Russ Rose Then (1989): “JoAnn has as much potential as any player at Penn State. If she focuses all her energies toward volleyball, she could be an All-American, which is one of her goals. We need her to have an exceptional year if we’re going to make it to the final eight.”
1989 Season (RS Junior) Highlights and Awards: AVCA All-America Team … Volleyball Magazine All-America team … Atlantic 10 Player-of-the-Year … First-Team All-Atlantic 10 … Atlantic 10 Player-of-the-Week 3 times … named to the Atlantic 10, Baden Invitational, and Purdue Premier All Tournament teams … MVP of the Penn State Preview … ranked 6th nationally with a .396 hitting % … led the Atlantic 10 in hitting efficiency and blocks/set and ranked 2nd in kills/set …
Season Recap: Started all 41 matches … led the team with 477 kills and 166 blocks (34 solos, 132 assists) … posted 153 digs (6th on the team) … broke the school record for kills with 25 in a 3-game match against Duke … season-highs: 29 kills vs. Texas Arlington; 9 blocks vs. San Jose State and Texas-Arlington; 9 digs (4 times) … registered 15 or more kills 14 times.
Before Penn State: Elwell participated in the 1986 Keystone State Games in both volleyball and basketball … led the Conneaut Lake HS volleyball team to the state tournament 3 times.
