Russ Rose Then (2006): “I thought Nicole experienced the full competitive experience as a freshman. From having matches where she was clearly the main focal point and had a great impact on the team’s performance, being recognized as the Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten and [AVCA National Freshman of the Year], to suffering a tough time in her last match of her freshman year that will hopefully serve as motivation for future improvements. She is a terrific offensive player who gets on the ball quick, hits the ball high and hard, and has a true hitter’s mentality. She certainly likes to attack the ball. I’m not as interested in Nic being a percentage hitter. She is the type of individual who is always going to be depended on for generating kills per game versus hitting percentage, although her hitting percentage is very good. I feel she is one of the top attackers in college volleyball, and her involvement with USA Volleyball this summer has certainly opened her eyes to where she is today and how she stacks up.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Nicole was one of the top recruits in the country and did not disappoint during her career at Penn State. She had a long professional career and was a member of the national team for a long time. She was coaching for a little bit at Ohio State and continues to work for one of the professional leagues in team and player development. In 2008, we won every game during the season, until we lost two games against Nebraska in the National Semifinals. Nicole had a very good jump spin serve, and we’re in the fifth game, and she went to the float serve. And she had success with that float serve, even though she was serving against Jordan Larson and Kayla Banworth, who were both future national team players. It was Nicole’s call to go to the float serve. The players on that 2008 team had such a good run that most of the time they had the green light to make decisions, whether it was to take a risky swing or alter a serve a little bit. Nicole was a warrior who wanted the ball, and that carried over into a very successful national team career after college. She was always ready to play. No excuses. When she was banged up, she was still out there. She understood the role she had, and she embraced it and made us better. She was one of a number of players in those years who really helped elevate the program.”
2006 Season (Sophomore) Highlights and Awards: AVCA First Team All-America … AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region … unanimous First Team All-Big Ten … NCAA Seattle Regional All-Tournament Team … Big Ten Player of the Week (9/4) … Texas Invitational Most Valuable Player … Penn State Invitational Most Valuable Player … LSU Classic Most Valuable Player … Academic All-Big Ten … unanimous Preseason All-Big Ten … finished the season ranked 4th on the team and 6th in the conference in hitting percentage (.331), the only pure left-side hitter in the league within the top 6 … ended her 2nd season with 979 career kills, just 21 kills shy of reaching 1,000 for her career … her 483 kills in 2006 ranked 14th on Penn State’s single-season record chart.
Season Recap: Played in all 35 matches of the year and 113 of 114 games … averaged 4.27 kills/set, good for 2nd on the team and 8th in the Big Ten … … led the team in kills on 14 occasions … posted double-digit kills in 30 matches, including the last 7 matches of the season … recorded 15 or more kills on 12 occasions and notched 20 or more kills 4 times … … averaged 4.89 kills per game on .500 hitting against Eastern Kentucky, Duke and West Virginia at the Penn State Invitational … attacked a season-high clip of .607 at Purdue (9/30), racking up 19 kills and only 2 errors on 28 swings … … also for the season recorded 27 service aces, 96 digs and 89 blocks … posted a career-high 4 service aces twice, including at Michigan (11/18) and versus Purdue in the NCAA Regional Semifinal match (12/8) … had at least one dig in every match of the year, including a season-high 7 at LSU (8/26) … tallied at least two blocks in 23 matches … notched a career-high 6 blocks twice, including at Texas (9/8) and against Wisconsin (10/7).
NCAA Tournament: Averaged 4.86 kills/set on .315 hitting in the 2 matches at the NCAA Regional Championship against Purdue and Washington (12/8-9), along with 7 total service aces … totaled a career-high 4 service aces vs. Purdue in the NCAA Regional Semifinal match (12/8) … posted a season-best 24 kills in the NCAA Regional Final match at Washington (12/9).
Before Penn State: Four-year volleyball letterwinner and three-year track letterwinner for Benjamin Logan High School in Bellefontaine, Ohio … four-year team captain in volleyball for the Raiders … two-year member of the USA Junior National Team, including the 2004 squad that won the NORCECA gold medal in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada … member of the 2003 USA Youth National Team … 2004 Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year … Volleyball Magazine ‘Fab 50’ … Ohio High Magazine Player of the Year … led the team to 92-13 scholastic record, including three league championships and the district and regional runner-up titles in 2004 … three-time First Team All-Ohio honoree … earned four First Team CBC honors, four First Team District IX accolades and three District IX Player of the Year awards … set the school record for kills in a season four consecutive years … holds the Ohio state record for career kills … regional track high jump finalist in 2004 and 2005 … member of the Team Atlantis Volleyball Club … National Honor Society member … named to the Fall Sport All-Academic Team and the honor roll.