Hopewell graduate Christa Harmotto has been named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week for her play with the Penn State women's volleyball team.

Harmotto led the No. 2-ranked Nittany Lions to four important Big Ten wins over the past two weeks, as Penn State improved to 17-0 and 6-0 in league action.

Harmotto, a 6-foot-2 sophomore midde hitter, set a career high with 16 kills in a match against Indiana, with those kills coming on a team-high .542 hitting percentage.

The following night in a crucial matchup with Purdue, Harmotto was virtually unstoppable, connecting on 13 of her 16 errorless swings to hit a career-best .812.

For the weekend, Harmotto averaged 4.83 kills per game on an astounding .650 hitting percentage through six games with 0.67 blocks per game.

Last weekend in a win over Wisconsin, Harmotto achieved another career high with 13 blocks, a mark that also ties the Penn State record for blocks in a three-game match, set by Robyn Goukas versus Ohio State on Nov. 18, 2000.

Harmotto is the fourth Penn State player to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season. Sophomore Nicole Fawcett and freshmen Alisha Glass and Megan Hodge were also winners.

A hot hand for Geneva

Beaver Falls graduate Justin Sciarro completed 16 of 22 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown to lead Geneva College to a 9-7 win over Seton Hill on Saturday. Sciarro, a 6-2, 220-pound redshirt senior, connected with Mike Lehman on a 6-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

Sciarro, a three-year starter, has completed 53 of 102 passes for 807 yards and four touchdowns, but has been intercepted six times. His favorite receiver is Luke Duriancik, a Kiski Area graduate who has 19 catches for 343 yards.

Sciarro and Duriancik connected on a school-record 98-yard touchdown pass in Week 2 when Geneva played Olivet Nazarene. Geneva takes a 2-2 record into Saturday's homecoming game against Walsh.

QV grad has killer effort

Quaker Valley graduate Janette Schneider recorded a match-high 20 kills to lead Robert Morris University in its 3-1 win over West Virginia.

Schneider is a 6-2 senior middle blocker has recorded 180 kills (3.0 per game) and 63 blocks (1.05 per game) for the season.

He earns PAC honor

North Hills graduate Mike Czerwien was named the Presidents' Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for Waynesburg College after his performance in a 23-16 victory against Thomas More.

Czerwien recorded seven tackles (six solo, one assist), three tackles for loss, and one sack. In the first half, the Yellow Jackets forced two fumbles, registered two sacks and held Thomas More to just 24 yards of total offense (50 passing, minus-26 rushing).

In five games, Czerwien leads the team with 28 solo tackles, 13 assists, 11 tackles for a loss, six sacks and one fumble recovery.

Pitt runner Bairs down

Shaler Area graduate Sam Bair ran his first race of the season for the Pitt men's cross country team on Sept. 29.

Bair, a junior, finished eighth at the Paul Short Invitational, which took place at Lehigh University, with a time of 24:32.00.

Bair placed 12th in the Big East Conference and ninth at the NCAA regionals last year.

RMU digs her effort

Baldwin graduate Tawnya Storino recorded 51 assists and 15 digs to lead Robert Morris University in its 3-1 win over West Virginia. Storino, a 5-9 junior setter, has 735 assists (11.0 per game) and 26 serving aces for the season.