Russ Rose Then (2011): “Kristin had a magical sophomore season. She experienced both the highs and lows of a new player in a tough position. Her strengths are she’s a gym rat, incredibly competitive and loves to play the game. I hope those traits rub off on the other players. She is a joy to be around and a great representative of Penn State volleyball.”
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.”
2011 Season (Junior)Highlights and Awards: Preseason All-Big Ten … Pittsburgh Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Season Recap: Played in all 33 matches and 100 of 122 sets as a defensive specialist … was 4th on the team in digs with 182 … was the starting setter in season opener against Oregon (8/26) and had 32 assists … was the starting libero vs. USC (8/27) and had 20 digs … led the team with a combined 31 digs at Pitt Invitational (9/2-3) … tallied 16 digs vs. Stanford (9/9) … had a career-high 23 digs vs. Texas (9/10) … was 2nd on the team with 6 digs vs. Wisconsin (9/30) … had 9 digs vs. Nebraska (10/29).
NCAA Tournament: Posted 4 digs vs. Liberty (12/2) … totaled 6 digs vs. Delaware (12/3) in the NCAA Second Round.
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.
