Russ Rose Then (1999): “Solena has great quickness, and as long as she continues to concentrate and work hard, I would anticipate Solena getting some opportunities to play in the back row and make some contributions.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Solena was from New York. She was a terrific back row player who always had a smile and always was very mature and responsible. So she was a good student and teammate and was the perfect example of someone who made the group better. She worked hard in practice. She was a pleasure to have in the program.”
1999 Season (Redshirt Sophomore) Honors and Awards: 1999 National Champion.
Season Recap: Played in 24 of 37 matches and 36 of 125 sets … averaged .72 digs/set … totaled 7 service aces. Appeared in 2 sets of the West Virginia (9/6) match where she had 3 digs and 1 ace … took the court against Toledo (9/11) and had 1 dig and an ace … got 1st kill of career when dig went over net for a point against Illinois (10/11) … got into final set of Ohio State (10/6) match and recorded 2 digs … came off the bench and totaled 3 digs and an ace in win over Northwestern (10/8) … tallied 1 dig at Purdue (10/15) and another 3 against No. 24 Wisconsin (10/16) … played in the final set against Michigan (11/12) and 2 sets against Michigan State (11/13) where she had 1 assist … recorded 1 dig in Wisconsin (11/26) match.
NCAA Tournament: Played all 3 sets of Robert Morris ( 12/3) match where she had 3 aces and a dig … came into Minnesota match ( 12/9) and recorded one dig … played all 5 sets of the NCAA semifinal match against Pacific (12/ 16) where she recorded 6 digs.
1998 Season (Redshirt Freshman)
1997 Season (Freshman) Redshirt season.
Before Penn State: Four-year letterwinner for the Minisink High School Warriors; earned all-state and all-conference honors; Warriors team captain and MVP in 1996; also lettered one year in track.
“PSU women’s volleyball team moving on after 2 weekend losses,” The Daily Collegian, Sept. 27, 2000
“Looming Big Ten opponents a growing concern to Rose,” The Daily Collegian, Sept. 7, 2000
“Young and restless,” The Daily Collegian, July 26, 2000
“Solena Quick-ly igniting fire under Lions off bench,” The Daily Collegian, Nov. 5, 1999
