I Friday, Dec. 3, 2010 11l m Senior Blair Brown and her women's volleyball teammates celebrate a point in a win vs. St. John’s earlier this season in Rec Hall Lions exdted for NCAAs By Jake Kaplan KTAA S T AfF Avs;Tj:R The title defense starts tonight. After the las! three seasons ended with national champi- ‘ onships. the 2010 WOMEN'S Penn State v 'Oi LFYBAI L women's vollev- ball team looks to complete its journey tor a fourth straight title. The Nittany Lions host Niagara Hertzog, Naim named finalists By Andrew Robinson Corey Hertzog's name didn't appear as one of the 3!) listed on the 2010 MAC Hermann Watch List back in August. 20 goals and the junior for ward on the men's soccer I team is one of 15 j & jpr finalists for the ; prestigious j 'HjfiW. award, college A soccer's equiva lent of the Hertzog Heisman Trophy "In college soccer he's number one as a player and that’s going pretty much on stats. The guy's a machine." Penn Stale senior co captain Andres Casais said. "Playing with him is awesome." And he isn't the only Nittany Lion on a Hermann semifinalist list. Women's soccer sophomore Christine Nairn was also named as one of la semifinalists on Thursday, alter being named to the preseason watch list the last two seasons. Despite a drop in her numbers from last year. Nairn became a more complete player this season. "She had a brilliant season and I think her role changed a bit this year." women's soccer coach Erica Walsh said. "Her numbers were down simply because our numbers were down overall, but her leadership was up and her mentality was better and she's really starting to develop into a leader for us." A year after posting 11 goals, Hertzog outdid himself in his jun ior campaign, drawing plenty of national attention along the way. NCAAF Illinois at Fresno State 10:15 p.m.. ESPN2 Q: How many points did Zydrunas Ilgauskas score in his first career home game with the Cleveland Cavaliers? Thursday's answer: Before Wednesday, Penn State won the last matchup with Maryland in men's basketball. in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at 7 tonight at Rec Hall. A Penn State win. which would set an NCAA Division I vol leyball record for consecutive home wins at 91. would allow the Lions to advance into the second round against either Virginia Tech or Delaware at 7: ;o Saturday night. "Excitement. I don't think that's even a word that could explain it.” said senior co-captain Alvssa D'Errico. the Lions' libero His 20-goal effort, currently tops in the nation, tied the single-sea son high for the Big Ten. which was set by : Indiana's Dema i in points per game, at 2.09. Nairn and total points with 4(1. Hertzog scored a hat trick and assisted the other goal in the team's 4-1 win over Old Dominion in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before the team fell 1-0 to No. 2 seed Maryland last Sunday. Despite being held scoreless against the Terrapins. Hertzog wasn't a nonfactor. "Watching the tape against Maryland, he didn't do much in the sense we couldn't get the ball to him much but he was running so much." Casais said. "He didn't stop running and his work ethic is just amazing." Hertzog said it's exciting being nominated for an award like the Hermann trophy, but at the same time, not being on the preseason list served as a bit of motivation "Not being on the radar. I don't w'ant to say it upset me. but it made me try harder." Hertzog said. "Not being recognized for ha\ ing a good season Hast yearl. it made me come hard for this sea son and all my hard work proved it." Last week, the striker was identified as a possible Generation Adidas target, which is the route for early entry into the MLS. However, Hertzog said Thursday he hasn't given much thought to his future and is See FINALISTS. Page 10. Yankees up offer to SS Jeter The New York Yankees increased their contract offer to Derek Jeter. The team informed Jeter’s side of the new offer during a telephone conversation early Thursday, a person familiar with the negotiations said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made. ’‘The ball's in Derek's court now, and his agent," Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said later Thursday in a tele phone interview with The Associated Press. "It's up to them." Jeter’s agent. Casey Close, declined comment. who has been a part of the last consecutive conference wins ear three titles. "All of us are literallv her in the season. like frothing at the mouth. I would However, Penn State (26-5.16-4 say. for a chance to compete for Big Ten) finished the season win another national championship." ning 13 of 14 conference matches The Lions, who are the tourna- and an eighth-straight Big Ten ment's No. 4 seed and w’ould not title. And though the Lions be forced to leave Happy Valley dropped their season finale at until a potential fourth-straight Minnesota, D'Errico