UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women’s volleyball team climbed two spots, moving to No. 3 in the Week 3 American Volleyball Coaches Association poll that was released on Monday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a 2-0 week, going undefeated at the Texas A&M Invitational. Penn State opened the weekend taking down last week’s No. 1 Stanford. 3-1; 26-24, 25-17, 18-25, 25-19, and they finished off with a five-set win over host Texas A&M with set scores of 24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 24-26, and 15-12.
Senior outside Simone Lee was named the MVP of the tournament after putting down 41 kills over the two matches, including a tied career-best of 30 against Texas A&M. She finished the weekend hitting .323.
Haleigh Washington was named the tournament’s ‘Best Blocker’ after tallying two solos and 11 block assists on the weekend. Washington also put away 10 kills on a .625 hitting percentage against Stanford, and against Texas A&M, she tallied 12 kills on a clip of .417.
Abby Detering opened up the weekend with her first career triple double, as she finished with 11 kills, 23 assists, and 10 digs. She wrapped up the two-match tourney with 14 kills while hitting .316, adding 55 assists, 16 digs, and seven blocks to earn the ‘Best Setter’ honor.
Eight total teams from the Big Ten were in the AVCA poll this week. Minnesota took the No. 1 spot, being the only team higher than the Nittany Lions, while Wisconsin stayed at No. 6. Nebraska also stayed put, coming in at No. 12. Michigan (16), Purdue (17), Michigan State (21), and Ohio State (24) also earned a top-25 ranking.