Russ Rose Then (2012): “A great deal of the team’s fortunes rest on the type of season Deja has. Her net play continues to improve and I think she’ll be tougher and tougher todefend as her volleyball IQ con tinues to increase. She is committed to gettingstronger and it shows in her game.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Deja was a terrific athlete. She hit the ground running when she came in as a freshman. She was the National Freshman of the Year, and a 4-time All American while she was here. Deja was strong in areas that were weaknesses for some other players. She was a great blocker on the left side and an exceptional middle back player. There were matches where her greatest contributions were her blocking and her digging, even though there were also a number of matches where she would lead us in hitting. Deja was an exceptional all-around player and cared about the team. She spent some time with the National Team and played professionally overseas for a number of years, as well as for Athletes Unlimited.”
2012 Season (Junior)Highlights and Awards: AVCA Third Team All-America … Volleyball Magazine Second Team All-America … West Lafayette Regional All-Tournament Team … AVCA Mideast Region … Unanimous All-Big Ten … Preseason All-Big Ten … Academic All-Big Ten … Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team … Big Four Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team … Chicago Classic All-Tournament Team.
Season Recap: Started all 36 matches at outside hitter … was 2nd on the team with 403 kills, averaging 3.25 kills per set … had double-digit kills in 22 matches … led the Nittany Lions in kills on 11 occasions … had 12 double-doubles … eclipsed 1,000 career kills on Sept. 28 at Wisconsin … was 2nd on the team in digs with 339, averaging 2.73 digs per set … had double-digit digs in 16 matches and recorded at least 3 digs in 34 of 36 matches … was team leader in digs 8 times … totaled 70 blocks for the season … had 20 multiple-block matches and tallied at least 1 block in 30 of 36 matches … posted 16 kills and 4 blocks vs. Stanford (8/31) … had 11 kills vs. Texas (9/1) … had 14 kills in 24 errorless swings with 10 digs vs. DePaul (9/8) … had 13 kills and 12 digs vs. Oregon State (9/8) … registered 16 kills and 13 digs vs. Nebraska (9/19) … pounded 18 kills with 18 digs vs. Iowa (9/22) … had a team-high 14 kills with 16 digs at Wisconsin (9/28) … posted 9 kills at Minnesota (9/29) … recorded 15 kills and 15 digs at Illinois (10/6) … led the team with 12 kills vs. Purdue (10/12) … had 12 kills vs. Indiana (10/13) … had 16 kills and a career-high 29 digs at Michigan (10/20) … posted 11 kills, 12 digs and 4 blocks, including 3 solo, at Iowa (10/24) … led the team with 20 kills and posted 19 digs at Nebraska (10/28) … had 9 kills and 9 digs vs. Wisconsin (11/4) … led the Lions with 11 kills against Illinois (11/8) … pounded 8 kills and had 7 digs vs. Northwestern (11/10) … had 13 kills and a team-high 9 digs at Purdue (11/17) … was 2nd on the team with 11 kills against Ohio State (11/21).
NCAA Tournament: Led the Lions with 12 kills on .800 hitting with 5 digs and 2 blocks vs. Binghamton (11/30) … tallied 10 digs vs. Kentucky (12/7) … had 14 kills, 12 digs and a career-high 7 blocks, including 4 solo, vs. Minnesota (12/8).
Before Penn State: Four-year letterwinner at Dupont Manual Magnet … named Miss Kentucky Volleyball, Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year and an Under Armour All-American … earned a 3rd place finish at the 2006 USA Junior Olympic Championships … named MVP and won a gold medal at USAV High Performance Championships …placed 5th and was selected to the All-Tournament Team at 2007 USA Junior Olympic Championships … selected Prepvolleyball.com ‘Freshman 59,’ ‘Top 50 Junior Recruits’ and ranked 7th on ‘Senior Aces’ … First Team Kentucky All-State … named to the 2008 USAV Youth National Training Team and was a 2009 USAV Youth National Team Invitee … was a four-time AAU All-American … Volleyball Magazine ’30 Underclassmen to Watch’ … 2009 JVDA National Champions and selected to JVDA All-Tournament team.
