Penn State takes crack at No. 1 Alabama —Page 18
The Daily
Published independently by students at Penn State
Team risks streak
By Jake Kaplan
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
No one on the team likes to talk
about it, but it's the topic almost
everyone outside of the program
media and fans alike loves to
discuss.
And it's going to be heavily test
ed this weekend.
The No. 1 Penn State women's
volleyball team brings its 108-
match winning streak to the Nike
Volleyball Big Four Classic in
Gainesville, Fla. The Nittany
Lions take on No. 4 Florida at 7:30
tonight and match-up against
either No. 2 Stanford or No. 5
Students honor 9/11 victims
By Eddie Lau
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
As a New Yorker, Penn State
student Arlene Contreras said
she will never forget what hap
pened on the morning of Sept. 11,
2001.
Contreras (freshman-biochem
istry) was in class on that seem
ingly normal Tuesday morning.
But all of a sudden, parents
came into her classroom to pick
up their children, she said.
Texas at 6:30 Saturday night
Penn State's win streak is the
longest active in NCAA Division I
athletics and is the second
longest of all-time. The Lions
have not been defeated since
Sept. 15, 2007 and have only lost 18
sets since.
But considering Penn State has
three new starters in this year's
lineup and because of this tourna
ment's competitive slate which
Florida coach Mary Wise noted
you see "more often in December
than September" the Lions
have their work cut out for them.
think if I were coaching or
playing for one of those teams,
- Being a fourth grader, my first
reaction was, 'Hey, why am I not
going home, too? Why am I still
here?' she said.
When she was picked up,
Contreras said, her mother told
her a tower fell near where her
aunt worked in lower
Manhattan.
That's when she started to get
scared.
Though Contreras lived in the
Bronx, she knew something really
bad had happened.
that's why you play the game, to
measure up against the best,"
said Karch Kiraly, assistant coach
of the USA women's indoor volley
ball team and an ESPN volleyball
analyst. 'And for [lOB matches],
Penn State's been the best. And
they're putting it on the line."
Regardless, there is a good
chance the rankings will change
in some fashion after this week
end. The last time Penn State, the
three-time defending national
champions, were not the top
ranked team in the nation was in
the Oct. 22, 2007 poll.
"Every team this weekend is
See VOLLEYBALL Page 2.
"My aunt worked in the build
ing right next to the World Trade
Center," Contreras said. "She
always gets breakfast in the base
ment and then goes to work"
Contreras said she went home
and tried to call her aunt, but the
phone was not working.
The only thing she and her fam
ily did that day was try to get in
touch with her aunt and watch the
news, which replayed footage of
the plane crashes, she said.
"Every time I saw the crash, it
Blair Brown (9) blocks a shot
was like a hurt finally seeing
the towers fall, my mother was
crying," Contreras said.
Fortunately, her aunt was able
to get to safety
"She finally got home with a
lgaslmask on telling us she
had to walk over the bridge it
was pretty scary at the time,"
Contreras said.
But a few family friends who
worked in the World Trade Center
did not make it out.
See ANNIVERSARY, Page 2
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TriP
thrills
fans
Students prep
for Alabamas
By Mike Hricik
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
250 lucky Penn State students
scored tickets to this Saturday's
away game at the University of
Alabama.
But they're not the only ones
who will be representing the uni
versity at the game.
Penn State President Graham
Spanier will cheer on the Nittany
Lions at Bryant-Denny Stadium
in Tuscaloosa, Ala. and meet
with former Penn State
University president Joab
Thomas, who also served as
president of the University of
Alabama.
Spanier wrote via e-mail that
he will also be receiving the key
to the city of Hoover, Ala.
"It is a nice honor to see that
kind of hospitality. I just hope
they are as hospitable on the
football field," Spanier wrote.
In the meantime, students are
beginning the long trek to
Tuscaloosa this weekend.
Mike Calabrese and eight of
his friends, all Penn State stu
dents, rented an RV and trav
eled to a hotel last night in
Nashville, Tenn. in preparation
for the game.
"We're all so pumped,"
Calabrese (senior-management
information systems) said.
Filly insured for their rental
vehicle, all of the first-time RV
drivers are switching off three
hour shifts on their way to ease
the burden of a 14-hour drive.
Calabrese said the time has
hardly passed at all as he
enjoyed the company of his
friends.
The passengers had differing
philosophies going into the
match-up.
Andrew Hardin said he's hop
ing for an upset against the
reigning national champions.
"I go to Penn State, so I'm not
counting on [Alabama win
ning]," Hardin (senior-golf man
agement) said.
"I wouldn't be going down
here if Penn State was gonna be
out of it."
Andrew Heinricher was less
hopeful, despite injuries to
Alabama running back Mark
Ingram.
"We're not injured, but we're
still a team that hasn't gone
against Top 25 competition,"
Heinricher (senior-security and
risk analysis) said.
The fans rose early last week
to get their tickets outside the
Bryce Jordan Center at 7 a.m.
They began their trip yester
day in similar fashion hitting
the road at 9 a.m. but
Heinricher said Saturday's
game will make it worthwhile.
To e-mail reporter: mjhsso7@psu.edu
For more football weekend cover
age: LOCAL, Page 3.
If yOu watch
What Penn State vs Alabama
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Channel: ESPN