Oct. 23, 2015
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By Anna Pitingolo, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa ââ'¬" Head coach Coquese Washington has added more talent to an already impressive freshman class with the addition of freshmen Leah Knizner and Sarah McMurtry as walk-ons.
Originally members of the Penn State club basketball team, Knizner and McMurtry jumped at the opportunity to tryout for the varsity squad. Once they signed up for walk-on tryouts, they were in for an intense couple weeks.
"The tryout process was obviously stressful, but really exciting," McMurtry said. "They got us right into practice, like the second day, right away, so it really gave us a good taste of what the season is going to be like."
Being one of six girls competing for limited spots on the team can come with a lot of different emotions, but Knizner kept those emotions at bay in order to bring her best to the court.
"I just tried not to get overwhelmed by all the different aspects going into it and just try to focus on playing the best I could," Knizner said.
A guard out of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Knizner has been playing basketball since she was in second grade. When she got to Penn State and decided that she wanted to try and walk-on to the basketball team, she started to work hard towards achieving that goal.
"I went home and practiced with my high school coach for a couple of weekends," Knizner said. "I got some shots up and just worked on some fundamentals."
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