Russ Rose Then (2008): “One of the greatest strengths that we had last year is that we had Melissa [Walbridge] and we were able to bring Arie along a little slower, rather than having to throw her into matches before she was ready. Dennis [Hohenshelt] did a great job with Arie and her development as a young player. She still has to improve her blocking but she is an exceptional offensive player. She’s strong and she is an individual who likes to be in the mix. She is a very confident player even though she doesn’t possess as much experience as others, and she will be a player who we not only will depend on this year but who will have major responsibilities in the future. She was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last year despite not playing a full Big Ten season. The fact that she was recognized by the conference coaches certainly identifies that her efforts didn’t go unnoticed.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Ari was a great offensive player. She was one of the top slide attackers in the country, as shown by her hitting well over .400 for her career. She held the national record for career hitting average for several years and still ranks 2nd all-time in D1. Ari was an incredibly hard worker who Dennis Hohenshelt spent a lot of time working with to improve her court awareness and net presence. She went into coaching and was an assistant for a couple of years at Georgia Tech and Missouri, and at DePaul for a little bit with Nadia Edwards, and now is the head coach at Central Michigan. Ari was loyal and worked hard at everything that was important. She is one of three players at the division one level to have won four national championships, along with Alyssa D’Errico and Blair Brown. She played professionally and spent some time with the national team as well. She always represented us in great fashion.”
2008 Season (Sophomore): Highlights and Awards: 2008 National Champion … AVCA Second Team All-America … First Team AVCA All-Mideast Region … Academic All-Big Ten … First Team All-Big Ten … Big Ten Player of the Week (Oct. 13, Nov. 10) … Nittany Lion Invitational MVP … Preseason All-Big Ten … ranked 2nd on the team and in the Big Ten with a .458 hitting percentage … her 159 total blocks ranked 5th in the Big Ten …
Season Recap: Started all 38 matches, playing in all 116 sets … finished 4th on the team with 245 kills, averaging 2.11 kills/set … was 2nd on the team with 159 total blocks and tied for 1st on the squad with 145 block assists … led the Nittany Lions in blocks in 18 matches … totaled 16 digs for the second year in a row … averaged 2.83 kills/set on .556 hitting with 12 blocks in wins at Iowa and Minnesota (10/10-11) … averaged 2.83 kills per set on .654 hitting with 12 blocks against Indiana and Michigan State (11/5 & 7) … combined for 16 kills on .538 hitting against Illinois and Purdue (11/14-15), and also contributed 13 blocks … totaled 11 kills each versus Wisconsin (11/22) and Ohio State (11/28).
NCAA Tournament: Averaged 2.50 kills/set on .623 hitting wih 9 blocks at the NCAA Regional Championship … totaled 6 blocks in NCAA Tournament wins against Nebraska (12/18) and Stanford (12/20).
Before Penn State: Four-year volleyball letterwinner and one-year basketball letterwinner at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill. … three-year varsity volleyball captain and four-year starter for the Pirates … earned all-state, all-conference and all-area honors her senior season … two-time team Most Valuable Player … ranked seventh nationally by Prepvolleyball.com in 2006 … named one of the top 50 recruits in the nation in 2007 … tabbed by Mizuno as the best middle blocker in 2006 … member of the 1st Alliance Volleyball club program … was also named the best rebounder for Varsity basketball at Proviso East, helping her team to the regional championship during her junior season … four-year member of the honor roll and was named all-academic for varsity volleyball during senior season.