Russ Rose Then (1996): “I think Bonnie Bremner is the best setter in the country coming out of high school this year and better trained than a lot of college players. She’s the starting setter for the top ranked junior program in the country, but their program practices more than college teams do, so she is going to have to taper her training regime and recognize the differences between high school and college volleyball. She has great skills, tremendous leadership, and is an incredibly tough young lady that is going to make a valuable contribution to our program. I think she has all the potential in the world, and, if the team is as good as we hope, she has a chance to be recognized as one of the top freshmen in the country.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Bonnie is probably one of the great walk-ons of all time, because I didn’t have any scholarships available for her first year, but she really wanted to come to Penn State and our program, so she walked on. She was at the top of the recruiting lists of alot of coaches, and was looking at some of the top schools and programs. I think she visited Texas and us on the same weekend. She was highly-skilled, a very bright individual — her academics would have gotten her into any school in the country. And she came from Sports Performance — a great club program — and was a member of the USA Junior National Team, so we were very glad to have her. She came in and just hit the ground running, and started for four years. Great player and a great individual, who continues to give to the sport, running a training facility with her husband (former Penn State football and basketball player, Titcus Pettigrew).”
1996 Season (Freshman) Highlight and Awards: AVCA second-team All-American … selected to Volleyball Magazine’s All Freshman Team … named to Heat Magazine’s Freshman Great Eight squad … selected to the NCAA All-East Region team … named Penn State’s first-ever Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year, also chosen as a member of the All-Conference team … recorded a career-high 16 digs against No. 6 Washington State (9/14) … named to the Mizuno/USA Cup all-tournament team … finished second in the Big Ten with a .386 hitting percentage.
Season Recap: Played in all 34 matches and 114 of 115 sets … averaged 1.52 kills/set, 12.96 assists/set, 2.46 digs/set and .79 blocks/set … posted season’s best 66 assists at Nebraska (12/14) … notched career best 8 kills on 4 occasions, the last versus No. 15 Wisconsin (11/29) … had a season’s best .529 hitting % vs. Indiana (10/5) … recorded 16 digs vs. Washington State (9/14) … totaled 6 blocks at Illinois (11/22) and vs. Washington State (9/14).
NCAA Tournament: tallied 52 assists and 9 digs against Georgia Tech (12/8) in the NCAA 2nd Round … posted a career-high 66 assists in the East Region Final at No. 5 Nebraska (12/14).
Before Penn State: A three-year starting setter out of St. Francis High School; named team captain her junior year, she led the Spartans to the Illinois State Championship; also earned All-America accolades three-consecutive years, from 1993 to 1995; an all conference selection, Bremner was voted team Most Valuable Player as a junior; as a member of the Sports Performance club team, one of the best junior programs in the country, she helped lead the squad to a silver medal in national competition; also a member of the USA Junior National Team.
“Bremner to join volleyball’s ‘Dream Team,'” The Daily Collegian, Jan. 14, 2000
“Bremner drive to win known since day one,” The Daily Collegian, November 19, 1999
“Setting it all up,” The Daily Collegian, July 29, 1999
“Lady spikers find Bremner set in her ways,” The Daily Collegian, Dec. 10, 1998
“Bremner passionate for winning edge,” The Daily Collegian, Oct. 30, 1996
