Michigan vs. Penn State: 5 Things to Know about the Nittany Lions and 5 Things to Know About the Wolverines (Other Than That They Play in a Pool)

Michigan will host Penn State in Cliff Keen Arena, which started life as a swimming pool
Michigan will host Penn State in Cliff Keen Arena, which started life as a swimming pool

Date (Time)
OpponentSite
Media
10-21-15
7:00 p.m. ET)
Ann Arbor,
MI
TV -
BTN


GameTracker

Penn State (17-2, 6-2 in the B1G, #5 in the AVCA poll) will face AVCA #23 Michigan (15-4, 5-3 in the B1G) on Wednesday, Oct. 21st at 7 p.m. ET in Cliff Keen Arena.  The teams last met in Ann Arbor on Nov. 19, 2014, with the Nittany Lions walking away with a 3-0 win  (25-19, 25-23, 27-25).

Penn State Russ Rose knows this will be a tough match, as will the match on Saturday against Michigan State:

The conference is really tough — that’s the bottom line.  You play every match, and you do the best you can.  I’ve been here a long time.  We’ve won matches and we’ve lost matches at Michigan and Michigan State, so I know they are two tough places to play, it’s a tough travel week for us.  Because of television we have to fly [to Ann Arbor] on Tuesday to play Wednesday, and then come back, and then fly again on Friday to play on Saturday.  So it will place some challenges on the kids . . . but that’s what you have to do.  If you want to be in a big conference you have to play by big conference rules.

5 Things to Know About Penn State

Simone Lee
Simone Lee

1. 6-1 So. OH Simone Lee has led Penn State in kills the last three matches, averaging 3.27 kills/set and hitting .351.   That’s what we call “timeLee” (and terrific) performances.

Haleigh Washington
Haleigh Washington

2.  6-3 So. MB Haleigh Washington is averaging 1.58 blocks/set (9th in NCAA D1; 2nd in the B1G) and hitting .450 (3rd in NCAA D1 and 1st in the B1G).  6-4 RS Sr. MB/RS Aiyanna Whitney’s .320 attack % ranks 12th in the B1G.

3.  6-0 RS Fr. setter Bryanna Weiskircher’s .33 service aces/set ranks 2nd in the B1G.

4.  Penn State is averaging 3.19 blocks/set — 5th in NCAA D1 and tops in the B1G.

5.  Penn State is hitting .290 as a team — good for 6th in NCAA D1 and 1st in the B1G.

5 Things to Know About the Wolverines

Things are going swimmingly for Michigan
Michigan will dive back into the B1G schedule for its match against Penn State

1. Michigan is led by 6-5 Jr. MB Abby Cole — a unanimous selection for the pre-season All-Big Ten team.  In the Wolverine’s 3-1 win over Rutgers on October 14th, in which the Wolverines overcame a 25-21 Rutgers win in the third set to take the fourth set 25-23 and win the match 3-1, Cole‘s 18 kills led the way.  Cole is hitting .380, which ranks 5th in the B1G.  Her 1.07 blocks/set ranks 15th in the B1G, and her 3.10 kills/set ranks 15th in the B1G

2. Like Penn State, Michigan may be missing a key player.  The Wolverine’s 5-8 So. Caroline Knop, has missed the Wolverines last two matches.  Prior to her injury, she was one of three Wolverines to play in every set this season, and (according to the U-M SID) was U-M’s only player to stay on the court for all six rotations. Her 2.72 kills/set is second on the team (she is listed on the roster as a DS), as are her points total (167.5) and her 2.98 digs/set.

3.  In the absence of Knop, 6-1 Fr. OH Carly Skjodt has stepped in, registering a career-high 16 digs in Michigan’s 3-0 loss against No. 4-ranked Nebraska. Like Penn State’s Simone Lee, Skjodt has started each of her team’s past six matches.  She was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman Player of the Week last week.

4.  Also like Penn State, Michigan has a pair of sisters on the team: 5-6 Fr. DS Jenna Lerg and 5-7 Sr. DS Lindsey Lerg, both of whom have recorded double-digit digs in the Wolverine’s last two matches.  Here’s a link to a video of the Lerg Family: Lerg Family Video Feature video icon

5.  Michigan has not defeated Penn State since a five-set 3-2 victory in 2002.  Penn State leads the series 36-3.

6.  Bonus: OK, we admit it.  Michigan does not play in a pool.  They play in a former swimming pool.  A gym previously known as a pool.  But you know what they say: Once a swimming pool, always a swimming pool.  Or maybe they don’t say that.  Perhaps they should?

Stat Joust: Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State

Below are selected statistics for B1G teams and individual players, vs. all opponents, for matches played as of October 18, 2015.  The top row is the league leader in the category, and, for team statistics, the team listed in the bottom row is last in the league in that category:

Hitting Percentage S K E TA Pct.
Penn State 64 853 253 2069 .290
Michigan State 68 977 364 2404 .255
Michigan 70 958 354 2559 .236
Rutgers 69 806 396 2389 .172

 

Opp. Hitting Pct. S K E TA Pct.
Penn State 64 727 427 2215 .135
Michigan State 68 783 378 2308 .175
Michigan 70 907 414 2584 .191
Rutgers 69 974 291 2389 .286

 

Kills S No. Avg./S
Michigan State 68 977 14.37
Michigan 70 958 13.69
Penn State 64 853 13.33
Rutgers 69 806 11.68

 

Blocks S BS BA Total Avg./S
Penn State 64 51 306 204.0 3.19
Michigan State 68 35 274 172.0 2.53
Michigan 70 37 212 143.0 2.04
Indiana 77 29 221 139.5 1.81

