Russ Rose Then (2014): “Aiyana is at times, our best net player and there comes a time when expectations have to be met. I could not pin-point what position she’ll likely play because it could be any of the front row positions. My expectation is not only that she should be able to do it, but also that she should be able to do it a really high level. I have confidence in what Aiyana can provide.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Aiyanna was from Northern Valley Regional in New Jersey. She was a great offensive player. She could score from anywhere along the net. She could attack successfully from both the front and back row. She had a great presence at the net and wasn’t afraid to take the big swing. She made great contributions to the program while she was at Penn State, and she played pro volleyball in Puerto Rico and Germany after she graduated. She married Nick Goodell, who played for the Penn State men’s volleyball team.”
2014 Season (Redshirt Junior)Highlights and Awards: 2014 National Champion … Second Team AVCA All-American … AVCA All-Northeast Region … Louisville Regional All-Tournament … All-Big Ten honorable mention .. Big Ten Player of the Week (11/17) … Villanova Classic All-Tournament Team … Penn State Alumni Classic MVP … her .353 hitting percentage ranked 4th on the team and 5th in the Big Ten.
Season Recap: Played in all 39 matches (34 starts) and 126 of 127 sets … finished 2nd on the team with 2.95 kills per set … ranked 3rd on the team with 0.78 blocks/set … had 7 kills on .583 hitting without any attack errors against UCLA (9/6) … tallied 8 kills at No. 5 Wisconsin (9/24), with a team-high 6 blocks … notched double-digit kills (12) and 6 blocks at No. 17 Minnesota (9/27) … set a career-high mark with 7 blocks against No. 24 Northwestern (10/8), adding a team-high 12 kills on .500 hitting … led the team for the 2nd consecutive outing with a season-high 15 kills against No. 15 Illinois (10/11) … led the team with 12 kills on .362 hitting against Michigan State (10/25) … posted a match-high 16 kills on .714 hitting against Iowa (11/12) … recorded 17 kills on .682 hitting against Minnesota (11/15) …
NCAA Tournament: Tallied 13 kills on .571 hitting in the NCAA Regional Semifinals against UCLA (12/13) … notched 16 kills against Wisconsin in the NCAA Regional Finals (12/13) … put down 10 kills in the NCAA National Semifinals against Stanford (12/18) … tied for 1st on the team with 11 kills in the sweep over BYU in the NCAA National Championship match (12/20).
Before Penn State: Four-year varsity letterwinner and captain at Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan, N.J. … was a 3-time First team All-League, First Team All-County and 2-time First Team All-State honoree … selected as a First Team Under Armour All-American as a senior … guided her team to 3 League Championships, 2 Bergen County Championships and the 2010 New Jersey State Championship … 2011 New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year.
