One for the Thumb on the Other Hand: Big Ten Coaches Pick Penn State Preseason #1

Posted on by Nyline

The Big Ten Women’s Volleyball coaches have alot of confidence in reigning national Coach of the Year Russ Rose and his Penn State Women’s Volleyball team — they’ve picked Penn State for the fifth consecutive time as the preseason favorite to win the league championship. Actually, Penn State has done better than the league coaches have expected — the Nittany Lions have won the league championship six consecutive times, so in two of those six years, Penn State won the Big Ten championship when the coaches voted someone else preseason #1.

2009 BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL

1. Penn State
2. Minnesota
3. Illinois
4. Michigan
5. Wisconsin
6. Purdue

In addition to preseason team honors, four members of the 2009 Penn State team were voted to the Preseason All-Conference team — more than any other Big Ten school. Setter Alisha Glass and outside hitter Megan Hodge both were unanimous selections. Opposite Blair Brown and middle hitter Arielle Wilson also were voted to the squad.

2009 PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL TEAM
(UNANIMOUS SELECTION IN CAPS; (3) = Three-time selection; (2) = Two-time selection)

Michelle Bartsch, Illinois So. Outside Hitter, Maryville, Ill.
LAURA DEBRULER (2), Illinois Jr. Outside Hitter, Downers Grove, Ill.
Ashley Benson, Indiana Jr. Middle Blocker, Bloomington, Ind.
Lexi Zimmerman (2), Michigan Jr. Setter, Barrington, Ill.
VANESSA KING, Michigan State Sr. Middle Blocker, Spring Lake, Mich.
BROOK DIETER (2), Minnesota Jr. Outside Hitter, Bloomington, Minn.
Lauren Gibbemeyer (2), Minnesota Jr. Middle Blocker, St. Paul, Minn.
Christine Tan, Minnesota Sr. Libero, Palm Harbor, Fla.
Blair Brown, Penn State Jr. Outside Hitter, Purcellville, Va.
ALISHA GLASS (2), Penn State Sr. Setter, Leland, Mich.
MEGAN HODGE (3), Penn State Sr. Outside Hitter, Durham, N.C.
Arielle Wilson (2), Penn State Jr. Middle Blocker, Broadview, Ill.
Kristen Arthurs, Purdue Jr. Middle Blocker, Newport, Mich.
Brittney Dolgner (3), Wisconsin Sr. Outside Hitter, Waupun, Wis.

Here’s the write-up from gopsusports.com and the press release from the Big Ten.