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Nov. 24, 2007

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Behind a season-high 25 kills from sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.), the top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team defeated Michigan in four games (30-21, 30-22, 30-32, 30-21) Saturday night in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Nittany Lions improve to 28-2 and end the Big Ten season with a perfect 20-0 record for the fourth time in program history and the seventh time in conference history.

Junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) and junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) each contributed 15 kills, with Harmotto's coming on .565 hitting. Redshirt freshman opposite Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) added in 11 kills on .529 hitting as freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) notched 11 kills. Penn State attacked at a .447 clip for the match.

Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) dished out 65 assists and added three kills and 10 digs as Fawcett led the team with 11 digs and junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) notched 10 digs. Penn State outdug Michigan, 54-45.

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Nov. 24, 2007

Lincoln - Tracy Stalls tied an NCAA record by putting down 13 kills on 13 swings for a perfect 1.000 attack percentage, as the Husker volleyball team sent Stalls and NU's three other seniors out in style Saturday night with a 30-18, 30-10, 30-11 sweep of Texas Tech.

Stalls' perfect evening marked the second time in school history that a Husker had enjoyed a perfect attack percentage, as Megan Korver was a perfect 10-for-10 against Iowa State on Sept. 25, 1998. Only two players in NCAA history – Katie Silliman of Arkansas State (10/11/98) and Angie Jeffries of UMKC (10/8/99) – had had more kills while hitting 1.000 in a match.

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Nov. 24, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas -- The third-ranked Texas Volleyball team used a 19-kill effort by freshman outside hitter Juliann Faucette to knock of No. 12 Kansas State, 3-0 and clinch a share of the Big 12 Conference Championship, Saturday night at Gregory Gymnasium. Texas shares the conference title with Nebraska, marking the first time UT has won a piece of the Big 12 Championship since 1997. The Longhorns 30-25, 30-19, 30-26 victory moved UT to 24-3 on the year and 19-1 in the Big 12, while KSU fell to 22-8 and 14-6 in league play.

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Nov. 24, 2007

TEMPE, Ariz. - Senior outside hitter Diane Copenhagen (Saratoga/St. Francis HS) had a team-high 17 kills to go with 10 digs Saturday as the No. 5 USC Trojans swept the host Arizona State Sun Devils, 3-0 (30-26, 30-23, 30-18), in a Pac-10 match at the Wells Fargo Arena. USC finishes the regular season with a 25-4 record and a third-place finish in the Pac-10 Conference with a 14-4 mark.

Arizona State ends the season with a 15-16 overall mark, 7-11 in conference.

USC head coach Mick Haley has now guided his teams (Texas and USC) to at least 25 victories in a season a total of 17 times since 1982. As a program, USC has registered 25 wins in six of the last eight seasons.

Senior All-American Asia Kaczor (Wroclaw, Poland/College of Southern Idaho) added 14 kills for the Trojans while junior Jessica Gysin (Los Gatos/St. Francis HS) had seven kills without an error. Sophomore setter Taylor Carico (Manhattan Beach/Mira Costa HS) had four kills, 46 assists and eight digs.

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Nov. 24, 2007

LONG BEACH – Closing out the two-day Baden Thanksgiving Classic on senior night, Long Beach State (25-6) got some magic from their senior leaders on the way to defeating No. 8 Florida (27-2) 30-26, 22-30, 36-38, 30-20, 20-18. Alexis Crimes and Michaela Hasalikova both finished with 18 kills and Talaya Whitfield made a career-high 34 digs as the 49ers finished out the regular season with their biggest win to date.

Not just the seniors, but the entire team came together to play well for a victory in a hard fought, well played match on both sides. Both teams finished hitting over .200, with Long Beach State taking the final edge .269 to .238, though Florida had the edge in total kills 89-82. Long Beach State held off that total with strong defense, ending the game with five players in double-digit digs along with Whitfield, whose career-high of 34 just eclipsed her 33 digs made against Cal Poly.

For the 49ers offensively, Ashley Lee tied with Crimes and Hasalikova for the team lead in kills with 18, while Quincy Verdin added 16 for the 49er attack. Amber McCray led the Gators with a match-high 24, and Florida setter Angie McGinnis made 75 assists, though Nicole Vargas’ 65 were a season-high for the junior.

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Nov. 24, 2007

MADISON, Wis.

The ninth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team wrapped up the Big Ten Conference season with a 30-19, 30-17, 30-16 win over Minnesota on Saturday night in the UW Field House. The Badgers (25-4 overall) end the regular season in second place in the conference at 17-3. The victories are the most Big Ten wins for the UW since 2001.

