Aug. 6, 2008
University Park, Pa.. - The defending national champion Penn State women's volleyball team opens preseason practice this weekend and begins the season at Hawaii on August 29. Following is the team's 2008 outlook:
With all seven starters - including four AVCA All-Americans - returning from the 2007 NCAA National Championship team that captured its fifth consecutive outright Big Ten title, some might be overly confident regarding the success of the 2008 squad. Head coach Russ Rose isn't one of those people. While still believing in his team and his program, he also recognizes that the 2008 squad and season hold new and different challenges.
"We have a great opportunity to work and get better, and we have some very talented players at key positions, and that should certainly lead us to be encouraged," said Rose, who will be entering his 30th season at the helm of the Penn State program, and is one of only three active coaches to surpass 900 career wins. "It's a long season, and with a new scoring system, it's going to place new demands on the players and the staff. We play a competitive schedule and compete in a great conference, and all of those things are certainly going to prepare us to see if we can make another post-season run."
In addition to the nine letterwinners returning from last year's 34-2 squad who finished the Big Ten season with a 20-0 record, the Nittany Lions will add five talented newcomers, including two with prior collegiate experience. These five players will be looked upon to fill the void left by seven lost letterwinners, two of whom played significant roles during their four-year careers.
"The 2008 team is a totally different team because we're missing so many components from last year's team," stated Rose. "You can't replace the leadership and sacrifice that Melissa Walbridge and Kate Price gave this team. If you're missing 40% of your players, it's hard to think that it is the same team and the same chemistry. Success always ends up being in the hands of the players. It depends on their ability to get along, listen, work hard and stay healthy."
Outside Hitter
Penn State returns arguably the best left-side tandem in the country with senior Nicole Fawcett and junior Megan Hodge, who were both tabbed AVCA First Team All-Americans a year ago.
"It would be easy to identify that the outside hitter position is one of our strengths," said Rose. "There are multiple All-American awards garnered within that position already and Megan and Nicole are both very strong from the endline and attacking from the back row. They can hit a variety of sets and are both strong at the net from a blocking standpoint. They are a great tandem and if we can keep them healthy and monitor their jumps, they are going to be key factors in the success of this year's team."
Fawcett is a three-time AVCA All-American and heads into the 2008 season with 1,512 career kills, good for fifth all-time on Penn State's career kills list. A member of the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team, Fawcett averaged 4.20 kills per game on .387 hitting with 12 aces, 22 digs and 26 blocks in NCAA action a year ago. For the season, Fawcett racked up 533 kills - an average of 4.44 kills per game - and her .313 hitting percentage ranked her 10th in the Big Ten. She led the team in service aces with 47, a mark that more than doubled her career total prior to the season, and also produced 177 digs and 101 blocks.
Hodge is a two-time AVCA All-American and ended the 2007 campaign with 561 total kills, the sixth-highest single-season kill total in Penn State women's volleyball history. She was named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player and averaged 4.45 kills per game on .363 hitting with 40 digs in NCAA Tournament play, while also setting a new season high with 26 kills against Stanford in the title match. An all-around player, Hodge is also a mainstay in the Lion's passing rotation and defensive scheme as she recorded 13 double-doubles last year. She ranked second on the squad with 2.54 digs per game and 310 total digs, and also provided 35 service aces and 88 total blocks.
AVCA High School All-American Katie Kabbes, a 6-5 product from Raleigh, N.C., will join the mix and have the ability to compete on both the left and right side. Also posing a threat from the right side is Blair Brown, last year a Big Ten All-Freshman team honoree, along with junior Kelsey Ream and perhaps junior Alisha Glass.
"Blair and Alisha are exceptional blockers and Katie and Kelsey give us good depth and multiple personnel options," said Rose. "The right side may not be the main focal point of our offense but certainly their strength is that they are good at the net. Alisha has had the heaviest arm on the team since she came in as a freshman, so we might have opportunities to experiment more with the 6-2 and try some thing we weren't able to do before."
Kabbes comes to Penn State following an extremely successful scholastic career at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, N.C., where she helped the school to three consecutive NCHSAA 2A State Championships. She ended her career as the school's record holder in career kills (1,500), career aces (221) and single-season kills (478). The 2007-08 Cardinal Gibbons Co-Female Athlete of the Year, Kabbes was twice the NCHSAA 2A Championship Most Outstanding Player and her No. 4 jersey has been retired.
Brown returns to the right side after recording 210 kills on .366 hitting there during her redshirt freshman campaign. A 2007 Big Ten All-Freshman Team honoree, Brown produced the fourth-highest blocking total on the squad with 101 and had double-digit kills in four matches. She provided a career-high nine blocks against VCU and added eight at Indiana, while setting a personal-best with 17 kills on .739 hitting at Iowa.
