Team USA downed Brazil to win the FIVB World Grand Prix of Volleyball which included 16 of the World’s top National teams. It was held from Aug 4 thru the 28th. Team USA, ranked no. 2, ended up playing Brazil, ranked no. 1, for a 26-26, 25-20, 25-21 over Brazil for the Championship match. Team USA defeated Serbia in the semifinal 25-22, 25-20, 25-21. Team USA had lost to both Brazil and Serbia earlier in Aug. but got it together to defeat both of them when it really counted—-Brazil was 13-0 going into the Championship Match. The matches were held in China, Hong Kong and Japan, with the semifinal and Championship matches being held in Macau, China. Through the month, a total of 90 matches were held leading up to the Title Match.

Alisha Glass and Lindsey Berg set for Team USA. Alisha, at 23, was the youngest player for Tean USA and Berg four year’s older and had prior Olypmic experience.

You can read more at www.fivb.org/EN/volleyball/competitions/WorldGrandPrix/2011/.

The top-ranked Nittany Lions beat No. 20 Illinois (25-16, 25-19, 25-12) on Saturday and No. 19 Purdue (25-12, 25-15, 25-21) on Friday to increase their record to 14-0. Penn State has yet to lose a set in any match this season.

Leading the Nittany Lions is junior setter Alisha Glass (Leland). Glass had 36 assists, two kills, two digs and one block while helping PSU hit .453 against Illinois and had 34 assists, two kills, four digs and two blocks against Purdue.

Read College Notes: Perfection for Glass in the Record Eagle

One of their stories is about former Leland volleyball star Alisha Glass helping Penn State win the 2007 NCAA Volleyball Championship.

Updated!
Here is the Leelanau Enterprise’s 2007 Year in Review!

Ben Darling (Freshman, Suttons Bay)
Men’s Soccer, Kalamazoo

Alisha Glass (Sophomore, Leland)
Women’s Volleyball, Penn State

Read College Notes: Burke comes up big for Colgate in the Record Eagle

“I think it’s pretty exciting,” said Treece, who has won four state titles in track and three in cross country. “All six of us are qualified. It’s just exciting that I got something like that.”

Treece is headed to Notre Dame this fall.

Read Treece state’s top athlete in the Record Eagle

1. Leelanau Enterprise Sports – The Leelanau Enterprise has revamped their website and now will be posting more stories online, including sports! Check out their sports department! I of course will be linking to them often as they provide another way to follow our favorite Leelanau teams.

2. Leelanau Classic – I only wish this event would have been around when I was coaching! Lake Leelanau St. Mary defeated Suttons Bay 4-1 to capture the baseball title and Glen Lake cruised to the softball title with a 17-0 win over Suttons Bay in the championship game.

Read Korson sparks Eagles to title in the Record Eagle

3. Beach Bums ready for 2007 – Opening Day for the Beach Bums is one month from today (at Kalamazoo Kings on May 23rd) and plenty of new things are on tap as they start their second summer in Traverse City. Lots of new faces, including a new manager, should make for another exciting season in the Frontier League. See what the Beach Bums have in store for 2007!

4. NHL & NBA Playoffs – It’s never hard to get a prediction in Leelanau County for the Pistons and Red Wings. The Pistons are a popular choice to be crowned NBA Champions this summer, and the Wings well who knows. The Wings did get out of the first round, and did play pretty well, in 4 out of the 6 games. If the Dominator can hold up, they have an excellent chance in my opinion. Whatever happens Hockey Town North is buzzing with playoff excitement right now!

5. The Season Switch – Nick Edson of the Leelanau Enterprise reported last week that longtime volleyball coach Laurie Glass will be stepping down, at least for the time being, as she can’t coach and follow her daughter Alisha at Penn State because of the girls volleyball season being moved. My opinion is that it’s a shame that a few people can ruin a good thing for many. The seasons seemed to be working just fine for 99.9% of the athletes, but a couple of parents couldn’t handle their kid’s not getting scholarships.

If you want to let the me know what you think, you can always send me an email at leelanausportsguy@sportspig.com or post a comment!

Glass ranks seventh at 12.05 assists per game and eighth with 1.16 blocks per game. She is the only setter to be ranked among the conference leaders in both statistics.

Next up for Glass and the Nittany Lions are home matches versus Michigan on Friday and Michigan State on Saturday.

Read Glass steps up to challenge of leading No. 2 Penn State at ESPN.com

More Honors for Alisha Glass. She was voted Most Valuable Player at this weekend’s Penn State Classic Tournament. If you, or anyone, wants to read or see more, go to gopsusports.com under Women’s Volleyball —- there’s some good shots of her playing under the website’s Photo Gallery.

The Big Ten opener with Ohio State will be televised on CSTV this Wednesday at 7 p.m.—- thats on Dish or Direct TV. We have Charter Cable, so I go over to my wife’s employer who has Dish TV.

Thanks Bob!

Here’s the Official Penn State Women’s Volleyball site

The awards keep rolling in for freshman setter Alisha Glass. The former Leland Comet star has taken her game to Penn State, but that hasn’t stopped her from winning. The Nittany Lions are ranked #2 in the country and are off to a 8-0 start.

Here’s why she picked up the honors…

Versus the No. 7 Longhorns, Glass had a career-high 63 assists and recorded eight kills and 16 digs. She also tied her career bests for hitting (.438) and blocks (seven).

and

For the weekend, Glass averaged 13.38 assists per game, 2.88 digs per game and 1.50 blocks per game while directing the squad to a team hitting percentage of .327 with an average of 17.38 kills per game against two teams in the Top 15 in the nation. She also picked up her first career All-Tournament Team honor at the Time Warner Classic Texas Invitational.

Next up for Penn State is the Penn State Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Read Glass Tabbed Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week at GoPSUsports.com
Read Glass is Big Ten player of the week in the Record Eagle

Penn State continues action against the seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns at 6:30 p.m. CT today.

Read Glass leads No. 2 Penn State in the Record Eagle
Read No. 2 Women’s Volleyball Claws No. 15 Missouri, 3-0 at GoPSUsports.com