PENN STATE YEAR IN REVIEW: 2007-2008

	NITTANY LIONS: YEAR IN REVIEW

Team	Big Ten finish
W Soccer	Season: 1st Record: 18-4-2, 9-1-0
M Soccer	Season: 4th Record: 7-8-4, 2-2-2
Cross country	Men: 9th Women: 7th
Football	Season: T-4th Record: 9-4, 4-4
Field hockey	Season: 4th Record: 16-8, 3-3
W volleyball	Season: 1st Record: 33-2, 20-0
M volleyball	Season: 1st - EIVA Record: 28-1
Swim. & diving	Men: 8th Women: 4th
Indoor T&F	Men: 4th Women: 3rd
Wrestling	Big Ten's: 7th
M basketball	Season: 7th Record: 15-16, 7-11
W basketball	Season: 6th Record: 13-18, 4-14
Gymnastics	Men: Big Ten Champs Women: 3rd
Outdoor T&F	Men: 6th Women: Big Ten Champs
Golf	Men: 11th Women: 10th
Tennis	Men: 4th Women: T-7th
Baseball	Season: 3rd Record: 26-29, 17-15
Softball	Season: 7th Record: 34-22, 6-12

Men's cross country
In the men's 9th place finish at the Big Ten Cross Country Championship, junior Tyler McCandless was the top finisher for the Nittany Lion men, turning in 41st-place finish, and running 25:00.71 for 8,000-meters. Junior Brian Fuller was the second Lion to cross the finish line, placing 53rd in 25:18.07.

Women's cross country
The 2007 Penn State women's cross country season was highlighted by the performance of sophomore Bridget Franek who made her second appearance in the NCAA Championships.

Franek finished 57th in the 6,000 meter race out of over 200 runners in the field. It was an outstanding sophomore season for Franek who finished sixth at the Big Ten Championships and fourth at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships.

Men's soccer
With a No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament for the second consecutive year, the Penn State men's soccer team faced off against Michigan State in the first round.

The Spartans and the Nittany Lions battled to a 0-0 tie and eventually concluded the game on penalty kicks with Michigan State winning 4-3. Penn State finished the season with a record of 7-8-4 and senior goalkeeper Conrad Taylor recorded his 24th shutout to end his career.

Women's soccer
The Nittany Lions' women's soccer team won their tenth consecutive Big Ten regular season title in 2007 and also earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years.

Penn State advanced to the third round of the NCAA tourney after beating both Monmouth and Hofstra at Jeffery Field. The Lions faced off against West Virginia with an appearance in Elite Eight on the line. Unfortunately the Mountaineers' defense was too much for Penn State as they edged the Nittany Lions 1-0.

Two players earned All-American honors in 2007 with sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher earning a spot on the first team and sophomore forward Katie Schoepfer being named to the second team.

Field hockey
Despite finishing fourth in the conference and exiting the Big Ten Tournament in the second round, the Nittany Lions' field hockey team went on an improbable run to the NCAA Tournament title game.
 
Making its first appearance in an NCAA Championship game, Penn State took on the difficult task of dispatching the undefeated Tar Heels of North Carolina. UNC proved to be as advertised shutting down the Nittany Lion offense, winning the title game 3-0.

"I just want to reiterate again how proud I am of the team for playing in the national championship game and also their effort out there," said head coach Charlene Morett. "When you get to this level, it's going to be a battle."

Football
After finishing the 2006 campaign with an impressive win in the Outback Bowl the Nittany Lions went into 2007 with high aspirations for the season.

Following convincing wins over Florida International, Notre Dame and Buffalo to start the year, Penn State faced off against a Michigan team that was reeling after losses to Appalachian State and Oregon. In what has become the norm over the past 11 years, Penn State fell to the Wolverines for the ninth consecutive time tarnishing hopes for a Big Ten Title in the first conference game of the season.  The following week the Lions endured another setback losing to the Fighting Illini 27-20, beginning the Big Ten season 0-2.

The Lions returned to Happy Valley from two straight road losses and proceeded to rattle off three consecutive wins, beating Iowa and Wisconsin by a combined score of 65-14. Penn State then squeaked by Indiana on the road 36-31, to setup a clash under the lights against top-ranked Ohio State.

The Buckeyes proved to be too much for the Nittany Lions and cruised to a 37-17 victory in Beaver Stadium. 

In the regular season finale, the Nittany Lions traveled to East Lansing to face Michigan State in the Land Grant Trophy game. PSU took a 24-7 lead midway into the third quarter only to see it slip away in the waning moments as they lost to the Spartans 31-35.

