161 Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 Trio of seniors leaves behind successful legacy By Jocelyn Syrstad COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER After three national titles and four Big Ten championships in four years, the Penn State women's volleyball team will grad uate what coach Russ Rose refers to as one of the most storied class es in Penn State history. With the Nittany Lions record ing a 142-5 record throughout the past four years, Rose said he remembered reading that seniors Alisha Glass and Megan Hodge have had the best four-year colle giate record of any class in the his tory of women’s volleyball. The impact from those two and fellow senior Kelsey Ream, who transferred after her freshman A VIEW PSU’S PAST, NICOLE FAWCETT ALYSSA D’ERRICO KATIE aAY year, went beyond success on the court something noted by play ers and coaches who expressed the seniors' monumental impor tance to the program. “I came in with those girls, so it's going to be hard for me to see them leave," redshirt junior Blair Brown said. "Besides from the obvious physical attributes they brought to the table. I think they were great leaders, and it's going to be very, very hard for us to see them leave." Looking at numbers, it is appar ent how much both Glass and Hodge contributed to the team. Hodge, an outside hitter, fin ished her collegiate career with 2,142 kills, second all-time at Penn State. She also had a .222 hitting FROM PRESENT AND Although she graduated after last season, Fawcett still had interest in the 2009 chain pionship match. So much so, that she stayed awake after 4 a.m. to watch the match live on the Internet. The seven-hour time differ ence between Tampa and Kaliningrad, Russia, where Fawcett is currently playing club ball, did not deter the for mer Nittany Lion from watch ing and savoring every second of her former teammates' play. “I was really nervous for the girls because I know how difficult it is to get the momen tum going from losing the first The junior libero and her Nittany Lion teammates found themselves in an unfa miliar position after the sec ond set of the title match. They were one set away from the season being over. They were one set away from going home without a national championship for the first time in three years. “We knew that we put our selves in that situation,” D’Errico said. “We knew that it was in our power to kinda turn it around and regain con trol of the match.’’ Slay will not be an official member of the Penn State women’s volleyball team until next year, but the high school senior from Raleigh, N.C., already has a pretty good idea of what is in store for her. The 6-foot-6 middle blocker was one of six Penn State recruits who traveled to Tampa for the Under Armour All-America game and got to watch the championship match from inside the St. Pete Times Fbrum. “It was disheartening that physical shape to last five sets we were down, but I had faith and those intense rallies.” in my future teammates,” S VOLLEYiniJ percentage. Glass, a setter, fin ished with 5,799 assists, fourth all time for Penn State, and blocked 454 balls. Ream had anterior cruciate lig ament (ACL) surgery during the offseason and spent most of her senior season on the bench. However, teammates said she still contributed to the team by bring ing a positive energy and enthusi asm to the court. "The senior class is great in even 7 aspect that you look at them," junior libero Alyssa D'Errico said. "Each of them brings something different to the team skill-wise, per sonality-wise. It's gonna be very, very tough replacing them on and oft the court." Brown said they all brought a -YES two." Fawcett wrote in an e mail. The back-and-forth nature of the match reminded Fawcett of the national semifi nal match during her senior season when Penn State went to five sets before defeating Nebraska and gave her an idea of what it must have been like for fans during that match. "Right after the match, [for mer teammate] Christa [Harmotto! and I talked, and we were both crying and laughing because we now understood what we put our fans through and we are sorn/,“ Fawcett wrote. Behind key digs from D’Errico and Cathy Quilico, the Lions did regain control of the match in the third and fourth sets, forcing a fifth and deciding set. “We just looked into each other’s eyes starting in the third game and made sure that we all knew that we were on the same page, and we were all fighting for the same thing,” the libero said. D’Errico finished with 22 digs as the Lions bounced back from the two-set deficit. Slay said. “After the third set you could just see that [Penn State] was more motivated to come back.” Apart from the excitement of the match, Slay said the final was a learning experi ence for her as she prepares for her first season of colle giate volleyball. “I try to watch the middles because that’s the position I’ll be coming into,” she said. “Just the speed of the game, and you have to be in great high level of intensity to both prac tice and matches, which will be hard to replace. "Were going to have some huge holes in our lineup." Rose said. "As I said the year before, you don't replace Roberta Holehouse. Christa Harmotto and Nicole Faw 7 cett by putting new players in there because you can never replace what people feel, and the effort they put in and how impor tant it was to them. The same holds true for these girls." With eight incoming freshmen joining the Penn State team next season, the Lions are going to see many changes on the court. The graduating seniors will also have adjustments to make, as both Glass and Hodge will continue hO«S* ’ ; |§Bs| i Daily Collegian women > volleyball writer Andrew .1. Cassavell ranks the top-5 matehes this Cassaveil The Daily Collegian their volleyball careers with the C.S. National team. As the seniors finish their final semester at Penn State and reflect on their time on the team, it's still hard for them to believe it is over "It's weird to think that we're done, but it's great to look back and >ee what we've accomplished over tht* years," Glass, said. "It's pretty incredible. I'm really happy 1 was at Penn State. I'm really happy that 1 was with the girls that 1 was and the opportunities we created and got to be a paid of. I’m going to look back and always be happy with ire time at Penn Stale." a eoo jess2lo@psu.edu
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