Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1430714
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 51 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M CROSS COUNTRY Hosting the Big Ten Championships for the first time since 2009, the Penn State men finished eighth on Oct. 29 at the Blue and White Course, while the women came in 10th. Sophomore Evan Dorenkamp was the Nittany Lions' top finisher on the men's side, covering the 5.2-mile course in 24 minutes, 38.7 seconds to place 16th overall. Sophomore Madaline Ullom paced the PSU women, finishing the 3.7-mile course in 21:21.1 to take 28th place. FIELD HOCKEY The fourth-ranked Nittany Lions saw their season come to an abrupt end with a 4-1 loss to No. 10 Syracuse in a first-round NCAA Tournament game Nov. 12 at College Park, Md. The Orange built a 3-0 lead in the first three quarters before sophomore midfielder Sophia Glad- ieux got Penn State on the scoreboard early in the fourth. Gladieux's backhand shot gave the Nit- tany Lions some momentum, but Syracuse quickly responded with a goal off a penalty corner and coasted to victory. "We came out and played with energy, and I was very happy with that," coach Char Morett-Curtiss said. "But Syracuse took advantage of their opportunities, and we did not. "The loss aside, this was a great experience for this team, and the younger players will carry this into next year, making us better in the end." Penn State ended its season with a 14-6 record. WOMEN'S SOCCER The Nittany Lions romped to a 3-1 victory over Monmouth in the first round of the NCAA Tourna- ment on Nov. 12 at Jeffrey Field. Goals by redshirt junior forward Ally Schlegel, junior midfielder Payton Linnehan and senior midfielder Rachel Wasserman gave Penn State a 3-0 lead that was never seriously threatened. Penn State took 22 shots in the game while holding the Hawks to four. "It was a really professional performance tonight by our group," coach Erica Dambach said. "I thought they came out with a ton of energy. It's a reflection of these last two weeks of training. They've really dug in, and the spirits have been high. The work ethic has been high, and the energy has been high." The Nittany Lions entered the tournament on the heels of a disappointing finish in Big Ten play. They placed sixth in the regular-season standings at 5-5 and bowed out of the league tournament with a 3-1 loss to Michigan in the quarterfinals. But the NCAA tourney offered a chance for a fresh start. Following their win over Monmouth, the Nittany Lions were 12-7 overall and were set to face USC in a second-round match on Nov. 19 in Los Angeles. WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL Penn State put together a four-match winning streak in early November by running roughshod over the state of Michigan. First, the Nittany Lions went 2-0 when Michigan and Mich- igan State visited Rec Hall, topping the Wolverines 3-1 on Nov. 5, then outlasting the Spartans 3-2 the following night. In the match against Michigan State, senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord totaled a career-high 24 kills on .535 hitting, helping the Nittany Lions prevail 15-13 in the decisive fifth set after dropping the third and fourth sets. The next week, the Lions beat those same two opponents on the road, earning a 3-1 victory over Michigan on Nov. 12 in Ann Arbor and defeating Michigan State by an identical score the following night in East Lansing. Senior outside hitter Adanna Rollins achieved a couple of milestones in the latter win over the Spartans. Early in the first set, the Minnesota transfer recorded both her 1,000th career kill and 1,000th career dig. Heading into a road trip to No. 11 Nebraska on Nov. 19, the Nittany Lions were 19-7 overall and 12-4 in the Big Ten and were ranked 15th in the AVCA poll. — Matt Herb O L Y M P I C S P O R T S R O U N D U P STEPHEN NEDOROSCIK WINS WORLD TITLE ON POMMEL HORSE Stephen Nedoroscik had trouble just getting to Japan for the World Gymnastics Championships in October. But once the competition began, ev- erything went beautifully for the former Nittany Lion great. Nedoroscik turned in a score of 15.266 in the finals to claim the gold medal in the pommel horse competition. He had qualified second with a 15.366 score, and in capturing the title, he became Penn State's first medalist at the World Championships and the first American gymnast to win the pommel horse competition. And it almost didn't happen. "It was a really rough journey getting here," Nedoroscik told GoPSUSports.com. "They lost our passports, and I was sick as a dog. It's the sickest I've ever been. I left four days after everyone else did and missed the podium training. Despite all those odds, I was able to hit both routines." Nedoroscik won two NCAA titles during his time with the Nittany Lions from 2017-20. His coach at PSU, Randy Jepson, called the victory in Kitaky- ushu, Japan, "a great effort." "He had really terrible preparation in terms of illness and travel but qualified second on the first day and then climbed the ladder to get the gold," Jepson said. "We are really thrilled for him." — Matt Herb scored a fluky goal when a crossing pass in the box glanced off of Hackenberg's head and landed in the net for the only score of the afternoon. This time around, it was the Lions who caught a break when Kuhn's re- directed shot snuck past Celentano. But there was nothing fluky about the way PSU took control of the game, and Cook, who is 40-21-8 in his four sea- sons at Penn State, said he hopes the performance will do a lot more for the program than help fill up its trophy case. "The Big Ten Conference in men's soccer is among the national leaders, and Indiana has been at the forefront of that in the last several years going into the history books with eight national championships," he said. "So, to be able to get over the burden, if you will, of mentally winning that game, I hope it will be significant not only today but in the future. It doesn't mean that we're going to win every game. … But it means that when we come into these games, we can play with a bit more confidence and more edge." ■ Senior Kaitlyn Hord had a career-best 24 kills in Penn State's 3-2 victory over Michigan State on Nov. 6. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS