Russ Rose Then (1997): “Lauren was probably the biggest surprise of the season last year. We knew how good Bonnie [Bremner] was and Lauren came in and hit some shots last year that we’ve never had a woman volleyball player at Penn State hit. I clearly think if we would have done the paperwork for her she would have been an All-American last year as well, because her numbers were exceptional. I think Lauren could be practicing and playing with the national team today. So I think her future is a bright one and we’ll do as we’ve done with other players who have that sort of promise: we’ll bring them along slowly and we’ll explain the aspects of the game that they need to address to become better volleyball players in the future. She brings just a real genuine enthusiasm to the game. She plays hard, she’s disciplined, and she is very open to suggestion and is very coachable, and I think Lauren has the potential to be a dominant college player. She’s just got a great knack for blocking, and offensively she’s learning more and more. I think she’s going to be one of the more exciting back row hitters in the conference next year.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Lauren was a great contributor, to the program and to the team, the minute she arrived. She was a former diver, and I just think that gave her spatial orientation and kinesthetic awareness that benefited her greatly in volleyball. She would go literally weeks at a time in practice without a hitting error because her vision was so good, her decision making was so good, and she was so quick and athletic. Lauren was on the court all the time because our best attack back in that era was Lauren hitting out of the back row and then our second best was probably Lauren hitting out of the front row. She was a terrific player and well deserving of the many accolades that she received in high school and college, including co-MVP of the 1998 National Championship, along with Long Beach State’s Misty May, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 National Championship and the 1999 co-AVCA National Player of the Year with Kerri Walsh.”
1997 Season (Sophomore) Highlights and Awards: NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team … AVCA 2nd Team All-American … GTE Academic All-District and Academic All-Big Ten … unanimous All-Big Ten First Team … Big Ten Player of the Week (9/15). NCAA All-Tournament Team … NCAA All-East Regional Team … AVCA All-District 2 honors … earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors and named MVP for her play in the Penn State Classic (9/12 13), hitting .647 over the 3 matches … finished 3rd in the nation in blocks per set (1.74) and 16th in hitting percentage (.375) and ranked 1st in the Big Ten in those categories (the first player to ever lead both categories in the same year) … led the squad 22 times in blocks and 9 times in kills.
Season Recap: Averaged 3.15 kills/set (2nd on the team) on .375 hitting (1st on the team) … led the team with 1.74 blocks/set … 6th on the team with 1.22 digs/set … totaled 6 service aces for the season … … … recorded 14 kills and 7 digs in win versus Michigan (11/22) … rallied 16 kills, 6 blocks and a season-high 10 digs at Minnesora (11/7) … blasted 19 kills and added 9 blocks at Illinois (10/30) … had 15 kills and 8 blocks at Indiana (10/22) … notched 11 kills, 8 digs and 7 blocks versus Minnesora (10/11) … served notice wtrh match-highs of 18 kills and 11 blocks in win againsr Team USA (10/6) … recorded a team season-best 4 block solos against No. 10 Wisconsin (10/4) … tallied 15 kills and 8 blocks in win over Illinois (10/3) … posted 14 kills and a season-high 11 blocks at Purdue (9/27) … recovered from a sprained ankle suffered the previous night to help lead Penn State to an upset win at No. 1 Stanford, recording 13 kills, 10 digs and 3 blocks.
NCAA Tournament: In the 1997 NCAA Tournament Championship match, Penn State faced Stanford, which entered the match with a 32-2 record, with both losses having come against Penn State. Stanford won the 1st game 15-10 and the 2nd by a 15-6 score, but Penn State stormed back in to win the 3rd game 15-2 and a tightly-contested 4th game 15-17. Stanford won the decisive 5th game 15-9. Terri Zemaitis had 25 kills, with Lauren Cacciamani and Carrie Schonveld both notching 20 kills in the losing cause. Box Score.
Cacciamani on Her Penn State Career: “If I had the opportunity to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. My experience at Penn State is something I will remember and treasure for the rest of my life, not because of athletic victories or accomplishments, but because of the impact that the experience had on my entire life. I didn’t just become a better volleyball player, I became a better person as a result of my relationships with my teammates, the coaching staff, the university administration, and the entire Penn State community.”
Before Penn State: A three-year starter at middle hitter for Paramus High School, Cacciamani collected first-team all-league and all-county honors three straight years (1993-1995); as team captain her senior year (1995), she led the Spartans to their second-consecutive Group 3 league and state titles; also led Paramus to a county championshiop in 1995; garnered third-team All-America honors her senior year; she also lettered in track and field as a high jumper; a valuable contributor for the Digs Volleyball Club team, Cacciamani was named a two-year captain; also tabbed a Volleyball Magazine “Fab 50” pick her senior season and selected as a member of the US Youth National Team in 1995; Gatorade selected her as a 1996 regional Circle of Champions honoree; also competed as part of the U.S. team in the 1995 All-American match against California.
“Cacciamani returns to Penn State to be honored,” The Daily Collegian, Nov. 20, 2000
“Cacciamani, Bremner unlikely pair,” The Daily Collegian, Nov. 23, 1999
“Turning Heads,” The Daily Collegian, September 4, 1999
“Setting it all up,” The Daily Collegian, July 29, 1999
“Exceeding expectations,” The Daily Collegian, Sept. 24, 1998
