Russ Rose Then (2000): “We felt that Jessica was the top setter in this year’s graduating class. She is very athletic and competitive and had a great desire to come to Penn State.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Jessica was a great recruit for us –kind of an outlier, because I didn’t recruit a lot of players from California and she came from the San Diego area. She was a prototype left-handed setter, very physically strong, had a good serve — at one point her serve was our best serve — she played good defense, and she contributed right away as a freshman. During her first two seasons she split time at setter with Shannon Bortner. Jess set most of the time and was very good at it. We had some great wins with her setting. Then Sam Tortorello joined the team in 2002 and took over as the starting setter. Jess was a very valuable player for us. She was physical, she played hard, she always had great confidence, and she made significant contributions to the team’s success.”
2000 Season (Freshman) Highlights and Awards: All-Big Ten All-Freshman.
Season Recap: Played in 26 of 34 matches (20 starts, all at the setter position) and 74 of 128 sets … ranked 6th on the team with 1.26 kills/set, hitting .283 … led the team with 11.57 assists/set … was 3rd on the team with 34 service aces, and her 0.46 service aces/set ranked 1st on the team … averaged 0.68 blocks/set, good for 6th on the team … averaged 2.00 digs/set, 6th best on the team … compiled 7 double-doubles for the season, including a 49 assist, 11 dig match vs. Washington State (12/2) in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament (which was her first start in 7 matches) … led the team in assists in 19 matches … posted a career-best 67 assists on two occasions: at Northwestern (9/23) and at No. 7 Minnesota (11/4) … named to the Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team … recorded a season-best 9 kills while hitting .583 vs. Iowa (9/30).
NCAA Tournament: Posted 7th double-double of the season with 53 assists and 10 digs in Pacific Regional Semifinal win over Colorado State (12/7) … also registered 5 digs and 4 aces in the Colorado State match … totaled 36 assists and 4 digs versus Southern California in Pacific Regional final (12/8).
Before Penn State: At Rancho Bernardo High School, was selected to Volleyball Magazine’s Fab 50 squad; recipient of the Who’s Who in Sports All-Star Award in 1999; named to the All Power Bar Team in 1999; chosen for the All-Stater Sports Magazine Top 75; was a member of the 1999 Youth National Team that placed sixth at World Championships in Madiera Portugal; was profiled during junior year on ESPN’s Scholastic Sports America.
“Hayden solidifies PSU setter position,” The Daily Collegian, Aug. 30, 2001
“Senior nears end of journey,” The Daily Collegian, Nov. 18, 2004