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Nittany Lion Career
2015 (Senior): One of two team captains ... Started all 31 matches during the season ... First Team AVCA-All America ... Earned Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year honors for the third consecutive season ... 2015 NCAA Tournament All-Tournament team ... 2015 EIVA Championship MVP ... Closed out the year with a team-high 4.68 kills per set, which ranked second nationally and first in the EIVA ... His 1,519 career kills ranks fourth on the Penn State all-time list ... Led the team from the service line with 0.55 aces per set, which closed out the year ranked fourth nationally and second in the conference ... On the Penn State all-time list, his 197 aces ranks second all-time ... Recorded double figure kills in all but two matches during the 2015 season ... Led the team with 19 kills on .371 hitting against No. 8 UC Irivne (1/8) ... Posted 10 kills, three aces and eight digs at Hawaii (1/9) ... Put down a career-high 32 kills on .439 hitting at Ball State (1/16) ... Led the team with 20 kills at No. 13 IPFW (1/17) ... Recorded a match-high 23 kills against No. 2 Lewis (1/24) to go along with three aces and nine digs ... Led the team with 17 kills on .625 hitting in the EIVA opener vs. Saint Francis (1/31) ... Tied for first on the team with 12 kills against Erskine (2/6), adding three blocks ...Notched 14 kills, four digs and three blocks at No. 12 Ohio State (2/10) ... Posted a match-high 17 kills vs. George Mason (2/14) ... Had 17 kills at No. 2 Lewis (2/20) and 12 kills, three aces at No.1 Loyola (2/21) ... Recorded a match-high 15 kills at Harvard (2/28) ... Had a match-high 20 kills at No. 7 USC (3/11), hitting .720 with two errors on 25 swings ... Posted a double-double against CSUN (3/13) (16k, 10d), adding a match-high five aces ... Tallied 19 kills at No. 8 LBSU (3/14) ... Earned his first career AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week following the three performances against USC, CSUN and LBSU ... Notched 30 kills and 14 digs against No. 11 OSU (3/21) ... Put down 26 kills and 15 digs against NJIT (3/28) ... Had 15 kills on .700 hitting at GMU (4/4) ... Totaled 26 kills and three aces against Harvard (4/10) ... Recorded five blocks and three aces against Sacred Heart (4/11) ... Posted 14 kills and four aces at Princeton (4/17) ... Tallied 17 kills on .464 hitting at NJIT (4/18) ... Led the team with 16 kills on .462 hitting at Saint Francis (4/25) ... Led the team with 19 kills and five aces in the EIVA semis vs. Princeton (4/29) ... Posted 15 kills and six digs in the EIVA finals vs. George Mason (5/1) ... Led the team with 20 kills, seven digs and four blocks in the NCAA play-in against No. 4 Hawaii (5/5) ... Had 15 kills, five digs and two blocks in the NCAA national semifinals against No. 1 Lewis (5/7).
