Russ Rose Then (2010): “Ari has made incredible strides as a player since she came to Penn State. I believe she’s demonstrated that she is one of the top offensive players in the nation. Hopefully, we’ll be able to expand on her array of shots and continue to get her the ball at key times. We’re going to need her to score and block well, as well as make plays while in the back row.”
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.”
2010 Season (Senior) Highlights and Awards: 2010 National Champion … helped lead the Nittany Lions to 4 consecutive NCAA championships, 4 Big Ten championships, a 142-7 overall record and a 109-match win streak … she was a 3-time AVCA All-American, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, a 3-time First Team All-Big Ten honoree, and served as team captain. Wilson concluded her career as the program recordholder in career hitting percentage (.468).
Season Recap: Started all 37 matches, playing in 123 sets … hit .425 to rank 4th in the nation … her 2.72 kills/set ranked 3rd on the team … led the team with 129 total blocks.
NCAA Tournament: Totalled 12 kills (.385 hitting percentage) with a team-leading 8 total blocks in 3-1 Regional Finals win over Duke (12/11) … had 6 kills on 13 errorless swings (.462 hitting percentage) in the 3-0 National Semifinal win over Texas (12/15) … posted 12 kills in the 3-0 National Championship win over California (12/18).
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.