Oct. 3, 2005

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sam Tortorello, Penn State
SR, S, Shorewood, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy

Tortorello earns her first weekly honor of the year and the third of her career after leading the Nittany Lions to a pair of Big Ten wins last week.  At No. 18 Ohio State on Wednesday night, the senior setter kept the Buckeyes off-balance as three Penn State players reached double-digit kills and five had 17 or more total attempts in the match as the Lions hit .284. She dished out 43 assists, adding two kills, five digs and three blocks in the three-game win. On Saturday night, Tortorello had the Hoosiers guessing as Indiana, the league-leader in blocking, managed only eight blocks and allowed the Nittany Lions to attack at a .393 clip. Three Penn State players recorded 12 or more kills and four hit better than .330 in the contest. Tortorello provided 46 assists, two aces, eight digs and two blocks.

For the weekend, Tortorello directed the Penn State offense that hit a combined .338 with 89 assists, an average of 14.83 assists per game. She also tallied three kills, two aces 13 digs (2.17 dpg) and five blocks (0.83 bpg).

Last PSU POW:  Nicole Fawcett (9/26/05)

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Paula Gentil, Minnesota
SR, LIB, Forteleaza Ceara', Brazil/Lake Highland Prep

Gentil earns her first Player of the Week award of the year and the third of her career, as she averaged 6.67 digs per game in home wins against Michigan and Michigan State.  The Golden Gopher senior also tallied an average of 0.67 assists per game in the two matches this past week.

On the weekend, Gentil posted 20 digs in each of the two three-game matches, while limiting Michigan (.140) and Michigan State (.082) to a combined .109 hitting percentage.

Last MINN POW:  Kelly Bowman (10/25/04)

Earlier this year, Gentil and Tortorello were two of four unanimous picks for Preseason All-Big Ten.  In addition, both student-athletes earned their third career selection to the team.