2014 (Junior): First Team AVCA All-America ... 2014 Off the Block Preseason All-America ... Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year ... Four-time EIVA Offensive Player of the Week ( 1/21, 2/3, 3/24, 3/31) ... EIVA Championship All-Tournament team ... Registered a team-high 19 kills against No. 7 UCLA (1/9), tallying two aces, nine digs and one block ... Posted 16 kills, four aces and two digs at No. 14 Hawaii (1/10) ... Recorded his third double-digit kill performance of the season with 10 kills against No. 12 Ohio State (1/11), totaling three digs and one block ... Recorded his first double-double of the season against No. 14 IPFW (1/17), with 12 kills and 10 digs, adding three blocks ... Set a season-high mark with 21 kills on .436 hitting against Ball State (1/18), adding four digs ... Earned EIVA Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performances against the Mastodons and the Cardinals ... Had five kills, one ace, two digs and two blocks against Mount Olive (1/31) ... Led the team with 16 kills in the EIVA opener against Saint Francis (2/1), adding 11 digs for a double-double ... Also tallied four aces on the way to EIVA Offensive Player of he Week honors ... Registered 16 kills, tallying career high five aces, adding seven digs and one block against No. 14 Ohio State (2/5) ... Notched 13 kills on .667 hitting, adding one ace and four digs against Erskine (2/7) ... Posted a team-high 17 kills on .560 hitting against Pfeiffer (2/8), adding seven digs ... Recorded six kills and five digs against NJIT (2/14) ... Led the team with four aces against Rutgers-Newark (2/15)... Posted a team-high 16 kills on .696 hitting, adding four blocks against Sacred Heart (2/21) ... Registered eight kills, 10 digs and one ace against Harvard (2/22) ... Tallied 17 kills and a team-high 10 digs at Princeton (2/28) ... Led the team with five aces and a double-double (13k, 13d) at George Mason (3/1) ... Ranked first on the squad with 20 kills at No. 14 Ohio State (3/7), adding five digs ... Recorded 11 kills and nine digs vs. CSUN (3/14) ... Led the team with 11 kills and five digs at No. 2 LBSU (3/15) ... Led the team with 18 kills on .452 hitting, adding nine digs at No. 1 Loyola (3/21) ... Tallied a team-high of 22 kills, four aces, five digs and one block against No. 10 Lewis (3/22) on the way to his third EIVA Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season ... Tallied 13 kills, five digs, two blocks and three aces against Princeton (3/28) ... Collected a team-high 16 kills and seven digs against George Mason (3/29)...Recorded 12 kills and five digs at No. 15 Harvard (4/4)..Tallied nine kills, six aces, four digs, and three blocks at Sacred Heart (4/5) ... Notched 16 kills, a career-high seven aces and nine digs at Saint Francis (4/12)...Posted ten kills, three service aces, blocks, and digs at Rutgers-Newark (4/18)...Contributed two kills, one service ace, and two digs at NJIT (4/19) ... Had 20 kills, eight digs and three blocks against George Mason in the EIVA Semifinals (4/24) ... Notched 14 kills, five aces and four digs in the EIVA Championship match against Princeton (4/26) to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team ... Pounded a team-high 20 kills in the NCAA play-in match against Lewis(4/29), adding nine digs and a season-high four blocks ... Registered a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs at No. 1 Loyola (5/1) in the NCAA national semifinals.
2013 (Sophomore): EIVA Championship Most Outstanding Player ... Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year ... First Team All-EIVA ... Off the Block Preseason All-America ... Outrigger Invitational All-Tournament Team ... EIVA Offensive Player of the Week (1/14, 2/25, 4/1, 4/22) ... Mike Anderson Penn State Player of the Match (2/9, 2/23, 4/5) ... led the team with 12 kills vs. UCLA (1/10) ... had 17 kills and seven digs at Hawaii (1/11) ... posted a match-high 13 kills and seven digs vs. Ohio State (1/12) ... had nine kills, seven digs and three blocks vs. Lewis (1/18) ... had seven kills vs. Sacred Heart (1/25) ... put down 11 kills vs. Mount Olive (2/2) ... had seven kills and a team-high seven digs vs. Saint Francis (2/8) ... led the team with 16 kills against Ohio State (2/9) ... had a team-high 11 kills at Harvard (2/15) ... put down nine kills and tallied six digs at Sacred Heart (2/16) ... third on the tema with 13 kills and tied for team best with five blocks vs. George Mason (2/22) ... had a career-high 22 kills against Princeton (2/23) ... posted seven kills and two aces at Rutgers-Newark (3/1) ... second on the team with 11 kills at NJIT (3/2) ... had a match-high 19 kills and 20 digs at IPFW (3/9) ... led the Lions with 15 kills and had seven digs at Ball State (3/10) ... pounded a match-high 14 kills at Ohio State (3/16) ... put down 12 kills at Saint Francis (3/23) ... led the team with 18 kills, three aces and six digs at Princeton (3/29) ... had 17 kills at George Mason (3/30) ... tied for first on the team with 10 kills on .750 hitting with two blocks against Lees-McRae (4/5) ... second on the team with 15 kills and had seven digs and four blocks at Concordia (4/12) ... had six kills in eight swings and a team-best six digs vs. Rutgers-Newark (4/19) ... tied for first on the team with 11 kills on .500 hitting with a match-high 13 digs vs. NJIT (4/20) ... led the team with 21 kills on .704 hitting and a team-high 12 digs vs. Princeton (4/25) ... had 10 kills and three blocks vs. Harvard (4/27).
