Traverse City Record-Eagle

College Sports

December 19, 2009

Glass, Penn State win national title

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Penn State became the first team to win three straight volleyball titles Saturday night, overcoming a two-set deficit to beat Texas in five and extend its record winning streak to 102 straight games.

Megan Hodge led the Nittany Lions (38-0) with 21 kills, including the final one that touched off a wild celebration at midcourt.

"They just won three national championships in a row," Penn State coach Russ Rose said. "Not a lot of people have done stuff like that. Our seniors just willed us to the win."

Leland All-American setter Alisha Glass is one of those seniors.

Penn State's 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13 win helped it stake a claim as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, volleyball team in NCAA history. And maybe one of the best college teams ever.

The winning streak is second in Division I team sports behind the Miami men's tennis program's 137 straight victories from 1957-64.

The Nittany Lions led 22-19 in the first set and were on the brink of going ahead early. Then Texas called timeout, regrouped and rallied for six straight points to put Penn State behind, an unfamiliar position during most of its incredible run.

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  • Thursday, April 1, 2010
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  • Thursday, March 25, 2010
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  • Monday, March 15, 2010
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  • Thursday, February 4, 2010
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  • Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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  • Tuesday, December 22, 2009
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  • Monday, December 21, 2009
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  • Saturday, December 19, 2009
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  • Monday, December 14, 2009
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  • Saturday, December 12, 2009
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  • Friday, December 4, 2009
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  • Friday, November 20, 2009
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  • Thursday, November 19, 2009
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  • Friday, September 18, 2009
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