PORT! 1
8 I Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010
Lions
win
close
By Jared Shanker
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
It was a game Penn State didn't
deserve to be in.
A team with aspirations for its
first NCAA
Tournament ap- s, ==
pearance in MEN'S
almost a decade BASKETBALL
should not have
*ded • 38-foot
necv . a
heave with 1.3
seconds left to
beat a 3-5
Northeast Con-
ference team.
Yet that's what
it came down to.
and if not for
another clutch, Mt st. m ary - s
game-winning
shot from senior Talor Battle to
break a tie game, the Nittanv
Lions would have been dealt a
serious blow to its NCAA
Tournament resume. The Lions
(7 2) eked out the win, though, a
57-53 win over a depleted Mount
St. Mary's on Tuesday at the
Bryce Jordan Center.
The Mountaineers (3-6) were
picked to finish fifth in the NEC
this year and were playing without
five of their top nine players,
including starting center Raven
Barber.
"No. it shouldn't have," Lions
coach Ed DeChellis said when
asked if it should have even come
down to a final shot.
The Mountaineers trailed the
entire game until a Tavvon
Jackson tip-in with 10:48 left gave
the Mount a 38-37 lead. The Lions
and the Mountaineers would trade
leads three more times before the
Lions took a two-point lead with 52
seconds left on a layup by Battle.
See WIN. Page 10.
Mid-major schools look for respect
* "%M
\ • *
Collegian file photo
Former Penn State running back Charlie Pittman
carries in a 45-22 win over Navy in the opening game
of the Lions' undefeated 1969 season. Pittman rushed
for more than 100 yards in the game.
Libero D’Errico focused on the road ahead
Series Note: This is the first
of a three-part series highlight
ing the senior co-captains of
the women's volleyball team.
By Jake Kaplan
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Alyssa D Errico couldn't wrap
her head around 3-for-3, let alone
4-for-4.
But with every win, D'Errico
and the Penn State women’s vol
leyball team are inching closer to
ON TV
NHL
San Jose at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m. CSN
Toronto at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. FSN
Q: Before Monday night, when was the
last time the New York Jets lost by 42 or
more points?
Yesterday's answer 13 times
Penn State
Talor Battle (12) watches his game winning 3-point shot fall in the Lions' 57-53 victory Tuesday night,
Battle’s heroics save win
He stood well beyond the arc,
the ball in his hands.
There were less than two sec
onds left in the game. The score
was tied.
"Good players make shots in
those situations," Mount St.
Mary's coach Robert Burke said.
"They know it's desperation.”
Senior captain Talor Battle is
the Penn State men’s basketball
team's best player the Nittany
completing what might’ve seemed
like a long shot just a couple of
months ago.
D'Errico. along
with her two fel
low senior co-cap
tains. is only four
wins away from
pulling off something no one else
in Division I women's volleyball
ever has winning a perfect
fourth national championship in
four years.
"Oh. that would be incredible. I
mean nobody has ever done it,”
By Emily Kaplan
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
By Brendan Monahan
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Charlie Pittman, Penn
State’s tailback from 1967-
69, talked to Missouri's Jon
Staggers years after the
1970 Orange Bowl when
the Nittany __
Lions beat cnnT r,»,,
the Tigers FOOTBALL
10-3 and
Staggers called the win
lucky.
“I played two other
teams that were better
than you," Pittman remem
bered Staggers telling him.
“Who were they?”
Pittman replied.
“Kansas State and
Colorado,” Staggers said.
"Guess what,” Pittman
told Staggers. “We beat
them too."
Decades later amid
WOMENS
VOLLEYBALL
QUICK HITS
Lions earn AVCA honors
Four members of the Penn State
women’s volleyball team took home AVCA
Mideast Region honors on Tuesday.
Seniors Blair Brown and Arielle Wilson
as well as freshman Deja McClendon were
named to the all-region team.
McClendon as also named Mideast
Region Freshman of the Year.
Coach Russ Rose took home Mideast
Region Coach of the Year honors, addition
ally.
Brown, Wilson an McClendon are now
qualified for All-America honors, which will
be announced during the the NCAA
championship.
Lions' leading scorer in each of
the last three seasons.
So Battle looked up at the clock,
looked down at the ball, then did
what felt natural to him.
“I just shot the basketball with
some confidence," Battle said.
“Thank God it fell."
Battle's heroic three pointer
sealed a 57-53 win over the
Mountaineers Tliesday night at
the Bryce Jordan Center.
Yet the joyous moment didn't
exemplify the senior guards' per
formance in the game only his
laughs, Pittman said the
revelation stunned
Staggers.
“I think people have pre
conceived ideas where
[the! best football is
played,” Pittman said.
“People didn’t have much
respect for our teams until
they played us, and then we
beat them. That’s very sim
ilar to what Boise State is
going through.”
The former Penn State
running back said he iden
tifies with TCU and Boise
State.
The two mid-major
schools deal with the same
stereotype that plagued the
Penn State teams of the
1960 s and 19705, when the
Lions tallied three unde
feated seasons but never
finished No. 1 in the
Associated Press (AP) or
D’Errico said of the possibility of
her team hoisting another trophy
after the championship match on
Dec. 18 in Kansas City Mo. “And
especially because this year has
been such a year full of obstacles
and adversity that ending it off
with a national championship
would just be the cherry on top of
everything."
