Russ Rose Then (1993): “l voted for Zeynep for Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year. She didn’t start or play as much as some of the other candidates, but Zeynep participated in every important match for us last season and performed well. I look for Zeynep to improve this year. She needs to improve her strength to become more physical in the Big Ten. Zeynep is a quality student-athlete, as evidenced by her near-perfect grade-point average in economics. She’s a team-oriented kid. It has been a real pleasure to have her here.”
1993 Season (Sophomore) Highlights and Awards: GTE CoSIDA District 2 All-Academic selection … Academic All-Big Ten … All Big Ten … ranked 6th in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.361), 8th in digs/set (2.88) and 9th in aces/set (0.37).
Season Recap: Emerged as one of Penn State’s brightest stars, playing in all 36 matches and 117 of 122 sets … reached double-figures in kills 16 times and digs 15 times … season-high 27 kills vs. Ohio State (11/10) … season high 5 blocks in 4 matches.
NCAA Tournament: Tore up the NCAA Tournament field, recording 75 kills and 74 digs in Penn State’s five NCAA Tournament matches … those totals included 31 kills and 34 digs in the Semifinal and National Championship matches, en route to her NCAA Championship All-Tournament team selection … also named to the NCAA Mideast All-Tournament team and the All-Mideast Region team … season high 5 aces in 5-set win over Colorado (12/9) in NCAA Mideast Regional … season high 20 digs vin National Semifinal match vs. Brigham Young (12/16 ).
From Turkey to America: “When Zeynep Ton walked into her first practice as a member of the Penn State women’s volleyball team in 1992, she [barely knew] a word of English. Coming directly from Turkey, 16-year-old Ton walked into practice having memorized the media guide for that year. Penn State coach Russ Rose recalled that when she saw a teammate she would recognize their picture from the guide, and greet them by saying, ‘Hello (fill in name) from (their hometown).’ In Ton’s four years on the team, she not only learned another language, but she proved herself as both a standout athlete and scholar. ‘She was a breath of fresh air everyday,’ Rose said. ‘I think most college students, given the opportunity could do all the right things, some elect not to do all the right things, or elect to do what they think is important. Zeynep did all the right things.'” From “Former Penn State athlete finds success as professor,” by Jocelyn Syrstad, The Daily Collegian, Dec. 8, 2009.
Before Penn State: Ton competed on 3 national championship high school teams, a junior national title club team and the Turkey Junior National squad … a team captain, Ton led Uskudar HS to national titles in 1989, 1990 and 1991 and the International School Championship in 1990 … led her junior club team to the national title in 1990, a 2nd place showing in 1991 and a 3rd-place finish in 1992 … was a participant on Turkey’s Junior National team which placed 7th at the 1990 European Championship … also experienced success on the sub-junior level, competing on teams that placed 3rd nationally in 1990 and 1991.
