It is not common to find a player who mirrors the journey of Penn State's Taylor Leath.
A graduate transfer who grew up in State College, Leath played her undergraduate volleyball career at UNC-Chapel Hill and led the Tar Heels to an upset victory over Penn State in Rec Hall during her sophomore season, but she now finds herself wearing a different Blue and White in her final season of eligibility.
Ironically, Leath had one of the better games of her career against Penn State in 2016, where she finished with a team-high 18 kills en route to a five-set win over the Nittany Lions. She would be named the ACC Player of the Year and an AVCA Second-Team All-American later that season.
While she may have haunted head coach Russ Rose and Penn State that night two seasons ago, she is now putting plenty of pressure on opponents as the leading hitter for the seventh-ranked Nittany Lions. Leath has brought a valuable combination of offense and leadership for an otherwise very young Penn State team this year.
Leath said the opportunity to finish her career back in her hometown and continue the historic volleyball lineage at Penn State has been a different experience because it has taught her to hold herself to the high standards Rose expects of his players.
"When you put on a Penn State jersey, there are so many greats and there is a tradition that comes before you," Leath said. "There is a certain standard of great performance that is expected from you and actually having to represent Penn State for what it is has pushed me to be uncomfortable with being comfortable."
Despite being raised in Penn State territory and knowing Coach Rose since she was a young girl, playing for the Nittany Lions out of high school wasn't in the cards for Leath.
After four years at North Carolina, Leath knew she wanted to pursue a master's degree, and she also saw an opportunity to explore a new volleyball experience as a graduate transfer.
"I had known that I wanted to get my master's, but I also wanted to have a different experience with volleyball," Leath said. "I had a great experience at UNC, and I also had an opportunity that not a lot of people have to be able to have a great experience at one school and then go somewhere else and have a different experience to see how things are done differently,"
Leath was seeking the combination of not only a different experience but also a comfortable setting where everything would not be completely foreign to her. Penn State provided the perfect storm of offering a differently-run volleyball program, while simultaneously allowing her to return to a place of familiarity.
"I knew that I wanted to be somewhere that I would not be uncomfortable," Leath said. "I ended up reaching out to Coach Rose because I've known some of the girls here and I knew coach and I thought it would be a good fit."
Leath added that as a graduate transfer, she has only one year left, and that coming to Penn State allowed for a seamless transition.
"I didn't want to go somewhere where everything from the town, school and culture were completely new, and here at Penn State I was familiar with the town," Leath said. "I also was really good friends with Nia (Reed) and knew Bryanna (Weiskircher) and some other girls who had gone here and loved the experience, so I thought that Penn State would be a good fit for me."
The Nittany Lions have aided from her on-court production, but arguably the most valuable factor that Leath has brought to this year's Penn State team is her ability to relate to both the upperclassmen and the freshmen and bridge the gap between the two ends of the spectrum.
"I have these things that I can connect with some of the older girls since I have gone through the life of a collegiate athlete already, but at the same time I am able to relate to the freshmen because there are so many things that are new, and so many things that I have no clue about here, such as the different routines, so it's a way for me to relate to both groups and have this shared identity with them," Leath said.
Leath, along with fellow senior Bayleigh Hoffman, who is also in her first and final season with the program, has played a crucial leadership role on this year's team. She pointed out that her and Hoffman's journeys have helped make the team a very close group both on and off the court.
"The team is at a place where we mesh really well — we have really good chemistry not only on the court, but off the court, and I think that's one of those things that is special about this team," Leath said. "There are a lot of people that help bridge things and there is such a mix of personalities to help get rid of the separation between upperclassmen and freshmen," Leath said.
With only three more regular season games left to be played, including two against ranked opponents, Penn State will need Leath to help lead the way as the Nittany Lions make a final push going into the postseason.
