“Oh she’s all right, if you like talent.”  Ethel Merman on Mary Martin, quoted in Theater Arts, September, 1958.  From The Yale Book of Quotations.

Youth will be served, and served to, and attack, and block, and receive, and more.  And that’s exactly what the newest participants in Big Ten Women’s Volleyball are doing this season. 

Don’t be fooled by their youth.  They aren’t waiting for an invitation to excel —  they’re ready to pounce at the first opportunity.   

So far, Minnesota’s 6-0 OH Ashley Wittman has won three Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards, most recently on September 27th after hitting .444, with 2.8 digs/set as then-# 14 Minnesota recorded a win and a loss for the weekend.  

Penn State’s 6-1 OH Deja McClendon has received the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award twice, most recently on September 20th, after averaging 3.1 kills per set (second on her team) on .524 hitting in the three weekend matches. 

5-9  L/DS Jennifer Bonilla of Illinois has been honored once.

Wittman, McClendon and Bonilla aren’t the only talented newcomers in the Big Ten.  The following tables list a few of the Big Ten’s leading freshmen in selected statistical categories through 10-2-10.  Click on the player’s name to go to their write-up on their team’s roster.  The tables are sortable — to re-order a column, click on the arrows at the top. 

Apologies in advance for the errors and omissions that undoubtedly have evaded detection.   Let us know and we will happily correct them.

2010 Big Ten Freshmen - Attack Leaders

Name	School	Height	Position	Sets Played	Kills	Kills/Set	Errors	Total Attempts	Pct.
Wittman, Ashley	Minnesota	6-0	OH	54	192	3.56	47	450	.322
McClendon, Deja	Penn State	6-1	OH	47	166	3.53	39	357	.356
Walch, Elise	Wisconsin	6-5	OH	45	152	3.38	70	350	.234
Holthus, Stephanie	Northwestern	6-0	OH	57	151	2.65	58	500	.186
Orozco, Jasmine	Illinois	6-1	OH	32	82	2.56	35	198	.237
Dixon, Tori	Minnesota	6-3	MB	51	116	2.27	40	251	.303
Bedell, Rachael	Iowa	6-1	OH	46	104	2.26	63	296	.139
Thompson, Dominique	Wisconsin	5-11	MB	48	102	2.12	38	233	.275
Cross, Jennifer	Michigan	6-4	MB	51	105	2.06	30	239	.314
Broekhuis, Morgan	*Nebraska (Big Ten member in 2011)	6-5	RS	51	104	2.04	50	288	.188

2010 Big Ten Freshmen: Set-Serve Leaders

Name	School	Height	Position	Sets Played	Assists	Assists/Set	Service Aces	Service Aces/Set	Service Errors
Bonilla, Jennifer	Illinois	5-9	L/DS	54	46	0.85	11	0.20	21
Daily, Nikki	Iowa	5-9	S	41	120	2.93	4	0.10	11

2010 Big Ten Freshmen - Blocking Leaders

Name	School	Height	Position	Sets Played	Block Solo	Block Assists	Total Blocks	Blk/Set
Slay, Katie	Penn State	6-6	MH	21	3	28	31	1.48
Dixon, Tori	Minnesota	6-3	MB	51	9	52	61	1.20
Cross, Jennifer	Michigan	6-4	MB	51	10	50	60	1.18
Mathews, Alexis (RS)	Michigan State	6-3	MB	40	5	39	44	1.10
Thompson, Dominique	Wisconsin	5-11	MB	48	4	42	46	0.96
Wittman, Ashley	Minnesota	6-0	OH	54	16	24	40	0.74
McClendon, Deja	Penn State	6-1	OH	47	3	31	34	0.72
Broekhuis, Morgan	*Nebraska (Big Ten member in 2011)	6-5	RS	51	4	32	36	0.71

2010 Big Ten Freshmen: Recept/Dig Leaders

Name	School	Height	Position	Sets Played	Recept Errors	Total Attempts	Pct.	Digs	Digs/Set
Bonilla, Jennifer	Illinois	5-9	L/DS	54	7	333	.979	264	4.89
Yeager, Bethany	Iowa	5-7	DS	49	10	306	.967	238	4.86
Wittman, Ashley	Minnesota	6-0	OH	54	10	442	.977	180	3.33
Holthus, Stephanie	Northwestern	6-0	OH	57	3	252	.988	160	2.81
McClendon, Deja	Penn State	6-1	OH	47	10	202	.950	98	2.09
Hansen, Caitlin	Indiana	5-4	DS	50	9	167	.946	100	2.00
Hickey, Annemarie	Wisconsin	5-8	DS/L/OH	49	7	186	.962	98	2.00
Hicks, Melanie	Indiana	5-7	DS	43	4	83	.952	63	1.47