STATE COLLEGE, Pa., April 10, 2002 - Three more players have committed to play for the Nittany Lion women's soccer team beginning the 2002 season which was recently announced by head coach Paula Wilkins. Janelle Hoak (South Park, Pa.), Mary Ellen Oleksiuk (Willow Grove, Pa.) and Jennifer Scott (Doylestown, Pa.) join an already talented 2006 class.

Hoak was a four-year starter for the South Park High Eagles. A 5-6 midfielder, she helped to lead the squad to four Section 4 championships. A Tribune Review Girls Player of the Year as a senior, the Eagles won the WPIAL AA crown in 2001. Hoak is a two-time all-section and all-star pick. A Post Gazette Elite Eleven and All-Start honoree, she was also named all-state as a senior.

A 5-7 goalkeeper, Oleksiuk was a four-year starter in the net for the Archbishop Wood Vikings. The younger sister of three-time All-American and Nittany Lion standout Emily Oleksiuk, she helped her high school squad to the Philadelphia Catholic League Championships in 1999. A member of the Council Rock F.C. Destroyers, she is helped the team to the Region I ODP U-14 championships in 1998 and the U-17 title in 2001.

Hailing from Doylestown, Pa., Scott is a 5-3 defender. As a starter for the Central Bucks East Patriots, she helped the team to the co-Colonial Conference championships while earning all-league honors twice. The Patriots also reached the District I quaterfinals twice. Scott also played for the EPYSA ODP team from 1996-2001. In 2000 and 2001, she helped the FC Challenge club team to back-to-back Pennsylvania state titles.

Hoak, Oleksiuk and Scott will join Amanda Brown (Manasquan, N.J.), Natalie Jacobs (Centreville, Pa.), Carmelina Moscato (Mississaugua, Ontario) and Tiffany Weimer (North Haven, Conn.), who signed National Letters of Intent, this fall.

"We are excited about the new recruits to our women's soccer. Each one brings a special talent they will contribute to the program," says Wilkins of the incoming freshmen. "I am looking forward to working with these players day in and day out."

Under the direction of co-Big Ten Coach of the Year Paula Wilkins, the Penn State women's soccer team went 21-4-1 in 2001 and made its fourth-consecutive trip to the NCAA quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions also won the Big Ten Tournament crown for the third time in four years and claimed the regular season title for the fourth-straight year.