D’Errico is in her second sea
son starting at libero for the
Nittany Lions after playing mostly
as a defensive specialist her first
two years. She played in every set
Haynesworth suspended
Simmering all year, the antagonism
between Albert Haynesworth and Mike
Shanahan finally reached the boiling point
Tuesday when the two-time All-Pro defen
sive lineman was suspended by the
Washington Redskins coach without pay
for the rest of the season.
Citing a litany of acts that essentially
add up to season-long insubordination, the
Redskins suspended Haynesworth for
“conduct detrimental to the club” and told
him he’s not welcome for the team’s final
four games and making it extremely
unlikely he will play for the dub again.
“Despite the club’s numerous attempts
to persuade Albert Haynesworth to abide
by the terms of his contract, he has repeat
edly refused to cooperate with our coach
ing staff,” Shanahan said in statement
performance in the last two min
utes.
Battle struggled to find any
offensive rhythm for most of the
night. He was l-for-12 from the
field and 0-for-6 from 3-point
range before scoring the Lions'
last seven points over the final
1:44.
Battle finished the night with a
team-high 13 points along with
eight rebounds.
"Offensively, he just didn't real
ly have it tonight," coach Ed
See BATTLE. Page 10.
United Press International
(UPI) polls.
Media and schools from
major conferences in other
ends of the country per
ceived eastern teams as
inferior at the time. Many
considered Penn State sec
ond fiddle to teams such as
Texas (Big 8) and Ohio
State (Big 10) because the
Lions played a perceived
lower quality of opponent
and hailed from the East.
“Why? I don’t know,” said
Dennis Onkotz, a Penn
State All-American in 1968
and 1969 and College
Football Hall of Famer, on
the reason for people view
ing the Lions as inferior.
“It’s just, the history of
eastern football wasn’t
there. Who was a power
house in the east in the ’sos
See RESPECT. Page 10.
of all three title matches, tallying a
combined 42 digs.
This year, in addition to being
one of the team’s most vocal lead
ers on and off the court, D’Errico’s
team-leading 450 digs and 45 serv
ice aces helped earn her an honor
able mention on the All-Big Ten
team.
Penn State coach Russ Rose
said people might under-appreci
ate D’Errico’s influence on the
court because his blocking system
doesn’t allow liberos to have flashy
See D’ERRICO, Page 10.
The Daily Collegian
Lions
look to
replace
Wright
By Mike Still
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
The No. 5 Penn State
wrestling team has no backup at
the 184-pound weight class.
But coach Cael Sanderson will
need to find one.
All-American
Quentin Wright, WRESTLING
who suffered a
left shoulder
injury in the 184-
pound finals of
the Nittany Lion
Open this past
Sunday, will defi
nitely be out for
the Lions’ dual
meet with Lock
Haven this Wright
Sunday and
could be out until February,
Sanderson confirmed Tuesday.
"It’s gonna be through
Christmas for sure,” the coach
said of his redshirt sophomore.
“But after that, I don’t know. It
could be five weeks. It could be
eight weeks at the most."
An X-ray revealed that
Wright's shoulder isn’t broken or
separated, but the injury he sus
tained is severe enough to side
line him for significant time.
Sanderson said Wright, who
wasn’t at practice and not made
available for comment, will just
need to rest until he’s definitely
ready to go, but the injury is not
season-ending.
True freshman Andrew
Church, who has gone 5-5
wrestling at 174 pounds in unat
tached matches this season, is
expected to move up to 184 for
this weekend.
Regardless of when Wright
can return. Sanderson said he is
in no rush to bring him back
from the injury.
Like he did with 149-pounder
Frank Molinaro’s preseason
ankle injury this season, the
coach will wait until Wright is 100
percent comfortable with com
peting.
"We want him for those big
dual meets but ultimately we’re
gonna do what’s in his best inter
est and make sure he’s ready to
go," Sanderson said. “But it'll
give him a chance to just relax a
little bit, and heal up, get his
mind right.
Wright’s absence has been felt
immediately by his teammates.
A leader both on and off the
mat, Wright’s encouraging atti
tude has been missed in practice
' this week.
“I was devastated,” redshirt
sophomore Justin Ortega said of
seeing Wright go down last
Sunday. “He’s an essential part
to our team and winning a
national championship.”
To e-mail reporter: massB6o@psu.edu
dyssa D’Errico makes a play.
iOUGHTS
Pitt’s Wannstedt Out
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt’s resignation
yesterday could have a ripple effect.
Penn State defensive coordinator Tom
Bradley could potentially be a candidate for
the Panthers’ ob as a result of his strong
recruiting ties to western Pennsylvania and
solid reputation as a defensive coach.
Also, recruiting website Lions 247 is
reporting that linebackers coach Ron
Vanderlinden is interested in taking a head
coaching position at Ball State.
If these two coaches decide to leave,
Penn State coach Joe Patemo might have
to re-think his decision to return next sea
son with two of his most valuable assistants
gone.