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Megan Hodge - A Champion's Journey

Penn State becomes 1st 3-Peat NCAA Division 1 Womens Volleyball National Champions

Penn State became the first team to win three straight volleyball titles Saturday night, overcoming a two-set deficit to beat Texas in five and extend its record-winning streak to 102 straight games.

Megan Hodge led the Nittany Lions (38-0) with 21 kills, including the final one that touched off a wild celebration at midcourt.
"They just won three national championships in a row," Penn State coach Russ Rose said. "Not a lot of people have done stuff like that. Our seniors just willed us to the win."

Click the Championship photo above to read the Facts and Stats Sheet

Penn State's 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13 win helped it stake a claim as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, volleyball team in NCAA history. And maybe one of the best college teams ever.

The winning streak is second in Division I team sports behind the Miami men's tennis program's 137 straight victories from 1957-64.
The Nittany Lions led 22-19 in the first set and were on the brink of going ahead early. Then Texas called timeout, regrouped and rallied for six straight points to put Penn State behind, an unfamiliar position during most of its incredible run.
The Nittany Lions had only lost six sets this season entering the final match, although one of those came in the semifinals against Hawaii, before dropping the first two to Texas. But Penn State regained its serving prowess and cruised through the next two sets and had only a few miscues in the final set before closing out the Longhorns.

2009 NCAA National Champions

Penn State 3-Peats with their 3-2 win over #2 ranked Texas after a 0-2 deficit. No other women's volleyball team has ever won back-to-back-to-back National Championships, and PSU is only the 3rd team to come from 2 sets down to capture a national title.

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DURHAM — Riverside High School graduate Megan Hodge of Durham has been nominated to the 12-woman U.S. Olympic volleyball team.
Pending approval from the U.S. Olympic Committee, a move which is considered a formality, U.S. Olympic Women’s Volleyball Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon selected setters Lindsey Berg (Honolulu) and Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.) for the Olympic team.
Middle blockers chosen for the squad are Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.), Christa Harmotto (Hopewell Township, Pa.) and Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.). Outside hitters earning a spot on the Olympic Games nomination roster are Hodge, Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) and Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah). Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) and Destinee Hooker (San Antonio, Texas) are opposites selected to the U.S. Olympic Games Team. Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.) and Tamari Miyashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii) are liberos being nominated to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games.
On Sunday, Hodge won most valuable player honors as Team USA downed China in the finals of the FIBV World Grand Prix. The performance provided a major boost to Hodge’s hopes of making the final U.S. Olympic volleyball team roster, a daunting task considering Team USA’s veteran Olympic makeup.“She really kicked the door in,” Megan’s father, Riverside volleyball coach Mike Hodge said Monday. “But that’s the way she’s always been. The higher they raise the bar, the better she performs. In my heart of hearts, I knew she’d come through.” The International Volleyball Federation (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) world title was Team USA’s third straight, a feat previously accomplished only by Brazil. Hodge, who has played professionally in Italy and Poland since completing her collegiate career at Penn State, started at outside hitter for Team USA in the five-match final round in Ningbo, China. She was in and out of the lineup in nine previous matches leading up to the China finals. Team USA went 14-0 in the tournament and in the finals played five games in five days beating Brazil, Thailand, Turkey and Cuba before eliminating China. Brazil, Thailand and China will be competing in the same pool as the U.S. in London during the Summer Olympics. Team USA as expected kept three outside hitters — Hodge’s position — on its final Olympic roster and Mike Hodge believes Megan likely arrived in China slotted as the No. 3, but with a chance to move into the starting two on the Olympic roster. In the Ningbo tournament, Hodge led all scorers in the five-game final round with 103 points on 89 kills, 13 blocks and an ace and was second among all spiker’s with a 43.8 kill percentage (89 of 203 attempts). She was also seventh in blocks with an average of 0.68 per set and third in digs with 1.84 per set. For the entire tournament — 14 matches — Hodge averaged 5.26 points converting 49.5 percent of her attacks for points — with a .376 hitting efficiency. She also added averages of 4.58 kills, 2.55 digs and 0.52 blocks per set. Hodge’s dad and mother, Carmen, both starred in volleyball as well, playing for the U.S. Virgin Islands national men’s and women’s teams, respectively. Megan was born in the Virgin Islands. She was the Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year in 2006 and was the North Carolina Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. Mike Hodge said the waiting to find out Megan’s Olympic status was tough to take.