Russ Rose Then (2009): “Blair is due to have a breakout season, not that the last couple of years haven’t been good. Last year she was recognized as a Second Team All-American. During our stretch run to the NCAA Tournament she was one of our key performers. She was great at the net, which she’ll continue to be. We hope to get her into a different role where she’ll hit out of the back row and do some things that can help the team in the long run.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Blair was one of the original players that we recruited as a pin-to-pin attacker who could score from anywhere along the net as well as out of the backrow. She was long and had a good jump and an exceptional arm swing as well as being a very competitive athlete. When she finished her career as a player, where she played professionally, she went into coaching as the head coach at Buffalo. She married a middle blocker on the men’s team and has one or two kids. Blair was one of the three players – along with Arielle Wilson and Alyssa D’Errico – who won four national championships. Those three women were main contributors and were on the court every game of every match. A lot of our success was due to Blair. She could have played middle, but for us, she played right side and she had a huge presence as a blocker and was good off of one or two feet and off of serve reception.”
2009 Season (Redshirt Junior) Highlights and Awards: 2009 National Champion … AVCA First Team All-America . . . NCAA Regional Championship All-Tournament Team … AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region … Unanimous First Team All-Big Ten … Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team (8/29) … Nittany Lion Invitational All-Tournament Team (9/5) … Duke Invitational All-Tournament Team (9/12) … Big Ten Co-Player of the Week (11/16) … her .347 hitting percentage ranked 5th on the team and in the Big Ten and was ranked in the top 50 nationally …
Season Recap: Started 37 matches, playing in 117 sets at opposite … finished 2nd on the team with 347 kills, averaging 2.97 kills per set … had double-digit kills in 20 matches … tied her career-best with 17 kills on .538 hitting vs. Illinois (11/13) … finished the season with 187 digs … tallied at least 2 digs in 32 matches, … was second on the team with 28 aces … … was third on the team with 107 blocks, good enough for 0.91 blocks per set … had at least one block in 35 of 38 matches … had 3 double-doubles, including 13 kills and 10 digs at Minnesota (10/11).
NCAA Tournament: Had a career-high 4 aces against Penn (12/5) in the Second round of the NCAA Tournament … registered a personal-best 14 digs in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament against Penn (12/5) … had 11 kills and 13 digs against Florida (12/11) in the NCAA Regional Semifinals and 13 kills and 14 digs in the reverse-sweep win over Texas (12/19) in the NCAA Championship.
2008 Season (Redshirt Sophomore)
2007 Season (Redshirt Freshman)
Before Penn State: Four-year volleyball letterwinner, two-year track letterwinner at Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, Va. … volleyball team captain for the Vikings in 2005 … two-time Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year (2004 and 2005) … member of the 2004 USA Youth National Team that won the NORCECA Championships in Puerto Rico … two-time PrepVolleyball All-American (2004 and 2005) … ranked seventh on the PrepVolleyball Top Ten Senior Aces list … Virginia State Player of the Year in 2004 … three-time First Team All-Region … two-time Region Player of the Year … three-time Dulles District Player of the Year … posted a 93-14 scholastic team record for a .870 winning percentage … led the 2004 Vikings to a Virginia State AA Championship with an undefeated 29-0 record, ultimately winning 55 consecutive matches … Virginia State record holder with 1,463 career kills and 307 solo blocks … 2004 AA Virginia State High Jump Champion … member of the Northern Virginia Volleyball Association club program with national tournament appearances in 2003, 2004 and 2005 … member of the 2006 Pittsburgh Renaissance Volleyball Club that participated in the 2006 Junior Olympics … member and officer of the National Honor Society with a 3.78 grade point average.