UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Following two stellar performances this past Thursday and Sunday, Penn State field hockey sophomore Brittany Grzywacz (Collegeville, Pa.) has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. Grzywacz played a pivotal role in shutting out the Temple Owls and the Iowa Hawkeyes to improve Penn State 7-3 on the year and 1-0 in conference play.
After defeating Temple 4-0 on Thursday, the Nittany Lions faced the challenge of going into Iowa City to take on the 13th-ranked Hawkeyes, who lead the Big Ten in scoring margin, scoring average, shutouts, shots per game and goals per game. Penn State pitched a shutout on Iowa and Grzywacz led a defense that kept the Big Ten’s leading scorer Kim Scraper in check. The sophomore also recorded a defensive save in the game.
This is Penn State’s second consecutive Defensive Player of the Week award after redshirt junior Ayla Halus (Hershey, Pa.) earned the honor last week.
The Nittany Lions return home this Saturday to take on the Northwestern Wildcats at noon. The game will be broadcasted for tape delay on the Big Ten network.
Penn State hosts the 2011 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament from Nov. 3-6. Tickets for the Big Ten Tournament can be purchased by contacting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office at 814-865-5555. All session passes are $18 for adults and $12 for students/senior citizens. Single session tickets will run at $8 for adults and $5 for students/senior citizens. Groups of 15 people or more may also purchase tickets at $12 for all session passes and $5 for a single session.