To the chagrin of many volleyball fans from other schools, Penn State received the #16 seed in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament (Click Here for NCAA Interactive Bracket), and thus the right to host the first two rounds, starting tonight at 7:30 p.m., when the Nittany Lions (22-9) face off against Northeast Conference champions LIU Brooklyn (16-14). If Penn State wins, they will take on the winner of Dayton (30-1) vs. Pittsburgh (24-8) on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
At the left are the matchups for the entire Nebraska Regional (which includes Penn State). Below is the roster for LIU Brooklyn, followed by a Q&A with Talking Head, who previews LIU Brooklyn, Dayton, and Pitt.
LIU Brooklyn Roster
| # | FULL NAME | POS. | HT. | CL. | Hometown/Previous School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Emily Magee | DS | 5-8 | Fr. | Jacksonville, Fla. / Mandarin |
| 3 | Alex Larsen | OPP | 5-11 | Sr. | Cary, Illinois / Cary-Grove (Northern Michigan) |
| 4 | Natalia Rivera | L | 5-4 | Fr. | Cayey, Puerto Rico / Radians School |
| 6 | Nicole Hopton | S | 5-9 | Sr. | Chester Springs, Pa. / Downingtown East |
| 9 | Katharina Krepper | MB | 6-1 | Fr. | Linz, Austria / Georg von Peuerbach Gymnasium |
| 10 | Jiayi Zhang | OH/OPP | 6-6 | So. | Beijing, China / Sandy Spring Friends School (Md.) |
| 11 | Mengdi Zhao | MB | 6-3 | Sr. | Beijing, China / Beijing 101 |
| 14 | Sonja Vukosavljevic | MB | 6-0 | Jr. | Belgrade, Serbia / The Sixth Belgrade Grammar School |
| 15 | Alexandra Lilliquist | OH | 5-10 | Jr. | Vero Beach, Fla. / Vero Beach (Indian River State College/FIU) |
| 16 | Filippa Hansson | MB | 6-2 | Fr. | Ystad, Sweden / ProCivitas Privata Gymnasium |
| 17 | Viktoria Fink | OH | 5-10 | So. | Vienna, Austria / Polgarstrasse |
| 27 | Amanda Hubbard | S | 5-10 | Fr. | Hillsborough, Calif. / Saint Francis High School |
Q&A with Talking Head
DigNittany: So, despite it’s RPI of 26, the NCAA Committee awarded Penn State the #16 seed. That stirred-up a whirlwind of outrage among a certain segment of volleyball fans, who argued (with some justification) that the Committee hadn’t followed its own criteria for getting into the tournament — RPI having been touted as a significant factor. A counter argument is that Penn State was, unquestionably, one of the top 16 teams in the country, according to the Rich Kern Poll (#11), the Pablo Rankings (#5), and the AVCA Poll (#13). Still, there is a case to be made that the Committee should abandon “regionalization” (trying to keep teams in some kind of geographic proximity to each other — a goal sometimes honored more in the breach than the observance) and instead go to a system where all 64 teams are seeded. Your thoughts?
Talking Head: The quandary is distance and money. We all love the direction that the women’s game is moving in terms of more resources, more funding, increased recognition by universities, and greater exposure in the media generally, and expanded coverage on television and streaming media — it’s getting into more living rooms. But there are some serious financial hurdles to climb in order to justify flying 20, 30 or more teams all around the country in order to implement a 64-seed tournament. There is a legitimate concern about finances that has to be taken into consideration. That’s certainly part of the reason that Penn State is hosting despite its RPI, but I am in the camp that believes they truly deserved to host. As you mentioned, the Rich Kern Poll (#11), the Pablo Rankings (#5), and the AVCA Poll (#13) all confirm that Penn State is well within the top 16 teams in the nation. The 4th best team in the best league in the country this year, with the three teams ahead of them being the top-three seeds in the tournament.
DigNittany: Your thoughts on LIU Brooklyn?
