Penn State and several Nittany Lion players continue to rank at or near the top of a number of NCAA statistical categories for the 2009 season. Certainly, the much-maligned preseason schedule played a part during the first four weeks of the season, allowing PSU to rack up great stats against less-than-great opponents. It’s worth noting, however, that the stats didn’t dropped that much following the first weekend of Big Ten competition: Penn State was hitting .448 as a team at the end of preseason, and the Nittany Lions continue to hit .448 after sweeping Northwestern and Illinois. (Admittedly, Penn State hit only .446 in those two contests). Junior MH Arielle Wilson (the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week) actually increased her hitting percentage from .580 to .596, while Megan Hodge dropped slightly from .495 to .481.

There’s no question that Penn State’s statistics will drop throughout the course of the season. At DigNittanyVolleyball, we’re just hoping the most important statistic remains intact: zero losses.

Here’s a snapshot of where Penn State and some of its individual players rank nationally in selected statistical categories through 9-27-09: