oct. 10. The accolade is also the fourth of the season for the second-ranked Nittany Lions, as Harmotto joins sophomore Nicole Fawcett and freshmen Alisha Glass and Megan Hodge in earning the award this year, and brings Penn State's total Big Ten Player of the Week honors to 48 since joining the conference for the 1991 season.

Penn State's four Big Ten Player of the Week honors, earned by four different players, marks only the fifth time since 1983 that one school has four separate student-athletes win the accolade. Penn State's 1997 and 2005 squads all had five different players earn the honor while Michigan State's 1995 and 1999 teams boasted four different players winning the award. However, the 2006 Nittany Lion squad becomes the youngest of the group, with two freshmen and two sophomores picking up the honors.

Harmotto aided the No. 2 Nittany Lions to two important Big Ten wins, including a three-game sweep at No. 11 Purdue.

For the weekend, Harmotto averaged 4.83 kills per game on an astounding .650 hitting through six games with 0.67 blocks per game.