Russ Rose Then (1990): “I envision Noelle as a rightside player. I believe that’s her most effective position. She’s a great all-around player who is as good at passing and blocking as she is at serving and hitting. Noelle is a well-rounded player who competes as hard as they come. We need her and JoAnn Elwell to carry us offensively and we’ll be fine.”
1990 Season (Senior) Highlights and Awards: AVCA Second-Team All-American … Volleyball Monthly Honorable Mention All American … All-Atlantic 10 First-Team and All-Mideast Region Second-Team … her .3688 hitting % ranked 13th nationally … set the Penn State career digs record with 1,522 … earned 2 Atlantic 10 Player-of-the-Week honors … selected Most Valuable Player of the Penn State Invitational … named to the Penn State Classic, LSU Tiger Classic, Sportmart Classic, Whataburger Classic and Atlantic 10 All-Tournament teams.
Season Recap: Played in all 45 matches and 130 of 140 sets … her 410 kills ranked 2nd on the team (behind JoAnn Elwell’s 483) … totaled 33 service aces (2nd on the team) … ranked second on the team in digs with 417, trailing on Kim Kumfer with 430 digs … recorded 93 total blocks.
Before Penn State: Zientara was listed as a “freshman to watch” by Volleyball Monthly … 3-year letterwinner at Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park and captain for 2 years … played on a gold medal-winning Junior Olympic team in 1987.