Talking Head: LIU Brooklyn has a nice player in 5-11 Sr. Opp Alex Larsen. She’s their main gun, followed by 5-10 Jr. OH Alexandra Lilliquist. Those two players get the most points for LIU. Six of their 12 players are from foreign countries (plus one, Natalia Rivera, from Puerto Rico). So it’s an international team, as we experienced in the 2013 Tournament. Their Head Coach, Ken Ko, does a great job with the resources he has. Looking at this matchup, you really have to take Coach Rose’s approach, in that you respect the game, and you approach every opponent the same way. I’m hoping the Penn State players continue to build on their performances in the last three matches of the Big Ten season, which were really good.
DigNittany: Switching direction here, the setter position has been somewhat unsettled this season, with 6-0 Jr. setter Abby Detering being replaced on a few occasions by last year’s starter, 6-0 RS So. Bryanna Weiskircher. Yet after the Northwestern and Illinois matches last weekend, Detering named Big Ten Setter of the week. Your thoughts on how Abby Detering has been playing?
Talking Head: Abby played very well — and I’m not grading on a curve. She played at a high level, and she set a good tempo fast ball. I thought she made the right decisions, trying to force the middle when she could, and when the middle closed up because Illinois is so strong there with 6-3 MB Ali Bastianelli, she found our pins. And alot of times it was with reverse flow — where the ball was going to one side of the court and Abby set it to the opposite side of the court. That, to me, showed alot of control. I thought her placement of the ball was good, and I thought our hitters timing with her was very good. In my mind (and clearly in the minds of the Big Ten coaches), Abby made a big jump in the quality of her setting and her decision-making. She continues to be excellent — and I mean excellent — from the service line. Her ability, with just a slight left or right turn of the wrist at the last moment, is consistently catching people off guard. I know she’s missed some serves, but not many of them were her first or second serve, they were her third or fourth or fifth serve. I like where Abby is at right now, and I’m excited about what she may be able to do in the Tournament.
DigNittany: Your thoughts on Pitt? (Roster is below):
Pitt Roster
| # | NAME | YR | POS | HT | HOMETOWN/LAST SCHOOL |
| 1 | Markewycz, Hanna | SO | L | 5-7 | Oak Brook, Ill./Timothy Christain |
| 2 | Ellis, Adeline | SO | OH | 5-11 | Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest |
| 3 | Akeo, Kamalani | SO | S | 5-7 | Kapolei, Hawaii/Kamehameha |
| 4 | Horner, Emily | SO | MB | 6-0 | Mission Viejo, Calif./Providence |
| 5 | Watkins, Ellie | SO | S | 5-9 | Weldon Spring, Mo./Lutheran High School |
| 6 | Levers, Kylee | FR | S | 6-0 | Washington, Pa./Chartiers- Houston High School |
| 7 | Van Buskirk, Layne | FR | MB | 6-3 | Windsor, Ontario/Holy Names Catholic High School |
| 9 | Dreier, Alix | FR | OH/RS | 6-1 | Palm Desert, Calif./Xavier College Prep |
| 10 | Bell, Mariah | JR | OH | 6-1 | Moorpark, Calif./Moorpark High School |
| 11 | O’Neill, Kelsey | JR | MB | 6-1 | Skokie, Ill./Loyola Academy |
| 12 | Perosa, Avery | FR | L | 5-7 | Orefield, Pa./Parkland High School |
| 13 | Williams, Stephanie | RS FR | OH | 6-0 | Eastlake, Ohio/Notre Dame – Cathedral Latin |
| 14 | Potts, Jenna | RS SR | MB | 6-3 | Bernville, Pa./Xavier |
| 16 | Seman, Angela | RS SO | L | 5-9 | Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley |
| 17 | Markovic, Nika | FR | RS | 6-0 | Braslovce, Slovenia/Gimnazija Celje-Center |
| 18 | Faki, Zoi | FR | OH/RS | 6-1 | Athens, Greece/The Moraitis School |
| 28 | Genitsaridi, Maria | SR | OH | 6-0 | Crete, Greece/11th High School of Heraklion |
Talking Head: Pitt is a good team. They are 24-8 with a 9-3 away record. That means they handle the travel well. We’re going to have to pay attention to whomever comes out of that Pitt-Dayton match. In 6-3 Fr. MB Layne Van Buskirk and 6-3 RS Sr. MB Jenna Potts Pitt has two players who are hitting well over .300. As a team, Pitt is hitting .259, which is respectable. They have a couple nice wins — at Colorado State, they beat Santa Barbara, they beat Michigan, and they went 15-5 in their league. So if Penn State gets to Round 2, and Pitt is the opponent, the Nittany Lions will really have to pay attention to the Panthers.
