Russ Rose Then (2002): “Kaleena is wired at a good level to play this position. She is a good passer and a very courageous defensive player If you can tally how many times people have taken a ball off their head and not whimpered or backed off, she is climbing the ladder. She has taken a lot of hits and plays hard, and she is not the type of person to turn her back or back away from a competitive opportunity. She always wanted to come here and I am very proud of her. She can e depended on and has the ability to be the Big Ten’s dig leader. In my opinion, Kaleena was the top player in Pennsylvania out of high school and she continues to impress me with her skills, attitutde and positive disposition.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “I liked Kaleena as a person, I loved her as a competitor, and I trusted her with every aspect of the program when she was one of my staff members. Kaleena arrived at Penn State just when the libero position had come into play, so she was our first libero. She went hard every day in practice, in every drill, and in every match. And when we scored, she would throw her hands up in the air enthusiastically. She was the poster child for the Western Pennsylvania, hard-working, care-about-the-team player. She and Sam Tortorello started every match throughout their careers, except for when they were injured. There’s not a ton of kids who started every match of their careers. Kaleena was great. She was a terrific passer and an incredibly strong defensive player — she was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a senior — and just a really, really strong team player with energy to keep everybody else motivated. After she graduated, she coached for College of Charleston, and then coached with us for a long time before going into academic advising. She and her family are now in Colorado, where she works at the Colorado Juniors volleyball club.”
2002 Season (Freshman) Season Recap: Played in all 33 matches and all 107 sets, beginning the season as a backrow and serving specialist before taking over the role of libero … ranked 3rd on the squad in digs/set with 2.24 … recorded at least one dig in all 33 matches … tallied 13 double-digit digs matches, including 13 of the last 16 contests of the season … recorded 3 service aces in a match three times, including versus Quinnipiac (8/31), at Iowa (10/18) and against Northwestern (10/25) … posted first double-digit digs match against Iowa (10/18), notching 10 digs … tallied 17 digs against Iowa in the final Big Ten regular-season match (11/30).
NCAA Tournament: Notched a career-high 18 digs in the NCAA Tournament 1st round win over Penn (12/6)
Before Penn State: Four-year volleyball letterwinner and one year softball letterwinner at Mt. Lebanon High School in Mt. Lebanon, PA; 2000 and 2001 team captain for the Blue Devlils; three-time first team All-State, All-Section, and All-WPIAL selection; WPIAL and PIAA State Champion in 2000; 2000 Youth National Team alternate; named 2001 Student Sports All-American; Almanac Volleyball MVP/Athlete of the Year finalist in 2000 and 2001; member of the 2001 All-Powerbar team; also earned the PAC-Athlete of the Month award in softball in 1998, having the highest batting average and most stolen bases on the team; National Honor Society member; was on honor roll every semester of high school, with six semesters on the high honor roll.
Walters Rejoins Penn State Women’s Volleyball Program – Penn State – Official Athletics Website