We’re planning a series of posts throughout the season called “15 Points” — inspired by Elliotte Freedman’s fantastic hockey blog 30 Thoughts. Our plan is to have 15 news items in each post (thus the name and the photo above). This is our first “15 Points” post, but due to limited time and imagination we’ve only included eight points (think of it as the break in the 5th set in a volleyball match). We realize this gets us a grade of “incomplete.” We’ll do better next time.
1. Inky Injured
From Volleyblog Seattle (a great volleyball blog by Jack and Leslie Hamann) on June 22nd:
Stanford All-American middle blocker Inky Ajanaku, a senior this fall, was also on the Pan Am roster, but suffered an injury early in the tournament. We’ve made inquiries, but Stanford has not yet reported the extent of the injury, and whether it might affect her playing time this season.
Followed by this interview with Stanford head coach John Dunning on June 25th:
Stanford senior-to-be Inky Ajanaku—projected by many to be perhaps the best volleyball player in the Pac-12, if not the nation, this fall—will have to undergo an unspecified procedure this summer on her injured right knee.
The mishap occurred June 9, 2015, during the fourth set of a match in Lima, Peru, against Columbia. Ajanaku was playing middle blocker for the US National Team during the Pan Am Cup.
“She hit a ball and landed,” Stanford head coach John Dunning told Volleyblog Seattle during a telephone conversation this afternoon. “She hurt her right knee.”
For the complete interview with Coach Dunning on Volleyblog Seattle, Click Here. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery to Inky, who we love as a player and appears to be an equally great person.
2. Bring James to the Games! 
Penn State Football Coach James Franklin is a big supporter of all the Penn State athletic teams. And, as you can see from the photo at right, the Women’s Volleyball team in particular. (Maybe some minor Photo Shop).
Now there’s no doubt he’s a very busy guy — coaching a football team and all — and we understand that the Penn State Women’s Volleyball team’s home matches often come when the football team is playing an away game.
But we’re hopeful that with the encouragement of Penn State Women’s Volleyball fans, we can get James, and his family, to some matches this season. We’ll be tweeting about this on @WeDigNittany — #BringJamesToGames. Join us in extending a warm invitation to Coach James Franklin and family to come to Rec Hall for a match this Fall.
3. Micha Hancock Nominated for 2015 ESPY Award
From GoPSUsports.com:
June 24, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State women’s volleyball’s Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) has been nominated for a 2015 ESPY award, presented by ESPN. Hancock is on the ballot for Best Female Collegiate Athlete for the second consecutive year.
Following a nationwide vote, the winners of each category will be revealed at the 2015 ESPYS, which air live on ESPN July 15. Fans can cast their vote online for Micha from now until 8 p.m. ET July 15 by clicking here.
Click Here for the complete release from GoPSUsports.com.
4. Nia Grant Named Big Ten Medal of Honor Recipient; Signs First Pro Contract 
Penn State announced that Nia Grant of the volleyball team and Matt Brown of the wrestling squad have been named the Nittany Lions’ 2014-15 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients. In May, Nia signed her first pro contract, and will play in France. From the Bigten.org:
As the Big Ten continues its celebration for the 101st class of the Big Ten Medal of Honor,
The Big Ten, the nation’s oldest collegiate conference, commemorates the 101st anniversary of a very unique tradition – the Big Ten Medal of Honor. The conference’s most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.” Big Ten schools currently feature almost 9,500 students participating in intercollegiate athletics, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In the 100 years of the Medal of Honor, almost 1,400 students have earned this distinction.
Click Here for the complete Big Ten release.
5. 2015 PSU Roster lists “only” 7 DSs
With the release of the 2015 Penn State’s 2015 Volleyball Roster, sharp-eyed fans (obsessive-compulsive? Guilty!) have pointed out that this year’s team has “only” seven defensive specialist/liberos, compared to nine on the 2014 Penn State roster (which some observers had thought was a lot). As one fan observed: “Only seven Defensive Specialists? Wow, I applaud the therapist who has been working with Russ!” Looking back, Penn State has a number of rosters with lots of DSs, but also several with “only” five or six. And success hasn’t really correlated with the number. More with who (and how experienced) they are (and a lot of other factors, like who else is on the team).
