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NOTEBOOK kills on .407 hitting, while also logging seven digs and five blocks, including three solo stuffs. MEN'S ICE HOCKEY WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS Spartans keep PSU winless in Big Ten Penn State shines in floor exercise Forwards Taylor Holstrom and Eric Scheid helped Penn State erase a pair of one-goal deficits, but Lee Reimer's third-period strike gave Michigan State a 3-2 victory at Munn Ice Arena on Jan. 18. Penn State fell to 4-14-1 (0-6-0-0 Big Ten). Sophomore defenseman Luke Juha, who collected his fourth career multipoint game, led all players with two points, while his assist on Scheid's tally marked his eighth power-play point of the season. The eight power-play points placed second among Big Ten defensemen. A 49.400 on the floor exercise not only closed out a victory, but marked a top10 event score in school history, as Penn State finished first in a Jan. 18 quad meet at Rec Hall with an overall mark of 196.025 . The Nittany Lions topped Southeast Missouri State (193.800), Cornell (191.000) and UIC (189.125) to improve to 6-1 on the season. The team score of 49.400 in the floor exercise is tied with the 2004, '05 and '11 squads for the ninth-best mark in school history. MEN'S VOLLEYBALL Nittany Lions regroup to defeat Ball State Led by double-digit kill performances from Aaron and Peter Russell, No. 12 Penn State (3-2) rallied to defeat Ball State in four sets (16-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-22) Jan. 18 in Rec Hall. Aaron led the offense with a seasonhigh 21 kills on .436 hitting, adding four digs and one block. Peter recorded 14 MEN'S GYMNASTICS Lions finish first at West Point Open Fourth-ranked Penn State closed out the final day of competition at the West Point Open on Jan. 18 with three individual titles, as juniors Ismael Sanabria, Matt Felleman and Tristan Duverglas all recorded top performances. A day earlier, the Nittany Lions captured their 15th consecutive West Point Open team title, outscoring Army, Navy, Springfield College, Temple and William & Mary. I ICE HOCKEY Pegula to receive PSU's Distinguished Alumni Award Penn State hockey benefactor Terry Pegula has been selected as one of eight Penn State alumni to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award, the university's highest award for an individual, the Penn State board of trustees announced Jan. 17. Pegula, whose donations enabled the university to launch men's and women's ice hockey teams and build the Pegula Ice Arena, is the founder and former chief executive officer of East Resources, a natural gas drilling company, and is currently the owner of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. He received his bachelor's degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering in 1973 from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. I Penn State third in Directors' Cup Penn State is off to a strong start in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, ranking No. 3 nationally with 315.00 points. The Nittany Lions won the 2013 NCAA women's volleyball championship and claimed Big Ten titles in women's volleyball, men's soccer and field hockey during the fall. Penn State and Stanford were the only athletic programs to earn points in six sports during the fall. The Cardinal are atop the standings with 394.50 points, followed by Virginia (323.00), Penn State (315.00), Michigan State (297.50) and North Carolina (288.00). The final Directors' Cup fall standings were set to be announced later in January. The women's volleyball team led the charge in the fall for the Nittany Lions, capturing its sixth NCAA title with a 3-1 win over Wisconsin in the NCAA championship match to score 100 points in the Directors' Cup standings. Coach Russ Rose's squad (34-2) won its fifth NCAA crown in the past seven years. The progam's six NCAA titles are tied with Stanford for most in the nation. Five additional Penn State teams participated in their respective NCAA championship and scored Directors' Cup points last fall: men's cross country, women's cross country, field hockey, men's soccer and women's soccer. Penn State has won 24 NCAA titles since 1993-94, its first full year in the Big Ten Conference, more than double every other Big Ten institution.

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