Kashauna Williams Transfers To Penn State Volleyball

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

Former Long Beach State outside hitter Kashauna Williams announced Thursday afternoon that she’s transferring to Penn State women’s volleyball ahead of the 2022 season.

Williams, a 6-foot Los Angeles native, was one of the top remaining players in the transfer portal after an excellent career at Long Beach State. Williams opted for a change in scenery after the program hired former Nebraska assistant Tyler Hildebrand as its new head coach this offseason.

Williams, a member of the 2018 recruiting class, played her club volleyball for Mizuno Long Beach, the same club that incoming Penn State freshman defensive specialist Mandi Morioka represents. Williams recently visited University Park to tour campus and check out Penn State’s facilities.

“Kash is a tremendous athlete who is extremely motivated to be great,” Katie Schumacher-Cawley said in a release. “She is extremely hardworking and a very nice person. I’m thrilled that she decided to join our Penn State family.”

The Nittany Lions and several other Big Ten programs recruited Williams out of high school, but she stayed close to home and immediately established herself as a standout player as a freshman. Williams earned her sociology degree and will enroll in graduate classes at Penn State.

Williams will arrive at Penn State with 1,181 career kills, despite not playing a 2020 season because the Big West canceled fall sports that year due to COVID-19. Williams had more than 440 kills each of her last two seasons and has 12 matches with 20-plus kills so far. The two-time first-team all-conference selection has quite an impressive top-spin serve, too.

Here’s a link to Williams’ bio on the Long Beach State website.  You can access her individual stats by clicking “Stats” on the menu bar near the top of that page, and selecting the year (2021, 2019 or 2018 — no season in 2020) in the upper right-hand corner: Kashauna Williams – Long Beach State – bio and link to stats

Williams was a three-sport athlete in high school at El Camino Real Charter, where she also played basketball and participated in track and field. Her multi-sport background must have caught the attention of Schumacher-Cawley, who played volleyball and basketball for the Nittany Lions during her college career.

Williams could be a significant contributor for the Nittany Lions this fall and will help solidify a relatively thin roster in terms of depth. Her leadership will also be beneficial as the program enters a new era under Schumacher-Cawley.

Here’s a link to a highlight video of Kash Williams, posted by Penn State: