Russ Rose is back at the helm for his 40th season as the man in charge of Penn State women's volleyball. The Nittany Lions will finally be back on the hardwood Friday night in Rec Hall to face off against Eastern Kentucky to open their 2018 campaign.
Coming off of last season's Big Ten championship run and NCAA Tournament Final Four appearance, Rose will bring a new-look group onto the floor in 2018.
This year's squad will have some major shoes to fill after graduating seven seniors, including first-team All-Americans Simone Lee and Haleigh Washington. However, despite all of the turnover, the Nittany Lions will start the season as the sixth-ranked team in the nation with expectations remaining high in Happy Valley.
"I don't see why we shouldn't continue to have high expectations," Rose said. "There are a lot of unknowns when you're playing with so many young people, and I think that is one of the exciting things about coaching is to see how that comes together."
Among the Penn State returnees are senior setter Bryanna Weiskircher, who split setting duties with Abby Detering last season and could take over as the full-time starter. Senior outside hitter Nia Reed also returns and should be in for a breakout year after showing flashes of dominance as a backup to Ali Frantti for most of last season.
"Last year my role was to come in, bring energy and score points," Reed said. "I think this year my role is going to change, but coach (Rose) is still expecting me to go out there and score points."
Penn State also adds eight freshmen to this year's team, including two top-five recruits in middle blockers Kaitlyn Hord and Serena Gray.
With seven seniors graduating from last year's team, along with Cami May and Michaela Putnicki transferring from the program, several freshmen may have to contribute immediately. The veteran players so far have been impressed with how the freshmen have developed.
"They all have their own way of standing out," Weiskircher said. "Jonni (Parker) is a very smart all-around athlete; Jenna (Hampton) is a great defender and is all over the floor all the time; (Gray] and (Kaitlyn) are both jumping out of the gym. They all have their own strengths, and it's just a matter of putting all the pieces together.
Reed added that the freshmen have been eager to learn more each day and are continuing to get better with time.
In addition to the first-year players, the Nittany Lions will feature transfers Taylor Leath (North Carolina) and Bayleigh Hoffman (Louisiana Monroe). Leath, a fifth-year senior, was the 2016 ACC Player of the Year, while Hoffman led the Warhawks in assists in 2014 and 2015.
Middle blocker Tori Gorrell returns and should help fill the void left by Washington and Heidi Thelen. The Nittany Lions also return second-team All-American libero Kendall White for her third season, and her enthusiasm will be relied on heavily to anchor the defense this season.
"(White) is just going to do what she does, which is play hard, and I think a lot of the players take a step back and feed off of that," Rose said. "I think we have three or four people that are wired in a similar fashion…she plays a good role and has had a good preseason."
The talent will be plentiful once again for the Nittany Lions to compete at a high-level. However, the benchmark for another shot at a Big Ten title and deep NCAA Tournament run will be contingent on how well veterans like Weiskircher and Reed adapt to their larger roles and how quickly the younger players can adjust to the college game's speed.
"I have seen flashes in practice where I think we compete really well," Rose said. "I think the question is can you sustain it against opponents that have veteran players, who have played together for extended periods of time in tough situations."
Rose touched on the idea that it is very difficult to win when those are the expectations every game, but this year's team has an advantage of not being ranked at the top in the conference and nationally like last year's team was. However, Rose's standards for his players have not changed even after 40 years.
"The expectations are for the players to get better and to compete at a high level," Rose said. "Even when we had the teams that won consecutive national championships, we never talked about winning streaks or winning championships. We always just talk about getting better every day...these players here now have to understand that concept."