Penn State women’s volleyball held its sixth weekly media availability of the 2021 season Tuesday afternoon before practice at Rec Hall.

Head coach Russ Rose and senior setter Gabby Blossom fielded questions ahead of a mid-week road trip to College Park to face former Penn State assistant Adam Hughes’ Maryland Terrapins (13-1) Wednesday at 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

The Nittany Lions (9-3) climbed six spots to No. 14 in this week’s AVCA rankings after sweeping Rutgers Wednesday in Piscataway and then-No. 3 Ohio State Sunday at Rec Hall. Blossom was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week after tallying 66 assists and 19 digs in the pair of wins.

Russ Rose

What were some of the positive takeaways from the Ohio State match?

“I thought we played well against a really good opponent. We were down late in the games and found ways to win. It’s easier for teams at home to do that, because you can benefit from the crowd, and players, traditionally, are more comfortable playing at home. I thought we had some really good performances. I thought Adanna [Rollins] played especially well. We had good performances from Jonni [Parker], Kait [Hord], and Gabby [Blossom]. I thought some of our key players played really well against a team that started the week ranked third. Them losing two matches on the road, that happens in this conference. It’s just a really tough conference. I’ve had weekends where we lost both matches. That’s the beauty of a bad experience is hopefully you’re ready to play by your next match, whether it’s Wednesday or Friday.”

How do you feel about your team’s serve receive lately?

“I thought we only got aced a couple times last week, so that was certainly a little better than some of our earlier matches. Our serving was a little crazy in the third game with Ohio State when we missed seven serves. Serving and passing is always going to give you an opportunity to hopefully get a quality swing. If your serving plan is good, maybe you can try and limit what the other team wants to do. The impact of serving and passing is always emphasized, but I think it’s emphasized across the conference. It’s not like I’ve come up with this idea. I think everybody who’s coaching knows the value of those two skills.”

What’s your relationship like with Adam Hughes?

“I love Adam Hughes. Adam was a practice player, a staff member, and is just a wonderful human being in addition to being a really good volleyball coach. When he was here on staff, I relied on him a great deal with a number of things. I’m thrilled with his success as a head coach. Certainly, last weekend’s victory over Wisconsin was an indication of the hard work that he and his staff and the players put in against a team that was ranked second in the country. I’m thrilled for him.”

What stands out to you about Maryland’s blocking?

“Well, I mean, again, he’s a really good coach. They [almost] led the nation in blocking last year and they’re one of the top teams (in blocks per set) again this year. Certainly, they’re very athletic. They’re strong in the air. If they impact you with serving, they’re going to have a lot more opportunities to block balls. You have to do certain things to try and counteract a team that’s such a strong blocking team.”

Are there any rules that you would like to see changed in the college game?

“Well, it’s a little late for that. I guess if I had to just pick one, if it were my day to pick a rule, I don’t like the serve that hits the net and just falls over for an ace. I’ve never liked that, and yet we won a national championship match point that way. In practice, if we’re scrimmaging and that happens, we don’t count it, because I dislike it enough to not acknowledge it. I just think there is no defense to that. There are certain things you can really defend, and that one just kind of happens to you. It happens to us and it happens for us. We, for sure, don’t practice serving at the top of the net in hopes of trying to find the perfect balance. If somebody was that good, they should never be hitting the ball into the net. That would probably be my rule of choice.”

What are some qualities you look for in players during practice?

“For me, I want players who are tough and go hard every day, care about their craft, want to get better, maximize their time in the gym with their teammates, and go about trying to find a way to get better themselves to better the team.”

What are some ways that Sophie Walls positively impacts the team in practice and in general?

“Sophie is always upbeat, has a good serve, and can play defense. Unfortunately, there are some other people who do some of those things better, so her opportunities to play aren’t as high as she might wish. Not everybody can be a starter, not everybody can be the go-to player. Your team’s success is based, a lot of times, on the role players and what they do to make the unit better.”

How have you seen Gabby’s serving become more consistent over the past few seasons?

“Well, she missed her first serve last match against Ohio State. She had gone X number of matches without missing a serve. Sometimes, that’s because you’re not serving tough. She knows the importance of her serving tough, because that’s a skill that she controls, and she’s a pretty competitive human being. If she were serving tougher and missed a few serves, I would be able to handle that better than people who have easy serves and then miss their serve. That’s the negative thing, when that happens, but I think Gabby has a good serve. When she’s hitting it well, we’re getting some benefits out of it.”