said her Final Four trip, know nothing is team is ready to go. for granted. It has been an up and-down year for the Lions, as they snapped their 109-match Women's volleyball ready for upset winning streak and string of 65 minded Niagara. | Page .9. David Jackson (15) looks to pass vs. Maryland Wednesday night. Men’s basketball ready for Dukes By Jared Shanker COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER It was supposed to be tne com ing out party for Penn State bas ketball, a chance to take a step out of the all-encompassing shadow of Joe Paterno and Beaver Stadium, which stands just across the way. Maryland, a school that's been Jordan Center, and with a win, to two Final Fours in the last the Nittany Lions would have decade, was coming to the Bryce See BASKETBALL. Page 10. Lady Lions fall to Eagles in OT making things interesting late. Penn State (6-2) At Wednesday's press confer- displayed both ence. coach Coquese Washington of those charac said she wanted teristics Thurs- By Ryan Loy COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER to see her team , day at Boston begin the games WOMEN S College, but its strangers BASKETBALL late-game hero- The Lady - ics weren't Lions developed enough as the a habit of starting slow, but Lions fell to the Eagles (7-0) in they've also come accustomed to overtime, 113-104. Leyritz gets probation, fine Former New York Yankees World Series hero Jim Leyritz was sentenced Thursday to one year s probation and fined $5OO for a drunk driving conviction, a far lesser penal ty than he had faced before a jury decided he wasn’t responsible for a woman’s death in a 2007 traffic crash. Circuit Judge Marc Gold imposed the sentence for the misdemeanor on the 47- year-old former ballplayer, who was acquit ted last month of DUI manslaughter in the death of 30-year-old Fredia Ann Veitch. Leyritz could have gotten up to 15 years if convicted of manslaughter, but he said Thursday it was no victory. “I said it from the very beginning, there would be no winners in this case,” Leyritz said in a tearful statement to the judge. “This was a horrible, horrible tragedy.” ■mmm' See NCAAS. Page 10. If you go Men’s basketball vs. Duquesne When: 6 p.m. Where: Bryce Jordan Center Boston College Penn State The Daily Collegian PSU ready for search By Anthony Barton COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER After completing the search for the Penn State ice arena architect and construction firms. Penn State Associate Athletic- Director for Ice Arena Operations Joe Battista said beginning in January' he will turn his atten- tion to filling the vacant coaching ICE HOCKEY positions. Battista said the next step is putting together a search team with representa tion from the Penn State athletic, academic, administration and compliance departments, as well as faculty members. He also said players from the current Penn State hockey teams would be present at meetings to give their input. "Key items we're looking for are their ability to recruit top student athletes, to run the pro gram the Penn State way. and their track record for success at the highest levels of hockey in North America.” Battista said. "Those are all the kinds of crite ria we'll be looking for as we move forward.” Battista said the university is strongly considering the use oi a national search firm to help nar row down the candidates The firm would be knowledgeable in terms of salaries and other nuances in order to help Penn State find a coach who meets cri teria. "There are a lot of coaches out there, they may want us more than we want them.” Battista said. "Our job would be to work with a firm to help us narrow down that list.” Although the coaching search is in the preliminary stages, a construction firm has been cho- Battista said the firm Mortenson Construction out of Minneapolis had been granted See SEARCH. Page 10. The Lions had to fight from behind for much of the game, holding short leads just a handful of times in the second half. However, Zhaque Gray hit a 3- pointer with 13 seconds to play in regulation. After the Lions gave up a quick basket to Boston College, Alex Bentley took the ball the length of the floor and hit a game-tying layup with just less than a second to play. See LOSS. Page 10. Cleveland return disappoints We’ve been hearing about it since the summer When the Miami Heat visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 2, it will be one of the most-watched NBA games in recent memory. All because a certain player who left Cleveland for better opportunities in Miami returned for the first time. So we waited on pins and needles for this triumphant return, but were soon dis mayed when this player failed to make any sort of impact in the Heat’s rout of the Cavs. Zero points and just two rebounds in over 16 minutes on the floor? You disappoint us, Zydrunas Ilgauskas