Russ Rose Then (2009): “Alisha has continued to progress every year. This year, in my mind, is her most important year. I’ll judge her career on this year more than the other years because of the importance the position of setting has, and how I think her leadership skills have to intermingle with the team. She’s a terrific net player in that we never need to worry about what matchup we have from a blocking standpoint. She’s a terrific blocker and competes hard. I’m sure her time with USA Volleyball this summer will show up in her performance this year.”
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.”
2009 Season (Senior) Highlights and Awards: 2009 National Champion … posted a 142-5 career won-lost record (.966) including the 102-0 streak that spanned three seasons … helped lead her teams to the 2007, 2008 and 2009 NCAA titles, and to the 2006 Elite Eight … was on 4 Big Ten Conference champions … was a 3-time All-American, First Team All-Big Ten, and 3-time First Team AVCA All-Mideast Region … in 2009 season, directed Penn State’s offense to a .381 hitting percentage, just shy of the team’s record setting and nation-leading .390 hitting percentage compiled in her 2008 season … finished her career in 13th place in hitting percentage with .336 and blocks with 448, fourth in assists with 5,800, and fifteen with 465 sets played. (courtesy Wikipedia)
Season Recap: Started all 38 matches and played in all 122 sets … led the team with 11.90 assists/set … ranked 3rd on the team with 2.34 digs/set … was 4th on the team with 0.84 blocks/set … ranked 6th on the team with 0.92 kills/set … totaled 14 service aces for the season.
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.