Russ Rose Then (2013): “Coming off of her redshirt year, Paulina has incredible fire and has a great arm. That being said, the expectations are very high for her, and I’m confident that she’ll be ready to contribute.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Paulina was one of the top recruits in the country and possessed a really strong arm. During her redshirt year I wanted her to focus on the things that she wasn’t as strong at — serving, passing, and defense instead of just going up and being a terminal attacker. She competed hard with the others at her position and played an important role in the second year that she was here [2013], primarily as a server, and helped us win the NCAA Championship. She played her last two years at Texas and then played professionally in Puerto Rico and with their national team.”
2013 Season (Redshirt Freshman)Highlights and Awards: 2013 National Champion … earned Penn State Invitational All-Tournament Team honors for her performance against Syracuse and Louisville.
Season Recap: Played in 29 matches during the 2013 season, starting 7 matches … registered 9 kills and 2 digs in her first collegiate appearance for the Nittany Lions against Syracuse (8/31) … hit double-digits against No. 19 Louisville (8/31), posting 10 kills, while also racking up 3 digs and 3 blocks, including 1 solo block … ranked 2nd on the team with 18 kills at No. 6 Texas (9/8), adding 2 block assists … recorded 9 kills on .471 hitting with 1 dig and a block assist against No. 8 Florida (9/8) … recorded 7 kills, 1 assist and 1 block against Marquette (9/13) … notched 4 kills and an assist at Illinois (10/18) … set a career high in service aces with 2 at Northwestern (10/20), adding 2 kills and 2 digs … matched a career-high mark with 3 solo blocks against Indiana (11/8), adding 4 kills … notched a service ace at No. 10 Nebraska (11/30).
NCAA Tournament: Saw action on the court against LIU Brooklyn (12/6) … tallied 1 kill against Utah (12/7) … played against Michigan State (12/13) … had 5 kills and 1 ace vs. Stanford (12/14) … recorded 1 dig in the NCAA National Semifinal sweep of No. 3 Washington (12/19) … pounded 2 kills in the National Championship match against No. 12 Wisconsin (12/21).
Before Penn State:Letterwinner and 3-year team captain at Palmer Trinity School in Miami, Fla. … helped her high school to Miami Dade District 16 Championship 5 years in a row and the Regional Championship in 2008 … 3-time All-Miami Dade County First Team selection … 2-time Miami Herald Player of the Year … was a member of the Florida Region Junior High Performance Team, named Best Attacker of the High Performance Championships … named Florida Coaches 2A First Team All-State selection … Freshman of the Year finalist … Top 79 Sophomore … selected to the Junior Olympics 16 Open All-Tournament Team … named a Top 50 Recruit as a junior … AAU All-American … member of the USA Youth National Team, which competed in the World Championships in Ankara, Turkey and placed 9th … ranked No. 7 in her class by PrepVolleyball.com … received ‘La Copa Dorada’ as one of 70 most outstanding Hispanic Athletes in Florida.