Just Takin' Care of Business with Pickin' Nits

This story keeps getting better as we keep flipping through the calendar. The collaborative success throughout this entire athletic program for fall sports has brought a new sense of support from the entire Penn State community.

It's absolutely scintillating to come here every week and put together a depiction that falls short of what is really going with everyone involved in Penn State athletics this fall.

Something special is brewing in Happy Valley. All that we know for now is when the respective seasons start to wind down, odds are Penn State will be in the thick of things.

Let's go!

Cross Country

The men finished 11th out of 24 opponents and the women finished fifth out of 20 this past weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational. Freshman Elizabeth Chikotas had the best finish out of all individual Nittany Lion runners coming in 14th place. It was the second best time for a freshman on the women's side.

As for the men, junior Glen Burkhardt finished 35th leading the men with a 4:48 mile pace. The men are still trying to climb over the top-30 threshold in the national rankings.

This Week Ahead: Both teams will co-host the Penn State Invitational on Saturday morning in State College. Let's hope home-field, home-turf, or at least home-track advantage helps the Nits out this weekend.

Field Hockey

Penn State handled their business on the east coast this weekend in great fashion outscoring their two opponents 7-0.

The 5-0 win over Drexel was led by senior Taylor Herold's two goals while outshooting the Dragons 14-7. Four other Nittany Lions contributed in on the scoring column.

Dominance didn't stop there, however, for the No. 9 ranked Nittany Lions. A 2-0 victory was scratched out after goals from Herold and senior Laura Gebhart to take down the No. 14 Temple Owls.

Senior goalkeeper Kylie Licata totaled seven saves this weekend. Keep holding the fort down, Kylie! #DefenseWinsChampionships

This Week Ahead: It's been a while since Penn State only had one game in a week, but the Nittany Lions will only travel to Maryland to take on the Terps on Friday this week.

Soccer

A record 1,510 fans visited Emmitt Field at Bucknell to see the No. 4 Nittany Lions take down the Bison 2-0 on Wednesday. Senior Mikey Minutillo and junior Brian James each had goals on the evening. Minutillo trails only his striking partner, sophomore Connor Maloney, in goals scored in the Big Ten.

Speaking of Maloney, he chipped in the lone goal to get out of a cold dogfight with Rutgers on Saturday night 1-0. Despite Penn State outshooting Rutgers 22-5, it took until the 79th minute for the Nittany Lions to take control of the match.

Senior goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton is still God with the hair of Wolverine.

The women got a gift from Minnesota in their 1-0 victory on Friday night. A Gopher defender tried sending a pass back to the goalkeeper, but was out of her reach and ended up being the deciding goal in a tight battle.

Freshman Emily Ogle and sophomore Salina Wiliford each had goals to knock off the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers 2-0 to end out the week.

I've seen Wiliford play this season and she's the Aaron Craft of this team meaning she's a tough and pesky defender that you'd hate to play against, but you want every person on the team to exemplify her toughness.

This Week Ahead: The men get a week off before heading to Maryland on Sunday with a great Big Ten showdown with the Terps. The women bring in Rutgers for their first Big Ten trip to Jeffrey Field.

Volleyball

It was a humbling experience this past weekend for Penn State. The Nittany Lions dropped to No. 8 Nebraska in Lincoln 3-1 despite great performances from junior Megan Courtney and freshman Ali Frantti.

Penn State took the first set 25-12, but then lost three tight sets to seal their fate.

Business was handled in Iowa City on Saturday, thought: 3-0 over Iowa.

Everyone knew this team would be vulnerable at times this season, but it's not like their losses to Stanford and Nebraska have been blowouts. This team is still one of the best in the country for more reasons I can count and they'll be alright.

It's only the second week in October and the Big Ten schedule will help this team for tournament play.

This Week Ahead: Northwestern visits Rec Hall on Wednesday night and Illinois comes into town on Saturday night.