Russ Rose Then (2008): “As Alisha progressed last season and she got better and better, we as a team got better and better. She is one of the top young players in the country at the setting position and she continues to expand on the things that she can do offensively. Alisha is clearly one of the best blocking setters in the nation. She strives to make progress in her development as a player and as a team leader. Alisha is a fabulous team player and the thing that I recruited her on was her energy, her interaction skills, and the things that I projected her being able to impact. I didn’t know that she would become the force that she has as a blocker, and as she continues to develop and get a better feel for the nuances of the game and this team, she will continue to grow and make our team even better.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Alisha led the nation as a high school player in service aces, and when she came in was our hardest attacker. Alisha was an athlete who could hit and played all positions when she was on her mom’s high school team. Her development as a setter was exceptional, and in my mind, was aided by Jessica Yanz, who was a highly skilled, trained setter, working with Alisha while the two of them were training together as freshmen and sophomores. Alisha won three national championships at Penn State, played on the national team, went to the Olympics, and played professionally in a number of countries. She was an assistant coach at Stanford for a little bit, and just recently accepted the head coaching job of the San Diego Mojo team in the MLV. Alisha’s had an incredible volleyball playing experience, and in all phases. And she is the mother of three daughters, so she’s setting the bar really high in a lot of areas, and continues to exceed all expectations.”
2008 Season (Junior) Highlights and Awards: 2008 National Champion … AVCA First Team All-America … NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team … AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region … Unanimous First Team All-Big Ten … AVCA National Player of the Week (Nov. 18) … Big Ten Player of the Week (Nov. 17) … Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team … Chicago Classic All-Tournament Team … Preseason All-Big Ten … directed the Penn State offense to a record setting and nation-leading .390 hitting percentage …the Nittany Lions bested their own record of .350 set in 2007 … helped former Nittany Lion Christa Harmotto to a nation-leadung .486 attack percentage and none of her primary attackers hit below .349 … led the team, Big Ten and nation with 12.50 assists per set average … ended her junior season with 4,347 career assists (6th on the all-time career assists list)
Season Recap: Started all 38 matches and all 116 sets … tallied 1,450 total assists … had at least 1 kill in 32 matches and totaled 64 for the season … ranked 3rd on the team with 212 digs averaging 1.83 digs/set … notched 114 total blocks, good enough for 3rd on the team … had 30 multiple-block matches … registered 2 double-doubles … collected 48 assists with 5 kills at Indiana (10/1) … recorded a season-high 9 blocks at Minnesota (10/11) … had 48 assists and was a perfect 4-for-4 in kills at Ohio State (11/28) … totaled 48 helpers against Western Michigan (12/12), while going 3-for-4 in attacks.
NCAA Tournament: Had a season-high 60 assists against Nebraska in the NCAA Semifinal.
Before Penn State: Four-year letterwinner at Leland (Mich.) High School … Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year … led her squad to the 2006 Class D state championship, producing a single-match record of 48 kills in the title match … named Miss Volleyball for the state of Michigan in 2006 … four-time first team all-state, all-region dream team and all-conference … is the National and State High School record holder in season aces (296), career aces (937) and career kills (3,584) … during scholastic career attacked at a .440 clip while also contributing 1,816 digs and 680 blocks … ranked sixth on PrepVolleyball.com’s ‘Senior Aces’ list … was a member of the 2005 US Youth National A2 Team and played on the USA Red squad that won the gold medal at the HP Championships in Austin, Texas, where she also received the ‘Best Setter’ award … started on the 2004 USA Youth National Team that won the gold medal in Puerto Rico at the NORCECA Games, where she was recognized as ‘Best Server’ … a complete athlete, was also named first team all-state as a basketball player as a junior and senior … was voted one of the top 25 players in the state by the Detroit Free Press … member of the National Honor Society with a 3.7 grade point average.