Russ Rose Then (2001): “Jess has had a full year of development under her belt now and I really like the improvements we have seen in her game. She is much more comfortable now with the demands of the college game. She’s quick, strong, and has a competitive personality. I think she will continue to provide great contributions to the program as she gains more experience.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Jessica was a great recruit for us –kind of an outlier, because I didn’t recruit a lot of players from California and she came from the San Diego area. She was a prototype left-handed setter, very physically strong, had a good serve — at one point her serve was our best serve — she played good defense, and she contributed right away as a freshman. During her first two seasons she split time at setter with Shannon Bortner. Jess set most of the time and was very good at it. We had some great wins with her setting. Then Sam Tortorello joined the team in 2002 and took over as the starting setter. Jess was a very valuable player for us. She was physical, she played hard, she always had great confidence, and she made significant contributions to the team’s success.”
2001 Season (Sophomore): Season Recap: Played in 26 of 30 matches and 75 of 108 sets; led team with 9.17 assists/set and 0.40 aces/set … her 30 aces ranked 2nd on the team and her average of .40 aces/set ranked 1st … recorded 3 kills on 3 swings vs. Villanova (8/31) … totaled 1 kill, 13 assists, 6 digs, and 1 ace vs. Loola (Md.) (9/1) … made first start of the season vs. Stanford (9/4), registering 11 assists, 1 kill, and 1 dig … notched first double-double of the season with 46 assists and 12 digs vs. George Mason (9/7) … hit .583 with 41 assists, 7 digs, and 2 blocks vs. UNC-Asheville (9/8) … recorded 8 kills and 49 assists vs. Indiana (9/21) … notched 6 kills, a .750 hitting percentage, and 41 assists vs. Illinois (9/22) … dished out 51 assists and recorded 8 digs at Ohio State (9/26) … totaled 6 kills, 6 digs, and 46 assists vs. Purdue (9/29) … posted 4 kills, 2 aces, and 31 assists at Wisconsin (10/5) … hit .625 (6-1-8) with 33 assists at Northwestern (10/6) … dished out 38 assists in 3-set win over Youngstown State (10/9) … tallied 3 kills and 48 assists vs. Minnesota (10/12) … recorded second double-double of the season with 38 assists and 10 digs in win over Iowa (10/13) … registered 6 kills on .667 hitting percentage at Michigan State (10/19) dished out 38 assists while totaling 3 kills and 6 digs at Michigan (10/20) … posted 5 assists and 1 dig in limited action vs. Northwestern (10/26) … recorded 58 assists and 12 digs in four-set loss to Michigan State (11/17) … had two of team’s 15 aces in five-set win over Minnesota (11/24).
NCAA Tournament: Saw action in all three sets of NCAA 2nd Round loss to UCLA (12/1).
Before Penn State: At Rancho Bernardo High School, was selected to Volleyball Magazine’s Fab 50 squad; recipient of the Who’s Who in Sports All-Star Award in 1999; named to the All Power Bar Team in 1999; chosen for the All-Stater Sports Magazine Top 75; was a member of the 1999 Youth National Team that placed sixth at World Championships in Madiera Portugal; was profiled during junior year on ESPN’s Scholastic Sports America.
“Hayden solidifies PSU setter position,” The Daily Collegian, Aug. 30, 2001
“Senior nears end of journey,” The Daily Collegian, Nov. 18, 2004