DigNittany: Thoughts on Dayton? (Roster is below):
Dayton Roster
| # | Name | Year | Pos. | Ht. | Hometown / Highschool |
| 1 | Megan Giardina | R-Jr. | S | 6-0 | Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington North |
| 2 | Amber Erhahon | Jr. | MB | 6-0 | Albany, Calif. / Albany |
| 3 | Maggie Schutter | Jr. | DS/S | 5-9 | Dayton, Ohio / Centerville |
| 4 | Jessica Sloan | Jr. | OH | 6-1 | Marietta, Ga. / Walton |
| 6 | Brianna Pittman | R-Fr. | RS | 6-5 | Burgaw, N.C. / Pender |
| 7 | Julia Brown | Fr. | DS/L | 5-6 | Westerville, Ohio / St. Francis de Sales |
| 8 | Brooke Westbeld | Fr. | S/RS | 6-2 | Kettering, Ohio / Fairmont |
| 9 | Jordan Albarran | Fr. | OH | 6-0 | Yorkville, Ill. / Yorkville |
| 10 | Jamie Peterson | Fr. | MB/OH | 6-4 | West Liberty, Ohio / West Liberty-Salem |
| 12 | Jane Emmenecker | Jr. | S | 5-10 | Perrysburg, Ohio / Central Catholic |
| 15 | Kendyll Brown | So. | MB | 6-1 | Mechanicsville, Va. / Lee-Davis |
| 16 | Olivia Dubay | Fr. | MB | 6-4 | Lake Elsinore, Calif. / Our Lady of the Mountain |
| 17 | Sierra Pla | Fr. | MB | 6-3 | Macedonia, Ohio / Nordonia |
| 19 | Laura Hubacek | Jr. | DS | 5-11 | Fremont, Calif. / Irvington |
| 21 | Margo Wolf | So. | DS/L | 5-8 | Cincinnati, Ohio / Mount Notre Dame |
| 22 | Lauren Bruns | So. | OH | 6-1 | Versailles, Ohio / Versailles |
Talking Head: Dayton continues to be good. They are 30-1, very well-coached team, they were 11-0 on the road. Their main gun is 6-1 Jr. OH Jessica Sloan, who took 300 more swings this season than anyone else on the team. Her .212 hitting % isn’t great, but clearly she’s a point-scorer. She scored 472 points on the season, and the next-highest was 6-0 Jr. MB Amber Erhahon, with 381. Erhahon has a .420 hitting %, which is impressive. They are a tall team [four players 6-3 or taller]. Both their middles do a pretty good job in terms of hitting % [6-4 Fr MB/OH Jamie Peterson hit .286, with 2.30 kills/set], and they hit .282 as a team. They may be a bit middle-heavy, but Sloan is the player who will get the most looks. Bottom line, any team that gets through a season with only one loss — I don’t care who you’re playing — that’s pretty good, and that’s something you better take note of. And most of those wins — I’d say around 3/4 of them — were 3-0 wins. Dayton is definitely a good team, not a cupcake at all. Thankfully we’re at home, and if we can continue to build on what we’ve been doing, and 6-1 Jr. OH Ali Frantti can continue to step forward, and Abby Detering can continue her level of play, I think Penn State poses a real obstacle for whomever we run into. I think this team can do some damage.
DigNittany: With that in mind, we’ll put our mental energy on tonight’s match with LIU Brooklyn. Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us. We appreciate it.
Credits
- logo for 2016 Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Championship, courtesy of NCAA
- The image for Talking Head is by Dan Dailey Studios, of a work by Dan Dailey (glass artist). This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.