 

Blocks by Opponents S BS BA Total Avg./S
Penn State 64 13 177 101.5 1.59
Michigan State 68 36 205 138.5 2.04
Michigan 70 38 221 148.5 2.12
Iowa 74 36 301 186.5 2.52

 

Service Aces S No. Avg./S
Maryland 78 118 1.51
Penn State 64 73 1.14
Michigan State 68 69 1.01
Michigan 70 49 0.70

 

Service Aces by Opponents S No. Avg./S
Illinois 66 40 0.61
Penn State 64 50 0.78
Michigan 70 60 0.86
Michigan State 68 64 0.94
Rutgers 69 91 1.32

 

Individual Leaders
(Must have competed in at least 50% of team’s games)

Hitting Percentage S K E TA Pct.
Haleigh Washington, Penn State 64 170 29 313 0.450
Faye Adelaja, Purdue 54 126 28 231 0.424
Taylor Sandbothe, Ohio State 78 237 47 489 0.389
Maddie Slater, Northwestern 64 139 32 278 0.385
Abby Cole, Michigan 67 208 43 434 0.380
Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin 65 157 31 332 0.380
Danielle Cuttino, Purdue 65 136 36 274 0.365
Jazzmine McDonald, Indiana 42 80 21 162 0.364
Mikaela Gunderson, Iowa 74 156 33 349 0.352
Paige Tapp, Minnesota 67 173 43 371 0.350
Katie Stadick, Illinois 64 187 53 398 0.337
Aiyana Whitney, Penn State 64 191 53 431 0.320
Allyssah Fitterer, Michigan State 63 162 48 357 0.319
Gabrielle Hazen, Northwestern 48 100 34 212 0.311
Cecilia Hall, Nebraska 63 114 42 232 0.310

(Must have at least 3.33 attacks per set)

 

Service Aces S No. Avg./S
Abbie Kraus, Northwestern 64 24 0.38
Bryanna Weiskircher, Penn State 64 21 0.33
Daly Santana, Minnesota 67 21 0.31
Brooke Peters, Purdue 64 20 0.31
Holly Toliver, Michigan State 48 15 0.31
Abby Bentz, Maryland 74 22 0.30
Amanda Neill, Purdue 65 19 0.29
Taylor Lebo, Indiana 72 20 0.28
Megan Tallman, Indiana 65 18 0.28
Amy Dion, Maryland 78 20 0.26
Annika Albrecht, Nebraska 66 17 0.26
Luisa Schirmer, Ohio State 77 19 0.25
Molly Kelly, Iowa 73 18 0.25
Rachel Minarick, Michigan State 67 17 0.25
Haleigh Washington, Penn State 64 16 0.25
Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin 65 16 0.25

 

Digs S No. Avg./S
Caroline Niedospial, Northwestern 64 319 4.98
Annika Olsen, Iowa 74 348 4.70
Justine Wong-Orantes, Nebraska 66 303 4.59
Brandi Donnelly, Illinois 66 300 4.55
Taylor Morey, Wisconsin 65 296 4.55
Valeria Leon, Ohio State 78 350 4.49
Dalianliz Rosado, Minnesota 67 283 4.22
Amanda Neill, Purdue 65 250 3.85
Amy Dion, Maryland 78 293 3.76
Abby Monson, Michigan State 68 244 3.59
Megan Courtney, Penn State 58 203 3.50
Keeton Holcomb, Penn State 63 220 3.49
Courtney Harnish, Indiana 77 259 3.36
Tiffany Morales, Michigan 57 190 3.33
Ali Schroeter, Rutgers 69 220 3.19

 

Blocks S BS BA Total Avg./S
Amber Rolfzen, Nebraska 52 7 78 85 1.63
Haleigh Washington, Penn State 64 18 83 101 1.58
Paige Tapp, Minnesota 67 12 81 93 1.39
Tionna Williams, Wisconsin 61 6 76 82 1.34
Danielle Cuttino, Purdue 65 15 68 83 1.28
Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin 65 6 72 78 1.20
Gabrielle Hazen, Northwestern 48 11 46 57 1.19
Megan Tompkins, Michigan State 52 6 55 61 1.17
Ali Bastianelli, Illinois 64 8 65 73 1.14
Taylor Sandbothe, Ohio State 78 20 68 88 1.13
Katie Stadick, Illinois 64 6 66 72 1.13
Molly Lohman, Minnesota 60 7 60 67 1.12
Alyssa Garvelink, Michigan State 68 14 61 75 1.10
Heidi Thelen, Penn State 47 6 45 51 1.09
Abby Cole, Michigan 67 17 55 72 1.07

 

Kills S No. Avg./S
Daly Santana, Minnesota 67 297 4.43
Annie Drews, Purdue 65 274 4.22
Jocelynn Birks, Illinois 54 214 3.96
Elizabeth Campbell, Ohio State 77 298 3.87
Meme Fletcher, Rutgers 54 208 3.85
Amelia Anderson, Indiana 76 285 3.75
Michelle Strizak, Illinois 63 225 3.57
Lauren Brobst, Iowa 74 250 3.38
Symone Abbott, Northwestern 64 214 3.34
Brooke Kranda, Michigan State 66 215 3.26
Megan Courtney, Penn State 58 189 3.26
Adreene Elliott, Maryland 78 253 3.24
Kadie Rolfzen, Nebraska 62 197 3.18
Lauryn Gillis, Wisconsin 65 204 3.14
Abby Cole, Michigan 67 208 3.10