Penn State Travels To Iowa for Wednesday Night Match

Posted on by Nyline

Coach Rose Quotes

On the challenges presented by Iowa

Iowa is playing really well — the whole team.  And they have a sense of urgency to try and get some victories that will bolster their resume for consideration for getting into the NCAA tournament.  It’s probably been a while since that has been the case, so I think they are enthused and they’re hungry.  They’re playing really well . . . they went five games with Purdue, and I think Purdue is one of the scariest teams in the conference because of the physical nature of a couple of their hitters.  They’re playing really well and we’ll have to be ready to do the same.

On the mindset of the Penn State team

It’s a really long season.  I think we play too many matches in the Big Ten portion of it — soccer and field hockey are [entering their NCAA tournaments] and we still have three weeks of regular season play.  I think it’s a really physical conference that puts more stress and duress on the players.  I think the players are probably similar across the conference.  There are some that are enthused by where they are, in hopes of competing for a conference championship and the NCAAs.  And there are some that probably are hoping that next year is their year.  I don’t know.  I don’t ask what [the Penn State players] are thinking.  If you’re going to play in the Big Ten, it’s a mindset that you have to know that every match is the same value and all the teams are filled with players that all of us recruited, and the level of support for all the other teams in the conference is high.  So it’s a task.

Iowa Snapshot

Courtesy of hawkeyesports.com

Orr’s Big Role

  • Freshman Brie Orr has taken charge of the Hawkeye offense, amassing 38 assists in the season opener and eclipsing that mark with 59 assists against No. 22 Michigan on Oct. 4. She has 1,027 assists this season.
  • Orr hit the 1,000 career assist milestone against No. 22 Purdue on Nov. 5.
  • After registering 117 assists, 13 kills, and a .500 attack percentage in three matches at the American Volleyball Classic on Sept. 15-16, Orr was named B1G co-Freshman of the Week.
  • Orr has three matches with 50 or more assists, 12 matches with 40-or-more assists, and 20 matches with 30-or-more assists.
  • Orr has four career double-doubles, the most recent coming in the form of 52 assists and 12 digs against Illinois on Oct. 20.

 
Can you Dig It?

  • Annika Olsen has reached double digits in digs in 24 matches, including a career-high 29 digs twice, at Indiana on Oct. 11 and against Illinois on Oct. 20.
  • Olsen has nine matches with 20-or-more digs this season.
  • Olsen ranks No. 6 in all-time digs (1,468) in program history.

 
Sheehan’s Groove

  • Claire Sheehan had a monster match at American on Sept. 16, amassing a personal-best 19 kills, a .429 attack percentage, eight digs, and a career-best three blocks.
  • Sheehan followed up the match at American with 11 kills against Princeton. The freshman has 11 double-digit kill matches this season.
  • Sheehan has recorded four double-doubles this season, the most recent coming from 15 kills and 13 digs against No. 22 Purdue on Nov. 5.
  • Overall, Sheehan has 220 kills and averages 2.68 kills per set.

 
Jiving Janota

  • Jess Janota ranks second on the team with 228 kills and a .307 attack percentage. She recorded a personal-best .833 attack percentage against Indiana on Nov. 3.
  • Janota collected her 1,000th career kill against Northwestern on Oct. 21.
  • Overall, Janota has 1,034 career kills, a mark which ranks No. 18 in the record books.
  • Janota has 10 matches with double-digit kills, 13 matches with above a .300 attack percentage, and 10 matches with over a .400 attack percentage.