“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.

We’ve updated our “Youth Will be Served” post, which listed a few of the leading Big Ten freshman in selected statistical categories through October 2, 2010. 

So far this season, Illinois’ 5-9 L/DS Jennifer Bonilla  has won four Big Ten Freshman of the week awards, most recently for the week ended October 24th when she averaged 4.8 digs per set and handled 50 of 51 serve receive opportunities.  Penn State’s 6-1 OH Deja McClendon has received the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award three times, most recently on October 25th, as she helped Penn State to key road victories against Ohio State and Northwestern.  Minnesota’s 6-0 OH Ashley Wittman also 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.  Michigan’s Jennifer Cross was Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week on October 18th and Northwestern’s Stephanie Holthus won on October 11th.

Bonilla , McClendon , Wittman , Cross, and Holthus  aren’t the only talented newcomers in the Big Ten.  The following tables list a few of the Big Ten’s leading freshmen through 10-24-10. 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.

Updated 2010 Big Ten Freshmen - Attack Leaders (minimum 2.00 kills/set)

Name	School	Height	Position	Sets Played	Kills	Kills/Set	Errors	Total Attempts	Pct.
McClendon, Deja	Penn State	6-1	OH	69	243	3.52	66	538	.329
Wittman, Ashley	Minnesota	6-0	OH	80	275	3.44	95	693	.260
Walch, Elise	Wisconsin	6-5	OH	62	180	2.90	93	436	.200
Holthus, Stephanie	Northwestern	6-0	OH	79	214	2.71	80	695	.193
Dixon, Tori	Minnesota	6-3	MB	76	176	2.32	64	391	.286
Cross, Jennifer	Michigan	6-4	MB	74	170	2.30	42	365	.351
Orozco, Jasmine	Illinois	6-1	OH	54	120	2.22	59	323	.189

Updated 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	79	68	0.86	19	0.24	27
Daily, Nikki	Iowa	5-9	S	62	182	2.94	5	0.08	15

Updated 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	28	3	36	39	1.39
Mathews, Alexis (RS)	Michigan State	6-3	MB	64	9	64	73	1.14
Cross, Jennifer	Michigan	6-4	MB	74	15	67	82	1.10
Dixon, Tori	Minnesota	6-3	MB	76	10	62	72	0.95
Thompson, Dominique	Wisconsin	5-11	MB	68	7	48	55	0.83
Wittman, Ashley	Minnesota	6-0	OH	80	22	33	55	0.69
McClendon, Deja	Penn State	6-1	OH	69	4	43	47	0.68
Broekhuis, Morgan	*Nebraska (Big Ten member in 2011)	6-5	RS	66	4	41	45	0.68

Updated 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	79	11	490	.978	394	4.99
Yeager, Bethany	Iowa	5-7	DS	72	17	466	.964	327	4.54
Wittman, Ashley	Minnesota	6-0	OH	80	16	669	.976	254	3.17
Holthus, Stephanie	Northwestern	6-0	OH	79	10	415	.976	206	2.61
Hickey, Annemarie	Wisconsin	5-8	DS/L/OH	73	13	324	.960	164	2.25
McClendon, Deja	Penn State	6-1	OH	69	16	322	.950	141	2.04
Hansen, Caitlin	Indiana	5-4	DS	76	10	247	.960	126	1.66