2012 (Freshman): First Team All-EIVA ... EIVA Offensive Player of the Week (4/2) ... EIVA Championship All-Tournament Team ... Mike Anderson Player of the Game (2/10) ... played in 28 matches, starting 28, and 98 sets ... was third on the team with 203 kills, averaging 2.07 kills per set with a .423 hitting percentage ... led the team in blocks with 92, averaging 0.94 blocks per set ... his 0.94 blocks per set ranked eighth in the EIVA ... totaled 25 aces (0.26 aces per set) and 44 digs (0.45 digs per set) for the season ... made collegiate debut at Ohio State with four blocks (1/14) ... had 10 kills on 16 errorless swings (.625) at Loyola (1/20) ... tallied six kills and six blocks vs. Stannford (1/27) ... had nine kills vs. Pacific (1/28) ... had seven kills in nine errorless swings (.778) with six blocks vs. Mount Olive (2/3) ... had seven blocks vs. Cal-Baptist (2/4) ... had five kills on five errorless swings vs. Rutgers-Newark (2/1) ... had seven kills on nine errorless swings at Harvard (2/17) ... posted four blocks at Sacred Heart (2/18) ... posted a team-best five blocks vs. George Mason (2/25) ... had a team-high five blocks vs. Ohio State (3/3) ... had eight kills in eight errorless swings at Saint Francis (3/17) ... posted four blocks at NJIT (3/23) ... second on the team with 14 kills on .722 hitting at Princeton (3/30) ... had 12 kills on .647 hitting with five blocks at George Mason (3/31) ... had a match-high eight blocks vs. Sacred Heart (4/6) ... had nine kills and three blocks at BYU (4/13) ... had nine kills on .727 hitnting at BYU (4/14) ... recorded nine kills vs. Saint Francis (4/21) ... second on the team with 11 kills and first on the team with four blocksvs. George Mason (4/28) ... posted 10 kills on .474 hitting with six digs against UC Irvine in the NCAA National Semifinals (5/3).
2011 (Summer): Competed with the USA Boy's Youth National Team ... earned a bronze medal at the U-19 Pan Am Cup held in Mexicali, Mexico ... helped the team to an 11th place finish in the FIVB Volleyball Boy's Youth World Championship in Argentina.
High School
Played for the Maryland Volleyball Program in Rockville, Md. ... member of the 2010 and 2011 Youth National Team ... named NORCECA Best Blocker award at 2010 NORCECA Regional Championship ... awarded MVP honors at the 2010 HP Championships ... three year letter winner and two-year team captain in soccer at Centennial High School in Ellicott City, Md. ... earned First Team All-County and Honorable Mention All-State as a junior ... picked up Second Team All-County laurels as a senior ... led his club soccer team to the state championship three times, regionals twice and nationals once.
Personal
Born Aaron Joseph Russell on June 4, 1993 in Baltimore, Md. ... parents are Stewart and Marian Russell ... father, Stew, played men's volleyball at Penn State ... has four brothers, Peter, Samuel, Tim and Paul ... brother, Peter ('14) also played volleyball at Penn State ... names going to the beach and playing beach volleyball as hobbies, Kid Cudi as favorite entertainer, nutrition as favorite school subject, the Baltimore Ravens as favorite professional sports team, Tim Tebow as favorite athlete, chocolate chip cookies as favorite food, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as favorite book, "Psych", "Monk", "The Office" and "24" as favorite television shows, "Inception", "Anchorman", "The Legend of Ron Burgundy", and "Despicable Me" as favorite movies, Will Ferrel as favorite actor and Venice, Italy as favorite place to visit.
Why Penn State?
"I chose Penn State because of its reputation academically, atmospherically and athletically."