Russ Rose Then (2010): “Kristin is one of the most talented athletes we have, in addition to one of the best jump servers. She needs to step up and make some plays. I wouldn’t be surprised if she comes in to set, jump serve, play back row, and get into some offensive situations. Few people live life with the joy and smile she does.
Russ Rose Now (2025): “We recruited Carp out of Virginia. She was one of those players where when she was playing in junior tournaments, other players in the tournament — younger and older — would come watch her play, because she could jump so high and hit so hard at 5’ 5”. Carp was small and feisty and is another player whose father was a coach. She had a very good spin serve, and in her freshman year, played for us as a serving and defensive specialist. In her sophomore year, she was the setter for us in our National Championship season and was named to the Championship All-Tournament team. In 2011, Carp was the starting setter against Oregon in our first match of the year. We lost that match, and in the next match, which was against #2 ranked USC, Micha Hancock went in as the starting setter and we won in five sets. So, Micha was the starter for the rest of the season and Carp played as a defensive specialist. But there was never, ever a moment that Carp wasn’t full of life, and energy, and working hard to make other people better, and committed to Penn State. Carp was tough and stepped up to play all the time. After graduation, she went into coaching as an assistant at Oklahoma for a while, and then she was Adam Hughes’s assistant at Maryland. She is married to a former Penn State wrestler and has four kids now.”
2010 Season (Sophomore)Highlights and Awards: 2010 National Champion … NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team … University Park Regional All-Tournament Team … Rockvale Outlets Classic All-Tournament Team … guided the Penn State offense to a .314 hitting percentage, which led the Big Ten and ranked 2nd in the nation … none of her primary hitters hit below .320 and Nittany Lion Arielle Wilson hit .425 to rank 4th in the nation … led the team and Big Ten with 11.52 assists per set.
Season Recap: Played in all 37 matches, starting 36, and 119 sets … tallied 1,371 assists for the season … had 10 double-doubles … had at least 1 kill in 30 matches and totaled 68 for the season … ranked 3rd on the team in digs with 273, averaging 2.29 digs per set … had at least 2 digs in every match, including 10 double-digit digs matches … totaled 54 blocks for the season, recording at least 1 in 29 matches … had 18 multiple-block matches … posted 4 kills in 5 attempts with 10 digs at Indiana (10/29) … registered a career-high 70 assists and 15 digs at Minnesota (11/27).
NCAA Tournament: Had 4 kills in 5 errorless swings vs. Virginia Tech (12/4) … recorded 4 kills and 13 digs against Duke in NCAA Regional Championship (12/11) … had 46 assists, 8 digs and 3 blocks against California in the NCAA Championship match.
Before Penn State: Four-year letterwinner and captain at Hanover High School in Mechanicsville, Va. … was a four-time Capital District Player of the Year … helped guide her team to three-straight district championships … named First Team All-District four times … four-time First Team All-Central Region and All-Metro and three-time All-State honoree … four-time Hanover High School MVP … named 2008 Metro Player of the Year and State Player of the Year … 2008 AVCA Under Armour All-American … 2008 Virginia State Gatorade Player of the Year … selected to Volleyball Magazine[apos]s Fab 50 … named one of Richmond Magazine[apos]s Top 10 Athletes … her high school retired her No. 5 jersey … was the starting setter on the USA Youth National Team her sophomore year and the starting libero her junior year … was a four-year District, Regional and State All-Academic selection … named the Richmond Times Dispatch and Sports Backers Scholar-Athlete of the Year … member of the Beta Club … named a Hanover Scholar … member of the Quill and Scroll Honor Society … also lettered in track and field.
