Russ Rose Then (1997): “Heidi led the conference in digs last year, so I think it is obvious she had a good year. When I recruited Heidi I knew what I was getting and, three years later, I am happy to say that I’m pleased Heidi came to school at Penn State. She plays hard. She practices hard and she brings a lot of volleyball intelligence to the floor. I’m hopeful that she is going to have a great senior year. She’s never going to be a great blocker, but she does a number of important things well for us, and hopefully she will be able to continue to do that.”
1996 Season (Junior) Highlights and Awards: Academic All-Big Ten … Tri-Captain … during her career at Penn State, the Nittany Lions went 120-20 (.857), including a 67-5 (.931) mark at home … they also led the Big Ten in digs all 4 years and finished ranked in the top 10 at the end of each season … during those 4 years, Penn State competed in 2 Final Fours (1993 and 1994) and won 2 Big Ten titles — 1993 and 1996 (when it tied with Michigan State).
Season Recap: Played in 33 of 34 matches and 102 of 115 sets … posted 123 kills (1.21 kills/set) with a .228 hitting % … ranked 2nd on the team with 314 digs (3.08 digs/set) … recorded 31 total blocks (.30 blocks/set).
NCAA Tournament: Reached the 1,000 dig mark for her career in Set 2 of the Regional Semifinal sweep (15-11, 15-5, 15-5) of No. 17 Wisconsin (12/13).
“Rottinghaus has seen and done it all in a year’s time,” The Daily Collegian, Oct. 26, 1995