Though it was a disheartening finish to the regular season, Penn State was offered a bid to play in the Alamo Bowl where they would face the Aggies of Texas A&M. Despite playing virtually a road game, the Nittany Lions rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Texas A&M 24-17 and earn head coach Joe Paterno his 500th career victory.

Nittany Lions' senior linebacker Dan Connor won several accolades in the 2007 season capping it off by winning the 2007 Bednarik Award given to the nation's top defensive player. This marked the third consecutive season a Nittany Lion linebacker has been awarded the Bednarik Trophy.

Women's volleyball
The Penn State women's volleyball team set out with lofty goals for the 2007 season and capped off a tremendous year with a National Championship win over Stanford 3-2. 

The Nittany Lions made their way to the NCAA tournament in dominating fashion as they went 20-0 in Big Ten play, winning the conference crown and earning the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney. Penn State swept their way to the national title game beating their first five opponents of the tournament in three game sweeps. 

In his 29th season as Penn State's head women's volleyball coach, Russ Rose won his second national championship ('99) and earned his third AVCA National Coach of the Year award. Rose also accomplished a career mark in 2007 as he won his 900th career match after beating Michigan State on September 21st.

Rose was not the only Nittany Lion taking home accolades, as four players earned AVCA All-American honors. Christa Harmotto, Nicole Fawcett, and Megan Hodge were named to the first team while Alisha Glass earned a spot on the second squad.

Men's volleyball
With the bar set high, the Men's volleyball team came into the spring season hoping to make Penn State the second school in collegiate volleyball history to have both its volleyball teams win the national title in the same academic year.

Head coach Mark Pavlik led the Nittany Lions to their tenth consecutive EIVA Championship title, earning the team a spot in NCAA Championship semi-finals. Top-ranked Penn State dispatched Ohio State in four games in the semis and followed that with a 3-1 win over Pepperdine to earn the team's second NCAA title ('94).

Men's swimming & diving
Five members of the Penn State men's swimming & diving team qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2008, with two individuals and one relay team competing.

After an eighth place finish in the Big Ten Championships, the Nittany Lions were looking for a better showing in the NCAA Championships and junior Pat Schrick delivered.

Schrick won the 200 backstroke national title, becoming the program's first individual national champion with a school record time of 1:40.22 in the finals.

Women's swimming & diving
For the seventh time in eight seasons the Penn State women's swimming & diving team had ten swimmers qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Nittany Lions finished 29th in the championships and had junior Kelly Nelson earn All-American honors with a sixth place finish in the 200 Butterfly.

This performance came after a strong showing in the Big Ten Championships where the Nittany Lions finished in fourth place as a team.

Following 13 seasons, men's and women's swimming head coach Bill Dorenkott resigned his position at Penn State to take the women's head coaching job at Ohio State.

Men's indoor track and field
Bolstered by winning performances from Clarence Smith, and Mark Miller, the Nittany Lion men's track and field team recorded a fourth-place finish in the team standings at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.

Smith captured his first-career Big Ten title with a provisional-qualifying leap of 51-5 (15.67m) in the triple jump. In fourth place going into his final attempt, Smith soared to his career best jump, winning the competition by just a half an inch.

Women's indoor track and field
Behind a pair of individual wins from senior Shana Cox and a victory in the 4x400-meters, the Nittany Lion women's track and field team totaled 121 points to finish third overall at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.

The NCAA Indoor Championships featured an impressive showing from Penn State as they posted a school record nine All-Americans finishing 15th in the team standings.

The Nittany Lions were led by junior Gayle Hunter who recorded a fifth-place finish in the pentathlon as well as Cox who finished fourth in the 400-meters.

Wrestling
The Penn State wrestling team finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships after going 17-19 in the two-day tournament. However, the Nittany Lions qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships and hoped to have a better finish than at the conference tournament.

Of the seven qualifiers, two Nittany Lion wrestlers advanced to national championship in their individual weight classes. Phil Davis won the national title at 197 while Bubba Jenkins was defeated by Iowa's Brent Metcalf for the 149 crown.

Penn State finished third overall at the NCAA Championships behind Iowa and Ohio State.

Men's basketball

Ed DeChellis and his 2007-08 Nittany Lion squad came into the season with high expectations for a team with a mix of experience and talented youth. Unfortunately a promising start to the year took an unexpected turn when star guard Geary Claxton was lost for the season due to an ACL injury.

Penn State lost four straight following Claxton's injury but came together for a stunning upset of the seventh ranked Michigan State Spartans at the Bryce Jordan Center 85-76.

More bad news befell the Nittany Lions as later in the year forward Jamelle Cornley had to end his season due to a nagging knee injury. Once again the team pulled a stunning upset as they beat No. 17 Indiana 68-64 in the regular season finale.