| Year | # of DS/L | Top 2 | W | L | NCAA Tourney |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Roster | 7 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2014 Roster | 9 | Dom Gonzalez; Lacey Fuller | 36 | 3 |  NCAA Champs (Over BYU) |
| 2013 Roster | 8 | Dom Gonzalez; Lacey Fuller | 34 | 2 | NCAA Champs (over Wisconsin) |
| 2012 Roster | 7 | Dom Gonzalez; Lacey Fuller | 33 | 3 | Lost to Oregon in NCAA Semi- Finals |
| 2011 Roster | 6 | Ali Longo; Kristin Carpenter | 25 | 8 | Lost to UCLA in NCAA Regional Semi- Final |
| 2010 Roster | 8 | Alyssa D'Errico; Cathy Quilico | 32 | 5 | NCAA Champs (Over Cal) |
| 2009 Roster | 6 | Alyssa D'Errico; Cathy Quilico | 38 | 0 | NCAA Champs (Over Texas) |
| 2008 Roster | 5 | Roberta Holehouse; Alyssa D'Errico | 38 | 0 | NCAA Champs (Over Stanford) |
| 2007 Roster | 6 | Roberta Holehouse; Kate Price (OH) | 34 | 2 | NCAA Champs (Over Stanford) |
| 2006 Roster | 6 | Roberta Holehouse; Kate Price (OH) | 28 | 3 | Lost to Washington in NCAA Regional Final |
6. PSU’s Incredible Shrinking Players
Roster statistics like height and a player’s position are best taken with a grain of salt. Case in point: if Penn State’s 2015 Roster and 2014 Roster are to be believed, several players are shrinking, although a couple have grown. Aiyana Whitney is now only listed as 6-3 (down from 6-4 in the 2014 roster), Lainy Pierce is listed at 5-6 (down from 5-8 in 2014) and sister Kendall Pierce is down to 5-5 (from 5-6 in 2014). Maybe it’s the gravitational pressure of going for a Three-peat? On the other hand, Ali Frantti has grown an inch (now listed at 6-2).
7. Did Ohio State and Penn State Make a Trade?
Two recent staff changes — both involving Penn State and Ohio State — leave us wondering: did the two rival universities just make a trade?
- Ohio State announced on May 15, 2015 that Kevin Burch, Penn State’s Director of Volleyball Operations in 2014, returned to the Ohio State Men’s Volleyball program as a full-time assistant coach. Kevin’s resume was unusual in one respect: every school with which he was affiliated had won a national championship while he was there, including 2014, when he served as an assistant coach for the Springfield College men’s squad, which won the 2014 NCAA DIII national championship, followed by his stint with the Nittany Lions, who won the 2014 NCAA Women’s championship. (That must be a record — two NCAA championships in the same year at two different schools?); and
- Shawn Sangrey joined the Penn State staff as the Volunteer Assistant, replacing JJ Goddu. Shawn was a 2012 Ohio State graduate, finished his career as an AVCA First Team All-American and was the MIVA Most Valuable Player in 2012.
OK, probably not a trade. And Shawn, welcome to Penn State!
8. Where in the World is Aiyana Whitney?
Back in May, the Big Ten announced that Penn State’s 6-3 Sr. Opp. Aiyana Whitney had been selected for the Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour team, for matches in Slovenia, Croatia and Italy from June 13th to June 25th. The team consisted of Whitney, Illinois’ Jocelynn Birks, Indiana’s Megan Tallman, Iowa’s Jess Janota, Maryland’s Hailey Murray, Michigan’s Adeja Lambert, Michigan State’s Halle Peterson, Minnesota’s Alyssa Goehner, Nebraska’s Justine Wong-Orantes, Northwestern’s Maddie Slater, Ohio State’s Taylor Sandbothe, Purdue’s Annie Drews, Rutgers’ Meme Fletcher and Wisconsin’s Kelli Bates. (Yes, that’s one per school). Northwestern’s Keylor Chan was the team’s head coach, assisted by Indiana’s Paul Koncir and Rutgers’ Phuong Louong. Michigan State’s Lianna Hadden served as the team’s athletic trainer.
Well, they’re back. Here’s a link to a photo of Aiyana and teammates in Venice, posted on @BigVolleyball on June 22nd. We are jealous.
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Credits:
- 15 pencils photo: by Tomomarusan, published courtesy of Wikimedia, under GFDL+creative commons2.5
- Thanks to Elliotte Freedman, author of the fantastic hockey blog 30 Thoughts, the inspiration for 15 Points.
