Russ Rose Then (2014): “Haleigh has a great vibrant personality and I think she will hit some great balls as a freshman and also learn how good college blocking is.”
Russ Rose Now (2026): “Haleigh was one of the top recruits in the country, and like a lot of great middles, she had incredible vision. Similar to Lauren Cacciamani, she was incredibly bright and analytical of the things that mattered for her to excel. Because of her confidence in herself, she was able to do things with attacking that normally took years to develop. Haleigh, to her credit, got better and better each year, and she has gone on to have a magnificent career, obviously highlighted by winning the Olympic gold medal. She was clearly one of the most engaging players that that I coached — she has continued to embrace that role as one of the main spokespeople for USA Volleyball. I would have predicted that she would have earned her PhD in philosophy and been working at a big school as a professor before I would have predicted that she would have followed the volleyball route and made that her life’s work for the past eight or 10 years. I talked to her a couple of days ago and she’s still playing professionally in the US, still leading, and continues to be inquisitive about the game. She was a joy to have in the gym and in the program.”
2014 Season (Freshman)Highlights and Awards: 2014 National Champion … 2014 Big Ten Freshman of the Year … All-Big Ten … All-Big Ten Freshman Team (unanimous) … Louisville Regional All-Tournament … Big Ten Player of the Week (11/3) … Big Ten Freshman of the Week (11/10, 11/17).
Season Recap: Played in 26 of 39 matches (22 starts) and 79 of 127 sets … her .463 hitting percentage led the team … averaged 2.63 kills/set ranked 3rd … totaled 96 blocks … made her collegiate debut against Yale (9/12), posting 6 kills on .545 hitting with zero attack errors … finished 2nd on the team with a season-high 14 kills on a squad-best .538 hitting clip against No. 15 Illinois (10/11), while also leading the team with 7 blocks … tallied 10 kills on .421 hitting against Michigan (10/24) …set a career-high mark with 9 total blocks at No. 17 Ohio State (10/31) … earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors for her performances against the Buckeyes … had back-to-back double-digit kill performances against Rutgers (11/7) and Maryland (11/8) to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.
NCAA Tournament: Led the team with 9 kills and 6 blocks in her NCAA Tournament debut v. Siena (12/5) … had 12 kills on .526 hitting with 5 blocks in the NCAA Regional Semifinals against UCLA (12/12) … put down 10 kills and 5 blocks in the NCAA Regional Finals against Wisconsin (12/13) … posted 4 blocks in the NCAA National Championship match against BYU (12/20).
Before Penn State: Holds a Colorado state record after putting down 48 kills in a match with her Doherty High School team … earned 2012 Colorado Volleyball Player of the Year honors as well as team MVP accolades in 2012 and 2013 as the Spartan’s team captain for 2 consecutive seasons … guided Doherty to a state championship title in 2012 … 2-time Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year from 2012-13 … earned Class 5A First Team All-Conference and First Team All-State honors from 2010-13 … also earned Class 5A MVP honors … 2013-14 Under Armour First Team All-American … 2013 Mizuno First Team All-American … 2013 Volleyball Magazine Player of the Year.
