Russ Rose Then (2008): “Blair is one of our key performers. If she can play at a high level like she did last year it allows us to compete with the top teas in the country because she is a huge blocker and she can attack from pin to pin. Blair has a live arm, a good feel for the game, and we’re hoping that following her ankle surgery, she will finally be at 100% and be back to doing the things that she was doing at the end of last season.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Blair was one of the original players that we recruited as a pin-to-pin attacker who could score from anywhere along the net as well as out of the backrow. She was long and had a good jump and an exceptional arm swing as well as being a very competitive athlete. When she finished her career as a player, where she played professionally, she went into coaching as the head coach at Buffalo. She married a middle blocker on the men’s team and has one or two kids. Blair was one of the three players – along with Arielle Wilson and Alyssa D’Errico – who won four national championships. Those three women were main contributors and were on the court every game of every match. A lot of our success was due to Blair. She could have played middle, but for us, she played right side and she had a huge presence as a blocker and was good off of one or two feet and off of serve reception.”
2008 Season (Redshirt Sophomore) Highlights and Awards: 2008 National Champion … AVCA Second Team All-America … NCAA Regional Championship All-Tournament Team … First Team AVCA All-Mideast Region … Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team … her .426 hitting percentage ranked 3rd on the team and in the Big Ten …
Season Recap: Played in all 38 matches, starting 22, and played in 114 sets … finished 4th on the team with 217 kills, good for an average of 1.90 kills per set … had at least 5 kills in 27 of 38 matches played … recorded 49 assists for the season … her 94 total blocks was 4th on the team … collected 6 kills and 7 block assists versus Yale (9/19) … had a season-high 11 kills on .625 hitting with 4 digs at Indiana (10/1) … posted 10 kills on .421 hitting versus Minnesota (10/31) … tied her career high with 6 assists versus Purdue (11/15) … tallied a combined 16 kills (2.67 kpg) without an error on 22 swings to hit .700 against Northwestern (11/21).
NCAA Tournament: Collected 15 kills on .478 hitting with 8 blocks in the 2 matches of the NCAA Regional Championship Final Four … was 3rd on the team with 9 kills against Nebraska in the NCAA Semifinal … in the NCAA Championship against Stanford, her 8 kills ranked 3rd on the squad and her 5 block assists were second.
2007 Season (Redshirt Freshman)
Before Penn State: Four-year volleyball letterwinner, two-year track letterwinner at Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, Va. … volleyball team captain for the Vikings in 2005 … two-time Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year (2004 and 2005) … member of the 2004 USA Youth National Team that won the NORCECA Championships in Puerto Rico … two-time PrepVolleyball All-American (2004 and 2005) … ranked seventh on the PrepVolleyball Top Ten Senior Aces list … Virginia State Player of the Year in 2004 … three-time First Team All-Region … two-time Region Player of the Year … three-time Dulles District Player of the Year … posted a 93-14 scholastic team record for a .870 winning percentage … led the 2004 Vikings to a Virginia State AA Championship with an undefeated 29-0 record, ultimately winning 55 consecutive matches … Virginia State record holder with 1,463 career kills and 307 solo blocks … 2004 AA Virginia State High Jump Champion … member of the Northern Virginia Volleyball Association club program with national tournament appearances in 2003, 2004 and 2005 … member of the 2006 Pittsburgh Renaissance Volleyball Club that participated in the 2006 Junior Olympics … member and officer of the National Honor Society with a 3.78 grade point average.