Today in Penn State sports: Sept. 18, 2017

Everything you missed in Penn State sports — and isn’t elsewhere in the CDT — from Sept. 18, 2017:

PSU picked 4th in Big Ten poll

The Penn State men’s hockey team was picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten preseason coaches’ poll, released Monday.

The Nittany Lions are coming off a 25-12-2 season highlighted by their first NCAA tournament appearance. They are ranked behind preseason favorite Minnesota, No. 2 Notre Dame — new to the conference this year — and No. 3 Wisconsin. Ohio State was selected fifth, followed by Michigan and Michigan State.

Penn State goalie Peyton Jones and forward Denis Smirnov were among 17 players recognized on the conference’s preseason watch list. Jones, who was the Most Outstanding Player in last year’s Big Ten tournament, went 23-10-2 during the 2016-17 season. Smirnov led Penn State in points (47) and assists (28) in addition to ranking second in goals (19) last season.

The Nittany Lions open this season at Clarkson on Oct. 6.

Lee earns Big Ten honors

ROSEMONT, Ill. Simone Lee was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Nittany Lions to three wins in the Penn State Classic.

Lee led the Nittany Lions with 10 kills in the team’s 3-0 win over Yale last Friday. Lee then recorded a career-high five aces to go with 10 kills and two blocks in a 3-0 win over Wake Forest last Saturday. She earned MVP honors for the Penn State Classic.

Lee shared Co-Player of the Week honors with Michigan’s Carly Skjodt.

The Nittany Lions host Nebraska at 8 p.m. Friday.

PSU hires assistant AD

UNIVERSITY PARK Penn State has hired Kayla Matrunick as an assistant athletic director for performance nutrition services, the athletic department announced in a press release Monday.

Matrunick spent the past two-plus years at Louisville, where she was the director of sports nutrition. She also worked at Notre Dame in the same role. Matrunick, a 2005 Penn State graduate who competed on the cross country and track and field teams, will oversee performance nutrition education and daily nutrition-related activities for Penn State’s athletes.

This story was originally published September 18, 2017 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Today in Penn State sports: Sept. 18, 2017."