Even after breaking an NCAA record and clinching at least a share of a fourth Big Ten title in as many years, Christa Harmotto hesitated when asked where this past weekend ranked in her four years at Penn State.
Friday night at Huff Hall, the Penn State women's volleyball team swept No. 17 Illinois (25-23, 25-17, 25-13) for their NCAA-best 53rd straight win. Afterward, Harmotto couldn't quite place the weekend in her list of milestone memories.
"I can't remember," said Harmotto, a senior middle hitter. "We pulled out five-game wins at Minnesota and Wisconsin, everything was on the line. It's definitely a memorable weekend, but there's been a lot of other times and memories I'll take with me."
Entering this weekend, the Nittany Lions were tied with the University of Southern California for the NCAA record for consecutive match wins, a mark they quickly topped Friday.
Twenty-four hours later at Purdue's Intercollegiate Athletic Facility, Harmotto and her teammates knocked off the 18th-ranked Boilermakers to clinch at least a share of the Lions' sixth straight Big Ten championship.
Players and coaches stayed quiet in the last few weeks about the opportunity to have their names etched in the NCAA record books. Saturday, there was no more brushing aside the feat, yet the achievement didn't change their attitude toward it.
Senior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett said they were relieved to break the record, just so they didn't have to address it anymore.
"That's not our focus," said Fawcett, who finished the weekend with 26 kills. "Our focus is to play our best every game. We're playing to win, and we're playing to win a national championship."
Against Purdue Saturday night, the Lions used spurts of points to garner early leads.
Sophomore middle hitter Arielle Wilson set the tone in the first set with three straight points. And the third set saw the Lions (28-0, 16-0 Big Ten) run off nine straight points. She and Harmotto combined for 18 kills on 22 swings in the match.
"Both are very good," Penn State coach Russ Rose said. "We passed well, and when we passed well we could spread the ball out. Those kids are very good behind the setter."
Harmotto and Fawcett, along with senior libero Roberta Holehouse, have won a conference title each year they've been in the program. Fawcett said ending her career the same way the last two senior classes underscores the team's hard work because of the number of solid programs and coaches in the Big Ten.
While Rose acknowledged winning a conference as competitive as the Big Ten for a sixth straight year is no easy task, he still sounded apathetic toward his 53rd win in as many matches.
"What's significant is the players embraced the opportunity to get better," Rose said. "It's a team effort all the time. I don't talk about the record, it makes no sense."
