Penn State finishes fall season fifth in Directors' Cup standings

University Park, Pa. — With the entire fall sports season now tallied, Penn State ends the fall season in fifth place overall in the 2007-08 U.S Sports Academy Directors' Cup Standings. With 303 points, Penn State only trails Oregon by one point for fourth place and third place Stanford by 12 points. California is in first place with 370 while Southern California is in second with 343.

Penn State is the highest ranked team in the Big Ten following the fall season. This marks the ninth time in the Directors' Cup's 15-year history that Penn State has been in the top five in the standing for the Cup following the conclusion of the fall season .

On the strength of the 33rd Top 25 ranking under Hall of Fame Coach Joe Paterno, the football team picked up 49 points for Penn State after posting its third consecutive bowl win. The Nittany Lions were No. 25 in the final USA Today Coaches poll. Penn State completed a 9-4 season by rallying from a 14-0 first quarter deficit to defeat Texas A&M, 24-17, in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29. Senior All-America linebacker Dan Connor became the school's career tackle leader, finishing with 419, and won the 2007 Bednarik Award as the nation's top defensive player. Five Nittany Lions earned first team All-Big Ten accolades. Over the past three seasons, the Nittany Lions are 29-9 (76.3), tied with Auburn for 13th nationally in winning percentage.

Previously this past fall, the women's volleyball, women's soccer and field hockey teams all picked up points for the Nittany Lions. Women's volleyball won the national championship while the field hockey team advanced to the NCAA championship game. The women's soccer team also continued its storied tradition by advancing on to the sweet 16.

The Penn State women's volleyball team capped off another outstanding year by capturing the program's second NCAA national championship with a thrilling five-game win over top-seeded Stanford, earning Penn State 100 points. Sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player and also earned AVCA first team All-America honors along with junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) and junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett. Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) picked up AVCA second team All-America recognition. The Nittany Lions again dominated the Big Ten, running the table with a perfect 20-0 mark as Harmotto was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Nittany Lion head coach Russ Rose was recognized with several awards, including Big Ten and AVCA National Coach of the Year honors, while also being inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame.

Head coach Char Morett's field hockey squad turned it on at exactly the right time as the Nittany Lions, after finishing fourth in the Big Ten, pulled off a pair of stunning upsets to reach the NCAA national championship game for the second time in school history. The Nittany Lions first needed to come from behind to defeat Virginia for the second time this year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, before knocking off two-time defending champion Maryland on its home field in the second round, to advance to the national semifinals for the seventh time in school history. Then Penn State topped Wake Forest, who had won the last three national titles prior to Maryland's run and was making its eighth straight appearance in the Final Four. Penn State fell short to undefeated North Carolina in the national championship game, finishing second in the nation and earning 90 points. Spurred along by the amazing postseason run, Morett was named the NFHCA Mideast Region Coach of the Year for the sixth time in her career and the second time in the last three years. Four Nittany Lions were named All-Americans, including first-teamers Kiersten Wood (Lititz, Pa.) and Jen Long (Doylestown, Pa.).

Winning its unprecedented 10th consecutive Big Ten title this season, Penn State's women's soccer team earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and made it all the way to the third round to grab the Nittany Lions 64 Cup points. Erica Walsh guided the team to 18-4-2 record and a final ranking of 12 in her first year as Penn State's head coach. Two Nittany Lions earned NSCAA All-America honors with sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (Seymour, Conn.) becoming the third goalkeeper in program history to receive first team honors. Naeher was also the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year. Striker Katie Schoepfer (Waterford, Conn.) garnered second team NSCAA All-America honor to mark the ninth time that more than one Nittany Lion from the same squad has earned All-America honors.

The U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. The United States Sports Academy, based in Daphne, Ala., is the program's sponsor. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 20 sports — 10 women's and 10 men's. The first winter release will be published on March 13.