Pronounced: Christa • Har-MOTTO

Lion Career
2006 (Sophomore): AVCA Second Team All-America ... AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region ... First Team All-Big Ten ... Big Ten Player of the Week (10/2) ... Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team ... Penn State Invitational All-Tournament Team ... LSU Classic All-Tournament Team ... unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten ... Academic All-Big Ten ... played in 34 of 35 matches of the year and 111 of 114 games ... ranked first on the team in blocks per game (1.58), second on the squad in hitting percentage (.405) and third on the team in kills per game (2.85) ... average of 1.58 blocks per game ranks tied for 10th on Penn State's all-time single-season record list, equaling Terri Zemaitis' 1997 mark ... her hitting percentage mark placed her second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation and her blocks per game average put her second in the conference and 14th in the country ... had at least three kills in every match of the year, including 14 double-digit kill matches ... set a new career best with 17 kills on .483 hitting at Minnesota (10/28) ... garnered conference Player of the Week honors after averaging 4.83 kills per game on .650 hitting at Indiana and Purdue (9/29-30) ... hit for a .500 percentage or better on 13 occasions, including attacking a career-best .812 (13-0-16) at Purdue (9/30) ... posted at least one block in every match, including tying a career-best with 13 blocks versus Wisconsin (10/7) ... also reached double-digit blocking numbers in the NCAA Second Round win over Hofstra (12/2) with 11 stuffs ... notched at least five blocks in 18 matches ... also provided 11 service aces and 33 digs ... tallied a career-high two aces four times, including at Illinois (10/15), versus Michigan (10/20), at Minnesota (10/28) and against Iowa (11/11) ... also racked up a personal-best five digs against the Gophers.

2005 (Freshman): AVCA Honorable Mention All-America ... AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region ... First Team All-Big Ten ... Big Ten All-Freshman Team ... Big Ten Player of the Week (Oct. 10) ... AVCA/NACWAA Showcase All-Tournament Team ... Penn State Classic Most Outstanding Player ... one of only four freshman to ever be named First Team All-Big Ten, joining fellow freshman Nicole Fawcett along with Bonnie Bremner and Lauren Cacciamani, who both earned the honor in 1996 ... also became the second PSU freshman to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors ... started the first 29 matches of the year before missing the final Big Ten weekend and all three matches of the NCAA Tournament with a knee injury ... set the Penn State record for blocks in a four-game match with 13 versus Southern California (8/31) ... led the team in blocking with 1.50 blocks per game, good for 12th on the single-season record chart ... recorded 25 matches with three or more blocks, including 14 matches with five or more blocks ... ranked second on the team and third in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.356), including hitting .378 for third in conference-only matches ... ranked second on the team in kills per game with 2.96 ... recorded at least six kills in 28 of 29 matches ... had 14 multiple-kill matches, including a career-high 14 versus Stanford (8/26) ... recorded her first career double-double with 12 kills on .571 hitting with 13 blocks against Southern California (8/31).

High School
Three-year volleyball letterwinner and two-year basketball letterwinner at Hopewell High School in Hopewell Township, Pa. ... team captain for the Vikings in 2004 ... Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year in 2004 ... two-time Prep Volleyball High School All-American ... 2004-2005 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Female High School Athlete of the Year ... a member of the 2004 USA Women's Junior National Team that won the NORCECA Championship in Winnipeg, Canada ... also selected to the 2005 USA Junior National Team that competed in Ankara, Turkey, at the FIVB Under-20 World Championships ... two-time Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Athlete of the Week ... Mizuno First Team All-American following senior season, also picking up Beaver County Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Female Athlete of the Year accolades ... two-time first team all-state, all-WPIAL and all-section ... posted a scholastic team record of 75-4 through three years ... recorded a school-record 186 blocks during junior season in 2003 ... also posted a school-record .595 hitting percentage in senior year to go along with 448 kills, 376 digs and 172 blocks ... led the team to a No. 1 ranking in the state of Pennsylvania and the 2004 section, WPIAL and state championships, winning every tournament entered prior to the postseason ... also section and AA WPIAL champions in 2002 and 2003 ... helped Hopewell to a 59-0 record against WPIAL opponents from 2001 to 2005 and a 103-match winning streak against section opponents ... member of the Pittsburgh Renaissance Volleyball Club that qualified for the Junior Olympic Nationals in 2004 and 2005 ... member of the National Honor Society ... earned the KDKA Extra Effort Award ... a four-year scholar athlete ... named the Lions Club Student of the Month ... was a member of the Principal's Student Leadership Advisory Board.

Personal
Born Christa Deanne Harmotto on Oct. 12, 1986 in Sewickley, Pa. ... parents are Robert and Constance Harmotto ... has two brothers, Nathan (18) and Nolan (14) ... father Robert played basketball at Juniata College ... brother Nathan will be attending Washington and Jefferson College (Washington, Pa., outside of Pittsburgh), where he will play football ... majoring in education ... names hobbies as snowboarding, art and scrapbooking, favorite musical group as Sugarland, favorite school subject as math, favorite pro sports team as the Pittsburgh Steelers, favorite athlete as Heinz Ward, favorite food as Gnocchi's, favorite book as "The Winner Within" by Pat Riley, favorite TV show as "Desperate Housewives," favorite movie as "Because I Said So," favorite actor as Will Smith, favorite actress as Sandra Bullock and favorite place to visit as Hilton Head, S.C. ... nicknames are Motti, Chri.

Quoting Russ Rose
"Christa has taken a giant step up from where she was last year, both physically and in awareness of what she needs to do to be her best as the season progresses. She is incredibly strong, and at times nearly unstoppable from an offensive standpoint. She plays hard, plays well with her teammates and if she has a healthy season, she'll get the recognition that she deserves as one of the nation's top middles. She is as good a teammate as she is a player."

Harmotto's Expectations
"Staying healthy for the entire season and contributing to put our team in the best position to achieve the goals we have our eye on."