This is Part 2 of our series comparing stats from the 2012 and 2013 seasons, to stats from the 2106 season — in this post, comparing blocking stats.  Part 1 (Click Here) compared attack stats.

Here’s why we’re interested in the comparison.  Think back to 2013. Penn State had come oh-so-close to making the NCAA finals in 2012, losing to Oregon, 3-1 in a tough match in which sophomore setter Micha Hancock was injured in the second set, limiting her effectiveness for the rest of the match.

In 2013, the Nittany Lions returned almost everyone from that 2012 squad — including Jr. setter Hancock, Sr. OH Deja McClendon, So. OH Megan Courtney, Sr. RS/Opp Ariel Scott, Sr. MH Katie Slay, and Jr. MH Nia Grant. That 2013 team built on their experience from the 2012 season to capture the NCAA Title in Seattle, taking down the home town Washington Huskies in a dominating sweep in the Semifinals, and holding off a tenacious and talented Wisconsin team 3-1 in the Finals.

Penn State has pretty much everyone back in 2017, too.  We’re not predicting an NCAA title for Penn State in 2017, and the point here really isn’t to compare the 2012/2013 players to the 2016 players — although to some extent that’s an inevitable conclusion some will make, given the comparison of their statistics.

Of greater interest to us was to see how the statistics from 2012 weren’t necessarily all that different from the statistics in 2016.  And, equally (or more) important — how many of the players improved, statistically, from 2012 to 2013.  Although there’s no guarantee, it’s not unrealistic to anticipate improvement from 2016 to 2017 — without even taking into account the three new front row players: RS Kat Cather, MH Cami May, and OH Michaela Putnicki.

Quick Takes — Katie Slay was so talented and such a force.  Megan Courtney was truly special as a solo blocker.  Tori Gorrell was pretty darn good as a redshirt freshman.  Finally, no question the 2012 and 2013 teams were more proficient blockers, overall, than the 2016 team.  It will be interesting to see how the team improves in 2017.

Below is the table that makes the comparison for blocking statistics.

Returning Talent: Comparing Blocking Stats from 2016 and 2012/2013

Year	Name	Pos.	Cl.	SP	MP	BS	BA	TB	B/S	BE
2016	Washington, Haleigh	MH	3/Jr.	121	34	20	120	140	1.16	11
2013	Slay, Katie	MH	4/Sr.	127	36	30	177	207	1.63	19
2012	Slay, Katie	MH	3/Jr.	122	35	19	145	164	1.34	12
2016	Gorrell, Tori	MH	1/RS Fr.	121	34	22	99	121	1.00	18
2012	Grant, Nia	MH	2/So.	120	35	7	108	115	0.96	11
2013	Grant, Nia	MH	3/Jr.	118	35	12	85	97	0.82	12
2016	Lee, Simone	OH	3/Jr.	121	34	18	45	63	0.52	3
2013	McClendon, Deja	OH	4/Sr.	126	36	22	55	77	0.61	6
2012	McClendon, Deja	OH	3/Jr.	124	36	23	47	70	0.56	6
2016	Frantti, Ali	OH	3/Jr.	121	34	20	42	62	0.51	2
2013	Courtney, Megan	OH	2/So.	120	35	28	59	87	0.73	14
2012	Courtney, Megan	OH	1/Fr.	120	36	32	69	101	0.84	8
2016	Thelen, Heidi	RS	3/Jr.	118	34	8	86	94	0.80	4
2013	Scott, Ariel	RS	4/Sr.	115	35	3	91	94	0.82	9
2012	Scott, Ariel	RS	3/Jr.	125	36	11	91	102	0.82	3
2016	Detering, Abby	S	3/Jr.	109	33	3	40	43	0.39	9
2012	Hancock, Micha	S	2/So.	125	36	8	68	76	0.61	6
2013	Hancock, Micha	S	3/Jr.	127	36	5	69	74	0.58	8
2016	Team	n/a	n/a	121	34	91	451	316.5	2.62	51
2013	Team	n/a	n/a	127	36	107	561	387.5	3.05	71
2012	Team	n/a	n/a	125	36	103	547	376.5	3.01	49
2016	Opp.	n/a	n/a	121	34	45	358	224.0	1.85	50
2013	Opp	n/a	n/a	127	36	38	369	222.5	1.75	66
2012	Opp.	n/a	n/a	125	36	47	355	224.5	1.80	53

 

Credits

• Lions hanging out in the Okavango Delta, by Ian Sewell – IanAndWendy.com Safari Pictures, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1092087.  This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.