Ream saw action mainly as a serving specialist during the 2007 season, with three service aces including the NCAA Regional Final match-winner against Brigham Young at Rec Hall. She recorded three blocks against Saint John's while also adding in three digs.
Although she has directed the Nittany Lion offense to two consecutive national-bests in team hitting percentage, Alisha Glass is also an offensive threat herself. She ended last season with 91 kills on .327 hitting, including a season-high seven kills while attacking at a .400 clip in the National Championship win over Stanford. While in high school, Glass produced a single-match record of 48 kills in the 2006 Michigan state finals and is still the national high school record holder in career kills (3,584) and aces (937).
Middle Hitter
What the squad lost in depth and experience from the graduation of 2005 AVCA All-American Melissa Walbridge, it makes up for with sheer athleticism in their returning duo. Senior AVCA First Team All-American Christa Harmotto and 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Arielle Wilson, both ranked in the top five in the nation in hitting percentage, will provide point-scoring opportunities with both their offensive and defensive prowess.
"In my mind, we certainly have one of the better middle attacks in the country in Christa and Arielle, who both have the ability to hit in front of and behind the setter," said Rose. "Kelsey Ream could also see time in the middle as she is a calm individual who can enter the game in the instance that we need her and provide a different look and tempo to our opponents. We're strong in the middle, but our success there depends on how the entire squad plays. It really isn't a positional breakdown. The success of the middle hitters is dependent on how the team plays together and what we need to attack our opponents."
The 2007 Big Ten Player of the Year, Harmotto shattered the conference record for individual hitting percentage, attacking at a .492 clip for the season, which was also good for second in the nation. She just missed setting the NCAA Tournament record for hitting percentage (.564) as she attacked at a .548 mark with an average of 3.00 kills per game in the Lion's 20 tournament games. Harmotto produced 22 double-digit kill matches and ranked second on the team and in the conference, and sixth in the nation with a 1.65 blocks-per-game average. Her 167 block assists during 2007 is the second-highest total in Penn State history and her 516 career blocks make her only the sixth Lion ever to surpass the 500-career-blocks plateau.
Wilson came into her own as the 2007 season progressed and her growth eventually led her to being named the Most Outstanding Player of the University Park NCAA Regional Championship. She earned her first career start against Stanford on Sept. 15 and in her first Big Ten start just two weeks later, she averaged 3.60 kills per game on .536 hitting with 3.20 blocks per game in wins over Purdue and Indiana to capture Big Ten Player of the Week recognition. She ranked second on the team and in the league while sitting fifth in the nation with a hitting percentage of .445 and became just the third freshman ever to lead the Big Ten in blocking with an average of 1.78 blocks per game in conference-only matches. In the NCAA National Semifinal win over California, Wilson set a new career record for hitting percentage, attacking at a .909 mark with 10 kills and zero errors in 11 attempts while adding six blocks.
Setter
To quarterback the offense, the Nittany Lions return 2007 AVCA Second Team All-American Alisha Glass, who last season led the squad to the highest combined team hitting percentage in the nation at .350. Glass will be supported by junior college transfer Kimi Hohl and true freshman Megan Shifflett.
"Alisha continues to develop into one of the top talents in the country," said Rose. "In a lot of people's eyes, she was the biggest surprise at the national championship last year because those people hadn't seen us play. I know the staff feels great about her development. She really grabbed the fifth game against Stanford and her competitive desire showed. We lost an experienced back-up setter so Kimi and Megan are going to have to be strong at that position to allow us to compete in practice."
In her two years as the starting setter for the Nittany Lions, Glass has directed the Penn State offense to a combined hitting percentage of .336 while averaging 16.94 kills per game as a team. Under her guidance, the Lions demolished the NCAA Tournament record for team hitting percentage (besting the previous mark of .369 set by the 1995 Long Beach State team), attacking at a combined .424 clip while averaging 16.75 kills per game through six matches. In 2007, Glass dished out 1,484 total assists and also ranked fourth on the team in digs with 198. A member of the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team, she tallied 108 total blocks, the highest number on the team from a non-middle hitter, and set a new five-game rally-scoring-era record with 14 blocks at Illinois.
Hohl comes to Penn State after leading Kishwaukee (Ill.) Community College to two NJCAA Division II National Championships. She twice set the school record for assists in a season and was an AVCA First Team All-American in 2007 during her sophomore campaign. Named the NJCAA National Championship Most Outstanding Player in 2007, Hohl recorded 3,191 career assists during her tenure with the Kougars.
