Coach Katie Talks About the Transfer Portal

DigNittany: Last season you brought in four experienced players via the Transfer Portal — Kash Williams at OH, Taylor Trammell at MB, Zoe Weatherington at RS/Opp and Leisa Elisaia at setter.  All four ended up as starters.

For 2023, with Kash and Leisa having graduated, you brought in OH Jess Mruzik, setter Mac Podraza, RS/Opp Cam Hannah, setter Ally Van Eekeren, and libero/DS Lina Perugini.  One thing that stands out about all five players is that, in addition to being highly talented, they are very experienced.

When you’re thinking about building your roster, how important is experience?  As a follow-up, your thoughts about the Transfer Portal generally and how it has affected your ability to build a roster with the kinds of players you are looking for.

Coach Katie: We want the best players here and we’re fortunate that alot of players want to come here to compete, to get better, and to win.  Our approach is always to be honest with players — both when we’re recruiting them and after they join the program.  Players need to know what the expectations are and what they need to do to get better.  I think we’ve done a good job with both those things.

It’s critical to have highly-skilled, experienced players on your roster.  When players graduate or transfer out, it’s so important to be able to bring in talented, experienced players to stabilize the roster.

For the 2022 season, we were able to do that with Kash, Taylor, Zoe, and Leisa.  For 2023, I believe we were able to do that again.  With Jess and Mac, we’ll have two players with lots of experience in the B1G.  Having players of their caliber with experience in the B1G is something we’ll be able to lean on.  Even though Cam, Ally and Lina are not from the B1G, all have played in competitive, high-stakes matches.  They will be important contributors to the team and will be able to help our younger players.

We also have really good returning players.  Allie Holland was 1st Team All-Big Ten.  Taylor Trammell at MB and Zoe Weatherington at RS/Opp both played really well last season.  Macy Van Den Elzen improved alot during the Spring and always has time for her teammates.  Anjelina Starck and Alexa Markley had really good Spring practices, and both will definitely be in the mix this coming season.  In the back-row, Maddy Bilinovic, Gillian Grimes, Cassie Kuerschen, and Quinn Menger all return. They all played well during the Spring, so there will be some great competition for playing time.  I’m excited about our returning players.  They’ll do a great job welcoming all the new Penn Staters to our Penn State family and helping them adjust to their new lives at Penn State.

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Speaking of the Penn State Volleyball family:

A second family 💙🤍#WeAre pic.twitter.com/2qnRfAoBAl

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) June 7, 2023

Talking Head Looks at How Penn State Fared in the 2022-23 Transfer Portal 

DigNittany: Coach Katie and her staff brought in Mac Podraza , arguably the best setter available in the Transfer Portal, and Jess Mruzik , a 1st-Team All B1G performer at OH, along with setter Ally Van Eekeren, RS/Opp Cam Hannah and libero/DS Lina Perugini.  Five very experienced and very talented players.  So, did Penn State “win” the 2022-23 Transfer Portal?

Talking Head: I look at it more as “Did Penn State fill its needs and get better?”  Just like free-agency in pro sports, the answer to “Who won the Transfer Portal” is heavily dependent on a team’s needs.  Did the team need a complete rebuild or did it just need to plug a hole or two.  Did it need to augment defense, or offense, or both?

With what Penn State needed this season, they hit a home run.  They filled leadership roles, added experience, and added offensive and defensive minds and mentorship.

Jess Mruzik’s talent is well known.  She hasn’t always been surrounded by the best talent, but she is among the best all-skills, 6-rotation players in the country.  She was a  huge, huge “get” for Coach Katie and Penn State — not only for what she will contribute individually (hint: alot) but also for the positive influence she will have on other players — particularly younger players like Alexa Markley and Anjelina Starck.  They’ll be observing how she interacts with teammates, how she approaches practice and training, how she responds in game situations.  What they will see is a fully-developed player with a fully-developed tool box.  You copy, you model, you emulate.  And that elevates the play of those around her.  I think she’ll grow by leaps and bounds and will help the younger players to do so too.

Mac Podraza was an equally important “get” for Coach Katie and her staff.  Her talent and level of accomplishment are undisputed — she’s the reigning Big Ten Setter of the Year and a three-time AVCA All-American.  She has played, and excelled, in many high-pressure matches.  She is a great leader and will be a tremendous mentor for the younger players.  She is eager to help Penn State reach its potential and achieve even greater success.

Whether you think Penn State “won” the Transfer Portal or not, it’s undeniable that Coach Katie and her staff have improved team depth and added impressive talent across the roster.  The addition of Podraza, Mruzik, setter Ally Van Eekeren, RS/Opp Cam Hannah and libero/DS Lina Perugini to an already talented and experienced core gives the 2023 team more depth than the 2022 squad and arguably more talent and experience than any Penn State team since 2017.  That depth, talent and experience should translate into more consistency.  And maybe a deeper run in the tournament.

Leisa Elisaia and Kash Williams were both great players.  But coming from what would generally be viewed as a “lesser” conference, both must have felt at least some pressure to show they belonged in the B1G.  Mruzik and Podraza have nothing to prove in that sense.  They are at the top of their games and are well respected by their peers and coaches throughout the league.  I’m speculating here, but I think that confidence will enable them to spread their wings, so to speak, and play freely, which will make them and the players around them better.  When you have those seasoned, experienced players, it’s a home run.

For what Penn State needed, and what they got, I think Penn State definitely won its own “Transfer Portal Championship.”

Talking Head on Nia Reed and Players Improving from One Season to the Next

DigNittany: Talk about how players improve from one year to the next and what that might mean for Penn State in 2023.

Talking Head:  I don’t know who any of the 2023 starters will be.  That’s partly because of the number of new players who will be joining the team.  But it also reflects how difficult it is to predict how much returning players will improve.  Obviously, the 2023 transfers-in have proven histories of producing at a high level, as do many of the returnees.

The question is, how much will any of these players improve over their 2022 performances?  Sometimes, players make a really big leap from one year to the next.

Take Nia Reed — yes, the Nia Reed who competed for a spot on the U.S. National team. Back in 2016, some in the Penn State fanbase had written her off after lackluster freshman (coming off an injury) and sophomore seasons.  But her junior and senior seasons?  Remarkable improvement.  Just look at the Table below:

Nia Reed - 2016 to 2018 Stats

Player	Class	SP	MP	Pts/S	K/S	%	Blk/S	SA/S	Dig/S
Nia Reed 2016	2/So.	14	9	0.58	0.45	.121	0.25	0.00	0.05
Nia Reed 2017	3/Jr.	52	25	1.52	1.29	.247	0.40	0.00	0.17
Nia Reed 2018	4/Sr.	103	30	3.74	3.26	.253	0.74	0.00	0.54

Nia Reed didn’t give up on herself, and the coaches didn’t give up on Nia Reed.  Obviously, not all players make a jump like Nia Reed did.  But some will (think of Katie Clark, just last year).  I’m looking forward to seeing how the season plays out.

Editor’s Note: Talking Head (not his real name) played D1 volleyball, and has coached high school and club volleyball for many years.