2010_WVB_MG_1-50:Layout 1
8/25/10
10:55 AM
Page 20
Head Coach Russ Rose 1,000 Career Wins
e Women’s Volleyball Booster Club marked Rose’s 25 years of coaching in 2003 by dedicating a bench, located outside of the post office on Fraser Street in State College.
Again picked to finish second in the Big Ten in 2004, Rose’s squad ended the non-conference portion of their schedule with an unblemished 9-0 record that included a come-from-behind five-game victory at eventualNational Champion Stanford. Top-ranked Minnesota handed the Nittany Lions their first loss of the season in five games at Rec Hall and just five matches later, No. 7 Ohio State also defeated Penn State at home in five games. With a renewed sense of pride following the two losses at home, the Nittany Lions caught fire and won their next 11 matches, including fourgame wins over the Gophers and Buckeyes. A three-game win at Michigan on Nov. 27 gave Rose and the Nittany Lions their eighth Big Ten title in 14 years and advanced them to their 24th consecutive NCAA Tournament, where they fell to UCLA at the NCAA Regional Semifinal in Seattle, Wash. Sam Tortorello and Syndie Nadeau earned AVCA All-America honors as Tortorello was named to the first team and Nadeau picked up second team accolades. Libero Kaleena Walters joined Tortorello and Nadeau on the All-Big Ten squad as Kate Price was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Tortorello was also a finalist for the Honda Award, given to the top female collegiate athlete in the country in each sport. Penn State produced four Academic All-Big Ten honorees that year. e streak continued as the Nittany Lions claimed their third consecutive Big Ten title with an unblemished 20-0 league record in 2005, only the sixth time since 1985 that the champion had been perfect. In addition to dropping only three individual games during the conference season, Penn
Rose captured his 900th career win on Sept. 21, 2007, and was presented with a Lion statue by his son Nick, along with Director of Athletics Tim Curley and University President Dr. Graham Spanier.
20 PENN STATE 2009-2010 WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
State swept all four major honors. Rose earned his seventh Big Ten Coach of the Year Only three Division I coaches have award as Sam Tortorello more than 1,000 career wins and was named the Player of only eight in the history of Division I the Year, Kaleena Walwomen’s volleyball have more ters earned Defensive than 800. Player of the Year honors and Nicole Fawcett was tabbed as the Fresh1,106 man of the Year. Andy Banachowski, UCLA (ret.)(43 On the national scale, years) Fawcett earned AVCA National Freshman of 1,016 the Year and AVCA SecDave Shoji, Hawaii (34 years) ond Team All-America accolades as Tortorello 1,001 was named an AVCA Russ Rose, Penn State (31 years) First Team All-American, Melissa Walbridge 886 picked up Second Team Elaine Michaelis, BYU (ret.) (33 years) honors and Walters and Christa Harmotto both 868 earned honorable menMike Hebert, Minnesota (34 years) tion recognition. Tortorello was also a 828 finalist for the Honda Debby Colberg, Sac. St. (ret.) (32 years) Award for the second time. 831 Penn State made Kathy Gregory, UCSB (33 years) league history with the 2006 season, capturing 809 its fourth consecutive Marilyn Nolen, St. Louis (ret.) (30 years) outright title, the first time in Big Ten annals Numbers verified by the NCAA one team had done so. prior to the 2010 season e Nittany Lions finished with an 18-2 league record and an overall record of 32-3, falling to defending national champion Washington in Seattle, Wash., in the NCAA Regional Finals. Megan Hodge made some history of her own, becoming the first freshman in conference history to be named Big Ten Player of the Year, also earning AVCA First Team All-America honors along with being named Big Ten and AVCA National Freshman of the Year. Joining her in garnering conference and national recognition were Nicole Fawcett and Christa Harmotto, who both earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, as Fawcett was named an AVCA First Team All-American and Harmotto picked up Second Team accolades. e Nittany Lions also produced a league-best 10 Academic All-Big Ten honorees. Prior to entering the tough Big Ten Conference in 1991, Penn State experienced unprecedented success in the Atlantic 10 Conference, winning eight straight championships. In seven seasons of round-robin play, the Nittany Lions never lost a conference match, reeling off 49 consecutive wins. e 1990 season was Penn State’s last in the Atlantic 10 and it proved to be one of the most exciting in the 25-year history of the program. Unbeaten in 42 regular-season matches, the Nittany Lions swept Purdue and Big Ten champion Wisconsin in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Of the team’s 44 wins, 40 were sweeps, a school and national record. Penn State, 12-0 against NCAA Tournament teams, lost to Nebraska in four games in the Mideast Region championship match in Lincoln.
13-TIME BIG TEN CHAMPIONS ‘92, ‘93, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘07, ‘08, ‘09