Shifflett comes to Penn State after a successful career at Langley (Va.) High School. She helped her squad to a 78-12 scholastic record and was a two-time district Player of the Year, also earning First Team All-State and Northern Region Player of the Year honors.
Libero/Defensive Specialist
Penn State returns some experience to the back row while also adding talent and quickness. Senior Roberta Holehouse last season led the team in digs while sophomore Alyssa D'Errico set a new career high in the national championship match against Stanford. The Nittany Lions add Boston College transfer Cathy Quilico to the squad and also will rely on Megan Shifflett, Kimi Hohl and freshman Heather Tice to provide depth.
"We lost a lot in the back row with the departure of some key players," said Rose. "Even though Kate Price was a former Big Ten Freshman of the Year while playing as an outside hitter, I felt she was the best clutch passer in the conference and her leadership was very critical to us last season. We also lost Kara Callahan, Ann Naylor, Michele Osterrieder and Caitlyn Hess, four players who worked hard in practice and had the ability to bring great energy to the gym and keep the ball in play. With Cathy, Megan, Kimi and Heather coming in, I think our back row skills may be a little better than last year, but we'll certainly miss the talents of our departed players."
Holehouse led the team last season with 471 digs as the squad's libero, a mark that places her seventh all-time on the single-season record list. She averaged 3.92 digs per game to rank first on the team and ninth in the Big Ten, and her total was produced on a squad that also ranked first in the Big Ten and second in the nation with 3.82 blocks per game. Holehouse recorded double-digit dig numbers in 30 matches and averaged 5.33 digs per game in NCAA Regional Championship wins over Michigan and Brigham Young. For the NCAA Tournament, she led the squad with 87 digs (4.35 digs per game) to go along with her team-high-tying 12 service aces.
D'Errico was a mainstay in the Penn State passing and defensive rotations last season, recording 108 digs for the year, good for sixth on the team. She set a new career high with 12 digs in the NCAA Championship match win over Stanford and she averaged 2.33 digs per game at the Penn State Classic, with a total of 21 digs. D'Errico produced 13 service aces over the course of the season and also added in 10 assists.
Quilico transferred to Penn State from Boston College, where she served as both a libero and defensive specialist. She led the team with 479 total digs for an average of 4.20 digs per game, a mark that ranked her ninth in the ACC. She posted 25 double-digit dig matches, including seven contests with 20 or more digs. Quilico set a personal-best with 33 digs in the five-game win over Virginia on Nov. 17 and also produced 25 digs in her first collegiate match at Delaware on Aug. 24.
Tice joins the team from Parkland High School in Allentown, Pa. She helped the Trojans to an 18-5 record her senior year, garnering first team all-conference, all-district and all-state honors. She was a two-time Parkland Outstanding Volleyball Player of the Year and led her squad to its highest-ever finish in the state, also being inducted into the Parkland Hall of Fame.
Schedule
Matches against 11 teams that competed in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, including five ranked in the season-ending AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, highlight the 2008 Penn State women's volleyball schedule.
Among its opponents, the defending national champion Nittany Lions will take on NCAA National Semifinalist UCLA and NCAA Regional Semifinalist Michigan and Michigan State along with NCAA Tournament participants Minnesota, Purdue, Ohio, Long Island, Illinois State, Hawaii, Louisville and Wisconsin.
Penn State holds a 383-66 (.853) record over opponents it will face during the 2008 regular season, including a 297-43 (.874) Big Ten record since joining the conference for the 1991 season. The slate also features first-time meetings with Ohio and Saint Louis in the sport of women's volleyball.
The Nittany Lions open up the Big Ten schedule at home against Purdue on Friday, Sept. 26 at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall and then host Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 1:00 p.m.
For the second consecutive year, Penn State University and Rec Hall have been chosen as one of four host sites for the 2008 NCAA Women's Volleyball Regional Championship, to be held Dec. 12-13. The Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., will be the site of the 2008 NCAA National Championship semifinals and final on Dec. 18 and 20.
The five-time defending Big Ten champion Nittany Lions have hosted at least one round of the NCAA Tournament in 22 of the possible 28 years, including the last 19 consecutive seasons. Penn State has played 39 NCAA matches at Rec Hall since 1981, boasting a 36-3 record in those contests. The Nittany Lions and Rec Hall hosted the Regional Championships last year and also were home to the event in 2005, 1999, 1998 and 1997.
Penn State is one of only two teams - with the other being Stanford - to participate in all 27 NCAA Tournaments since its inception in 1981. The Nittany Lions hold a 54-25 all-time NCAA Tournament record, including six trips to the NCAA National Semifinals and two National Championships (1999, 2007).
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.