Sept. 20, 2004

Sam Tortorello, Penn State
JR, Setter, Shorewood, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy

Tortorello was named the Most Valuable Player of the Penn State Classic as she directed the fifth-ranked Nittany Lions to three non-conference victories this past weekend.  Penn State now enters the Big Ten portion of the schedule with a 9-0 record.

Behind Tortorello's leadership, Penn State attacked at a combined .419 clip over the weekend, including a season-high .457 against Maryland-Baltimore County.  In all three matches, her set selection was distributed in a way that four or more of her teammates ended up with double-digit attacks, while three players recorded double-digit kill figures in each match as well.

Individually, the 2003 second-team AVCA All-American and unanimous First Team All-Big Ten pick provided another weapon on the Penn State offense, racking up 14 kills (1.56 kpg) and a .591 hitting percentage.  She was also effective on defense, notching 19 digs (2.11 dpg), the second-highest total on the team for the weekend.  On the blocking front, Tortorello tallied 11 total blocks, an average of 1.22 blocks per game.  She fell just two blocks shy of her career high against Yale, recording seven stuffs in the outing. 

For the year, Tortorello is averaging 13.13 apg, 2.70 dpg, 1.33 kpg and 0.73 bpg.

This is the second career Conference Player of the Week selection for Tortorello.

Big Ten Women's Volleyball

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