Penn State could not carry over the success to postseason and were eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament in the first round by Illinois.

Women's basketball
Coquese Washinton's first year as head coach of the Lady Lions started off with a stunning upset over the tenth ranked Duke Blue Devils 86-84.

After starting the season 9-3 in the non-conference slate, the Lady Lions opened league play with several wins but fell into a slump in the second half of the season losing 12 straight to conclude the year.

Penn State faced Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament but could not overcome the Wolverines and fell 64-54 to end the campaign.

Men's gymnastics
The 2008 Penn State men's gymnastics team captured the program's second Big Ten team championship as well as several individual honors at the conference championships.

Tommy Ramos earned his second career rings title while Casey Sandy won his first individual title on the parallel bars. Sandy was also named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year and Randy Jepson was recognized as Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Ramos and Sandy also had impressive showings at the NCAA Championships as the team finished in fourth place. Ramos placed third in the still rings while Sandy won the 2008 NCAA All-Around Championship.

Women's gymnastics
The Nittany Lion women's gymnastics team also had a strong finish in the Big Ten Championship as they placed third behind the strength of Brandi Personett's second consecutive all-around title. Personett also won the Big Ten vault title and tied for the floor crown with Michigan's Kylee Botterman.

Penn State did not qualify as a team for the NCAA Championships but Personett competed in the all-around as well as the beam, finishing 16th and 5th earning All-American honors.

Men's golf
With an 11th place finish at the Big Ten Championships the Penn State men's golf team seemed to be far from an NCAA Championships invitation. However, an eighth place finish in the NCAA Regionals led the Nittany Lions to their third appearance in NCAA Championships since regional play was introduced.

Sophomore Kevin Foley finished in a tie for 23rd while the team ended the championships with a 25th place finish.

Women's golf
The Penn State women's golf team was not as fortunate as the men's squad, after finishing tenth in the Big Ten Tournament the team did not qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The Nittany Lions shot an 84-over 1,236, finishing five strokes behind an eighth place tie between Minnesota and Iowa.

Men's tennis
A solid performance in the Big Ten Championship helped the Penn State men's tennis team earn an appearance in the NCAA Championships.

The Nittany Lions won their first round match over VCU in 4-0 sweep earning the program's first victory in the 64-team NCAA Championship format. The win setup a match with No. 1 seed Virginia who defeated the Lions 4-0 to end the team's season.

Women's tennis
The first round of the Big Ten Women's Championship marked the end of the 2008 Penn State women's tennis season as the team fell to Iowa 4-1.

The Nittany Lions finished the year 8-14 and 2-8 in Big Ten play beating ranked teams in Wisconsin and Michigan State on the road.  

Softball
The Nittany Lion softball team saw their season come to an end in a 3-0 loss to Michigan at Nittany Field in the regular season finale.  With a 6-12 record in conference, Penn State finished ninth in the conference and did not qualify for the Big Ten Tournament.

The Lions' Ashley Esparza was named to the All-Big Ten third team after hitting .287 and recording an ERA of 1.54.

Baseball
The Penn State Baseball team overcame a three run deficit in the top of the ninth inning to take an 8-7 lead over Indiana in game seven of the Big Ten Tournament. Unfortunately a walk off grand slam in the bottom of the inning ended the Nittany Lions' season in heartbreaking fashion.

Penn State finished third in the Big Ten, marking the first time in program history that the Nittany Lions finished in the top three of the conference in back-to-back season.

Four Nittany Lions earned All-Big Ten honors with P Drew O'Neil earning a first team nod, P Mike Wanamaker being placed on the second team, and C Joe Blackburn and DH Rob Yodice being named to the third team.

Women's outdoor track and field
The Nittany Lions women's track and field team won the program's first outdoor Big Ten Championship behind several strong performances.  Shana Cox won the individual title in the 200-meters and 400-meters, while Aleesha Barber pulled off the upset in the 100-meter hurdles.

The 4x400 relay of Dominique Barber, Aleesha Barber, Gayle Hunter, and Shana Cox continued their success from the indoor season, winning the Big Ten Championship title and posting a school record time of 3:28.92 at the NCAA East Regional to win the event.

Penn State also had victorious performances at the East Regional from Cox in the 200-meters and 400-meters, Bridget Franek in the steeplechase and Karlee McQuillen's in the javelin.

Men's outdoor track and field
The Men's squad earned a qualifier in Clarence Smith who placed third in the triple jump at the NCAA East Regionals. Senior Mark Miller finished sixth in the 800-meters and looking for an at large bid to the NCAA Championships.

Information for this report provided by gopsusports.com.com and bigten.org.

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