Blue White Illustrated

is two times during his freshman year, but the pair still await their third matchup. When Megaludis met two other op- ponents for the third time, he made sure the outcome was different. Cornell's Frank Perrelli defeated Megaludis twice in the same January tournament, but when they met in the semifinals in March – when it mattered most – it was Megaludis who escaped with the 3-2 overtime victory. And when he met Sanders of Min- nesota for the third time, it was Mega- ludis who came away with the win. Those victories gave both Megaludis and his father a feeling of satisfaction that neither will soon forget. All season long, the freshman wrestler had heard about Sanders and his alleged superi- ority. But when they met in the quar- terfinal round of the national tourna- ment, the past no longer mattered. As the final whistle blew on his 7-4 victory, Megaludis raised his arms to- ward the whooping and hollering Penn State fan section. Meanwhile, Sanders lay face-down on the mat. "I couldn't help but kind of look, and there was a part of me that just felt for Zach because he was laying on the mat, flat on his belly," Dan Megalud- is said. "You just felt a hurt for him, but it didn't compare to the excitement we felt for Nico." Then Sanders, a fifth-year senior and four-time All-American whom the eld- er Megaludis calls a "classy kid," lift- ed himself off the mat, walked alone toward a hallway leading away from the floor of the Scottrade Center and sighed within earshot of this reporter, "I hate wrestling." Winning is important to Megaludis, and so is scoring points. But when he competes, he wants his opponents to hate wrestling him. Mission accomplished. HONOR ROLL DYLAN ALTON WRESTLING Coming off a redshirt year, Alton went 30-6, compiling 10 major deci- sions in his debut season with the Nittany Lion wrestling team. The 157-pounder from Mill Hall, Pa., had a crucial third-place finish at Big Tens, helping lift Penn State to a rousing comeback victory. He went on to claim All-America honors, fin- ishing third at nationals, too. ADRIAN AMOS FOOTBALL A surprise late addition to Penn State's 2011 recruiting class – he received his scholarship offer only about a week before signing day – the cornerback from Baltimore proved invaluable last season, bol- stering an injury-plagued second- ary. He played in 12 games and started one, holding Iowa's stellar wideout Marvin McNutt to four catches in a victory over the Hawkeyes. ROBBY CREESE TRACK Creese had an amazing freshman year. During the indoor track sea- son, the newcomer from Mount Airy, Md., turned in not one but two sub-four-minute miles. During the recently concluded outdoor season, he anchored Penn State's winning 4x800 team at the Penn Relays. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after both the indoor and outdoor seasons. NATE SAVOY SWIMMING The rookie from Reading, Pa., got his college career off to a fantastic start, winning All-America honors in the 200 and 400 medley relays and the 100 backstroke. He became the first three-time All-American in school history and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. ANDREW WOLVERTON SOCCER The 6-foot-5 Georgian came to Penn State on the heels of a stellar high school career during which he was named a first-team All-Ameri- can by ESPN Rise. He turned out to be every bit as good as hoped, post- ing a 0.61 goals-against average and 12 shutouts for the Nittany Lion soccer team. W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M HANCOCK MICHA Versatile rookie makes A deft transition to college game EMILY KAPLAN | B L U E W H I T E C O N T R I B U T O R t the time it felt so insignif- icant. In fact, nobody seems to remember it. "So much has changed since then. I can't even tell you how we found out about it," said defen- sive specialist Dominique Gonzalez. "That really feels like forever ago. At the moment we probably didn't even realize what an impact it would be," added teammate Lacey Fuller. But sometime before freshman or sophomore eligibility, and there were no seniors in the starting lineup. But Hancock, the 2011 Big Ten THE YEAR IN REVIEW the Penn State women's volleyball team's sec- ond match of the 2011 season – after the Nit- tany Lions' NCAA record 94-game home match winning streak was snapped in their opener against un- ranked Oregon – coach Russ Rose announced that Micha Hancock, a freshman, would start at setter. The decision changed the complex- ion of Penn State's season. Hancock, the 5-foot-11 girl from Oklahoma with a wide smile, South- ern twang, and lethal serve, turned out to be exactly what the young Nit- tany Lions needed to keep their winning tradition alive. No, Rose's squad did not win what – M.H. would have been an unprecedented fifth consecutive national champi- onship this past year. That would have been virtually impossible given the composition of the team's roster: 13 of the 17 players had either Freshman of the Year, effectively – and at times, effortlessly – quarter- backed Penn State's offense. She steered the Lions to a 25-8 record and gave fans in Hap- py Valley hope that an- other title may just be a season or two away. "She was a rock this FEMALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR year," Gonzalez said. "She became one of our leaders on and off the court – as a freshman." There have been many stellar freshmen in Penn State's illustri- ous volleyball history. In the past 10 years, nine Nittany Lions have been tabbed Big Ten Freshman of the Year. But perhaps none have had as important a role as Hancock had last season. It's hard to come in as a freshman and orchestrate an offense featuring juniors and seniors. It's perhaps even harder to be in that position when the surrounding players are equally young and inexperienced. "This whole season was a learning experience for a lot of us," said Fuller, Hancock's roommate. "Micha was put in a big position and ran with it. She definitely became a leader and someone a lot of people looked up to." SEE HANCOCK NEXT PAGE A U G U S T 2 1 , 2 0 1 2 29

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