Dec. 21, 2005

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Several team and individual performances highlighted the 2005 Big Ten volleyball season.  National honors were also not uncommon as nine conference standouts were tabbed AVCA All-Midwest Region, while six of them went on to earn All-America status.  Penn State's Nicole Fawcett, the unanimous selection for Big Ten Freshman of the Year, added Regional and National Freshman of the Year honors to her young résumé.  Penn State proved its dominance over the Big Ten with a perfect 20-0 league record, but the conference-wide success was perhaps the most impressive mark of the 2005 season.

For the first time since 1996, four Big Ten squads eclipsed the 25-win mark in a season.  Penn State (31-3), Wisconsin (26-7), Purdue (25-9) and Minnesota (25-8) captured 25 or more wins.  A half-dozen conference squads posted 20 or more wins for the first time since 2002.  Joining the four teams mentioned above, Ohio State (22-9) and Northwestern (20-12) surpassed 20 wins in 2005.  The Big Ten tied the 15-team Big East as the only major conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC) that had six teams eclipse the 20-win mark.  

In addition, five teams finished ranked in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, including one league team receiving votes.  No. 5 Penn State led the Big Ten contingent, while Wisconsin (10), Purdue (17), Minnesota (21) and Ohio State (23) all found spots among the top 25 in the final poll.  Northwestern ended the season earning votes in the final five polls.  The Big Ten also had a nation's-best six teams in the top 25, including four among the top 10, in the final unofficial attendance numbers. 

Putting the exclamation point on its third consecutive Big Ten title outright and its ninth in 15 years since joining the league, Penn State finished conference play a perfect 20-0.  Since 1985 when double round-robin play was instituted in the Big Ten, only six times has the conference champion gone undefeated, including three occasions in which the Nittany Lions accomplished the feat.  Penn State recorded perfect 20-0 seasons in 1998 and 1999 when it went on to claim the Big Ten's only national championship. 

The Nittany Lions also were awarded all four major postseason honors, marking the first in league history a school had ever swept all four major postseason awards.  Senior Sam Tortorello was the unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year, while teammates Kaleena Walters and Nicole Fawcett were tabbed the league's Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year, respectively.  Penn State mentor Russ Rose was selected by both the league coaches and media as Coach of the Year, having led the Nittany Lions to a 31-3 record overall and the unblemished conference record. 

In addition to individual accolades, 16 student-athletes earned All-Big Ten honors, while six newcomers were selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.  Eleven honorees were also chosen for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

For the fourth consecutive season and the sixth time in the past eight years, the Big Ten advanced three or more teams to regional competition in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.  Big Ten champion Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin all earned bids to regional competition with the Badgers concluding their season in the regional finals. 

The conference initially sent six teams (Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin) to the NCAA Championship, which tied the Pac-10 and the SEC for the second-highest conference representation and just one shy of the Big 12.  The conference has now sent six or more teams to NCAA play 11 times, compiling a 61-36 (.629) six-squad mark and an overall NCAA record of 178-110 (.618) dating back to 1983.  The conference has boasted a combined winning percentage of .600 or higher in 11 of the last 13 years and a .500 or better record in each of the past 14 tournaments.  The Big Ten was 10-6 (.625) in 2005, marking the third straight NCAA Championship that the league recorded 10 or more wins.

In addition, other significant marks were recorded in 2005.  Minnesota's Paula Gentil set the NCAA record for career digs (2,791) in the final match of her illustrious career.  Penn State's Tortorello snapped the Big Ten's all-time career mark for assists (6,085), with Purdue's Renata Dargan following closely behind.  Her coach, Dave Shondell, led the Boilermakers to a 25-9 record, their best since 1987, and their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament third round since 1982, while Michigan State finished year one of the Cathy George era.  Two league standouts, Ohio State's Marisa Main and Tortorello, earned AVCA National Player of the Week awards, while a total of 65 student-athletes were honored as Academic All-Big Ten for their success in the classroom.

Big Ten Women's Volleyball

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