“I thought it was an outstanding team effort by everyone in every position tonight for us,” said Coach Pete Waite. “We were solid, very strong in our serving. (On) defense, everyone was dialed in and picking up some tough attacks. Morgan (Salow) came in and did a great job starting for Audra (Jeffers) tonight. It was great to see her to step up.”

Salow also felt confident in second night starting at middle blocker. “I felt really good coming in for Audie and I was pretty confident. I had to do it for the team; I think tonight I felt a little bit better; we just had more fire. I felt a lot better about tonight.”

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Nov. 24, 2007

Tucson, Ariz. –The Arizona volleyball team ended the 2007 season on a high note, knocking off the No. 10 UCLA Bruins in four games on Saturday night in McKale Center. Game scores were 26-30, 30-26, 30-21 and 31-29. The Wildcats finish the season with a 14-17 overall record and a 4-14 mark in Pac-10 play, as the Bruins await their postseason fate with an overall mark of 20-10 and 9-9 in the Pac-10.

“It is great to finish with a big win,” head coach Dave Rubio said. “Dominique (Lamb) had an exceptional last two nights, she really played terrific. Katie (Jackels) and Emily (Harper) played their hearts out as well. The seniors really came up. I was looking for the seniors to do that all season and they really stepped up tonight.”

“We deserved this win. We have never had anything handed to us. We played with confidence throughout the night and we played a good mental game as well,” Rubio said.

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Nov. 25, 2007

DAYTON, Ohio - DAYTON, Ohio - The 15th ranked University of Dayton volleyball team will make its fourth-ever trip to NCAA Tournament play in a familiar setting. UD was selected to host First and Second Round matches for the first time in school history as well as being awarded the #15 seed in the tourney during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday evening.

"I'm ecstatic," UD Head Coach Tim Horsmon said. "The fact that we are seeded and have the opportunity to host in front of our crowd, the Red Scare and the Dayton community who has supported us this year is great. The fact that out kids will get to play at home is unbelievable."

2007 Atlantic 10 Champion Dayton (32-1) will take on Lipscomb (20-11), which is making its first ever NCAA appearance after taking home the Atlantic Sun Conference title. The Flyers and Bisons will square off at Frericks Center on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

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Nov. 24, 2007

ATHENS, Ohio - The No. 19 Ohio volleyball team had four players register double-digit kills Saturday night, as the Bobcats outlasted No. 23 Louisville for a 3-2 (30-22, 30-23, 23-30, 22-30, 15-13) win in the final match of the regular season at the Convocation Center.

After splitting the first four games the match came down to the fifth and final game, where sophomore outside hitter Ellen Herman (Toledo, Ohio) and senior outside hitter Stephanie Blackburn (Cincinnati, Ohio) stepped up to lift Ohio to victory.

Ohio (26-5) jumped out to a 7-3 lead in game five, as Herman connected on four kills to spark the Ohio attack. Louisville (22-7) fought back, tying the score at 8-8 and then taking a 12-10 lead. Ohio then scored the next two points to knot the score at 12-12 and set up the climactic ending. With the score tied Louisville's Jana Matiasovska landed a kill to end the short spurt and give the Cardinals back a one point lead. It would be Louisville's last lead of the game, as Blackburn slammed a kill to tie the score at 13-13, and following a Louisville attack error, the senior co-captain landed another kill, giving Ohio the 15-13 win and the match.

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Nov. 24, 2007

AMES, Iowa- Freshman Ashley Mass’ career-high 30 digs and Jen Malcom’s career-best 18 kills made Iowa State’s Senior Night a successful one with a victory over No. 21 Oklahoma, 3-1 (30-23, 29-31, 30-18, 30-22), Saturday night in Hilton Coliseum.

“These are a great group of seniors that have really helped put the program on the map,” said ISU head coach Christy Johnson. “Tonight’s win was a nice way to bid them farewell. This was a huge match for us with so many implications. Our team rallied around our seniors and it was an important win for our program and possibly a NCAA Tournament bid.”

The 30 digs by Mass are the most by a Cyclone since 2005, when Katie Churm had 33 against Kansas State. Seniors Lauren Cummings and Erin Boeve tallied 16 and 12 kills respectively, and sophomore Kaylee Manns led ISU with 56 assists. The victory for Iowa State (17-13, Big 12 11-9) clinched fifth place in the Big 12. Oklahoma (21-9, 13-7) stays in fourth place in the conference with the loss.

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