Russ Rose Then (2014): “Micha is one of the most prolific players in college volleyball, especially when you realize that she does most of her damage from the endline. She’s a great server, an incredibly competitive human being who is mentally tough and I feel she’s improved dramatically as a setter and team leader. I look forward to seeing how Salima will polish Micha up as she goes into her senior year.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Micha was one of the iconic players during her years in college volleyball just by the impact that her serve generated. To me, her greatest strength was how mentally tough and competitive she was. I never had to worry about her being ready to go out there and compete, doing everything she could to help the team. She played when she was banged up, and demonstrated great leadership. She was a National Champion, a multi-year All American, a two time Olympian, and an Olympic Gold medalist. She’s still playing professionally in the U.S. after numerous seasons outside the country. She checks all the boxes. Good student, great teammate. I am incredibly appreciative of everything she did while she was here at Penn State, proud of who she was when she was here, and proud of who she is today.”
2014 Season (Senior): Highlights and Awards: 2014 National Champion … AVCA National Player of the Year — the 4th Nittany Lion in program history to earn the prestigious honor, joining Megan Hodge (2009), Nicole Fawcett (2008) and Lauren Cacciamani (1999) in the elite group … 3rd consecutive AVCA First-Team All-America … AVCA All-Northeast Region honors … All-Big Ten (unanimous) … Preseason All-Big Ten … AVCA DI National Player of the Week (9/30) … PSU Classic All-Tournament … Big Ten Setter of the Week (9/15, 9/22, 9/29, 10/27, 11/17) … Villanova Classic MVP… finished her career among Penn State’s all-time career record-holders, ranking 1st in service aces (380) and service aces/set (0.76), 5th in assists (5,578) and 6th in assists/set (11.16) … named as one of the 4 finalists for the Honda Sports Award in volleyball for 2014–15.
Season Recap: Started all 39 matches and played in all 127 sets … totaled 126 service aces (0.99 aces/set) … averaged 11.61 assists/set and paced the team to a .342 hitting percentage … recorded her 1st double-double of the season at No. 2 Stanford (9/5) with 57 assists and 13 digs … posted a double-double (38 assists and 10 digs) at No. 5 Wisconsin (9/24), matching a career-high mark with 9 kills on .750 hitting … paced the team to a .443 hitting clip against Michigan (10/24) … notched a season-high 7 blocks against No. 17 Ohio State (10/28) … matched a season-high mark with 8 aces at Maryland (11/22) … posted 5 aces at Northwestern (11/26).
NCAA Tournament: Averaged 12.3 assists/set through the 20 sets in Penn State’s NCAA Tournament matches … averaged 13.75 assists/set in Penn State’s 3-1 win over Stanford (12/18) in the NCAA National Semifinal match … averaged 12.0 assists/set in the sweep of BYU (12/20) in the National Championship match.
Before Penn State: Four-year varsity letterwinner and three-year team captain at Edmond Memorial High School in Edmond, Okla. … guided her team to the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Oklahoma 6A State Championship … was a two-time All-Edmond Player of the Year, All-City Player of the Year and MVP of the State Championship All-Tournament Team … twice named the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year … voted High School All-American by PrepVolleyball.com … earned a spot on the 2009 USA Junior National Championship All-Tournament Team … was a candidate for PrepVolleyball National Junior of the Year and National Senior of the Year … named to the PrepVolleyball.com Class of 2011 Top 50 Recruits and 2011 Senior Ace… Volleyball Magazine ‘Fab 50’ … earned Best Setter Award in 2010 USA High Performance International Championship Tournament … selected to the 2010 Youth Olympic Team … was a 2010 Under Armour All-American.
