The reign, the streak, and other things.
For the Penn State Women’s Volleyball team, the 2009 season might be called “The Year of the Streaks” — as in winning an unprecedented third consecutive NCAA Championship, extending the NCAA record for consecutive match victories to 102, winning an NCAA record 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament match, extending the record for consecutive Big Ten match victories to 65, and the record for consecutive match victories in Rec Hall to 74.
But 2009 is over. A host of stars who helped make those streaks happen have graduated (we miss you Alisha Glass, Megan Hodge, and Kelsey Ream; and Nicole Fawcett and Christa Harmotta, and Roberta Holehouse and . . . well you get the point).
As Head Coach Russ Rose says in the video, teams lose (“it happens – it happens all the time”), and even though it hasn’t happened at Penn State “in a while,” Rose knows it will happen at Penn State, sooner or later. And when it does, he says, “we’ll work on the things we need to get better for our next match.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS6KII5CSqw&feature=PlayList&p=7242FE88DA8D9C01&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=18[/youtube]
Penn State’s 2010 schedule features 16 home matches and 32 matches overall (we haven’t seen a list of which will be televised). The team opens the season against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, followed by matches against always-tough Florida, Stanford and Texas in Gainesville, and a challenging Big Ten conference schedule. As always, the Nittany Lions will be aiming towards an NCAA Tournament bid at the end of the season.
So, here’s to the 2010 Season! We have no idea whether Penn State will lose this year or, if it does, to whom. What we do know is that Coach Rose will use his skill, his knowledge, and his commitment to excellence to help the 2010 Nittany Lions become the best team they can be. At the end of the day, that’s all one can ask for.
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time | Media | W-L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08/27/10 | University of North Carolina | Chapel Hill | 7:30 p.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 08/28/10 | Villanova | Chapel Hill | 11:00 a.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 08/28/10 | Campbell University | Chapel Hill | 5:30 p.m. CT | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 09/03/10 | Seton Hall | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 09/04/10 | Colgate | Rec Hall | 10:00 a.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 09/04/10 | Virginia Commonwealth | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 09/10/10 | Florida | Gainesville, FL | 7:30 p.m. ET | GameTracker Live Video | W 3-1 |
| 09/11/10 | Stanford | Gainesville, FL | 6:30 p.m. ET | GameTracker | L 0-3 |
| 09/17/10 | George Washington | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 09/18/10 | Princeton | Rec Hall | 10:00 a.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 09/18/10 | St. Johns | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 09/24/10 | Illinois | Champaign, IL | 8:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker BTN Tape Delay 7:00 p.m. E.T. | L 2-3 |
| 09/26/10 | Wisconsin | Madison, WI | 2:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker BTN Tape Delay (9 p.m. E.T. ) | W 3-0 |
| 10/01/10 | Michigan State | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 | |
| 10/02/10 | Michigan | Rec Hall | 6:00 p.m. ET | BTN (Live?) GameTracker | W 3-0 |
| 10/08/10 | Purdue | West Lafayette, IN | 7:00 p.m. ET | L 2-3 | |
| 10/09/10 | Indiana | Bloomington, IN | 7:00 p.m. ET | L 1-3 | |
| 10/15/10 | Minnesota | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | W 3-1 | |
| 10/16/10 | Iowa | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 | |
| 10/20/10 | Ohio State | Columbus, OH | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Tape Delay | W 3-0 |
| 10/23/10 | Northwestern | Evanston, IL | 8:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 | |
| 10/29/10 | Indiana | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 | |
| 10/30/10 | Purdue | Rec Hall | 5:00 p.m. ET | W 3-1 | |
| 11/05/10 | Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | 7:00 p.m. ET | BTN Tape Delay 11-7 1:00 pm | W 3-0 |
| 11/06/10 | Michigan State | East Lansing, MI | 6:30 p.m. ET | W 3-1 | |
| 11/12/10 | Wisconsin | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | W 3-0 | |
| 11/13/10 | Illinois | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | GameTracker BTN | W 3-0 |
| 11/17/10 | Ohio State | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | ||
| 11/19/10 | Northwestern | Rec Hall | 7:00 p.m. ET | ||
| 11/26/10 | Iowa | Iowa City, IA | 8:00 p.m. ET | ||
| 11/27/09 | Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN | 9:00 p.m. ET | BTN | |
| 12/03/10 | Niagara | Rec Hall | tba | ||
| 12/04/10 | NCAA 2nd Rnd | Campus Sites | tba | ||
| 12/10/10 | NCAA Reg. Semis | Rec Hall | tba | ||
| 12/11/10 | NCAA Reg. Final | Rec Hall | tba | ||
| 12/16/10 | NCAA Semifinals | Kansas City, MO | tba | ||
| 12/18/10 | NCAA Final | Kansas City, MO | tba | ||