How important is it to distribute the offense and not just have Jonni taking all the swings?

“I think that’s always an important part for, not just our team, all teams, but there are some teams that you play that set an individual. There were two players last week who had 60, 70 swings, [Emily] Londot from Ohio State and [Stephanie] Samedy from Minnesota. That’s just one of those things where, if you play them the first night, you’re in trouble. If you play them the second night and they have any residual effects of all that jumping and hitting, you might be better off. I’m a little disappointed in the scheduling this year, because we play Minnesota twice, and we play them on the first night both times. In Jonni’s case, we don’t set her 60 or 70 times a match, up to this point. That’s not to say we can’t if we have to, but I would like to think we have some other people who can take good swings. Adanna [Rollins] and Erika [Pritchard] take good swings on the outside. Nasta [Kudryashova] can come in and take some good swings. I think, if we control the ball well, we can get the ball to Kait [Hord] and Allie [Holland]. It’s not that we have to have one person carrying the load all the time.”

Were you pleased with your starters’ performance against Ohio State? You didn’t have any hitters come off the bench in that match.

“Again, that’s a really good opponent that beat us twice last year. I expect them to continue to have a great year. Ohio State’s very good. They have great talent and great coaching. I would expect nothing less than them to have success and for us to be appreciative of the fact that we beat a good team when we did.”

What are some qualities of Nicole Fawcett that make her a good coach?

“She was a fabulous player. She was always a great teammate. Her father was a volleyball coach. Her mother and father were both players. She played an incredibly long professional career. She was on the national team for a long time. All of those things I think combine. She’s played for a lot of coaches in different countries. She played for Karch [Kiraly] and she played for Lang Ping. She played in Brazil, she played in Korea, she played in Puerto Rico. She’s played a lot of places and had a lot of different coaches. She has a great awareness of what it takes to be successful as an athlete. I would say my only disappointment is that she was an alternate a couple of times for the Olympic team, but she had a great career. I care a great deal for her.”

You said after the Ohio State match that Adanna is a great teammate. How does that manifest itself?

“Well, I just think caring about others, being empathetic, and not being about yourself. Not everybody is like that. I think that’s a really important trait. I really do. She’s a quality young lady.”

Gabby Blossom

How has playing for Penn State volleyball positively impacted your college experience?

“I think it’s arguably the biggest impact on my college experience. I mean, school is obviously super important, but I came here for Penn State volleyball. All of my best friends are on Penn State volleyball, so I think it’s just really cool. Being a part of something at Penn State is just the coolest experience and then being on the women’s volleyball team, as far as the athletics and all the stuff that comes along with that, is just so special. I think it’s so hard to describe, because we’re so lucky with how much we’re given just being a student-athlete at Penn State. The experiences, the life opportunities, the friendships, and all the values and lessons you learn along the way are just so special and make Penn State the coolest place in the world.”

I noticed you were catching up with your former teammate Hannah Gruensfelder after the Ohio State match. What’s your relationship like with her?

“I’ve played with Hannah since I was 11. We played club together from when we were 11 to 18 and then I also played high school with her. She’s amazing. Playing against her is so bitter sweet, because it’s so awesome to see her, but it’s like, ‘Oh, I miss playing with her alongside me.’ It’s just a super special relationship. She’s one of my best friends. Her family is awesome. Our families are great friends. It’s just a really cool experience to see who you grew up with doing amazing things. I’m super happy for her. It’s her fifth year now, so it’s her last season. Again, just a super weird feeling, but so much love for her and her family. We had so many great times growing up together. Hannah and [Purdue libero] Jena Otec I’ve played with my entire life. Those two in the Big Ten, especially, have been my best friends for life. Just following them and watching them is super special.”

What are some things that Adanna is doing particularly well lately?

“I think Adanna was a huge addition to our team. She talks really well and she’s just very composed and mature in what she does. She’s very good at what she does. She’s a really good passer. Obviously, her offense was incredible last weekend and has been for us. She’s really good at knowing what she wants from the ball. As a setter, that’s so awesome. You want every hitter to be talking to you about what they want and she does that really well. She’s in the gym getting extra reps with me, being like, ‘Okay, this is the ball in this situation.’ Just her maturity and how she handles herself on the floor is just a really huge factor in why we were successful and hopefully, going forward, why we continue that success.”

How do you feel about your team’s serve receive right now?

“We’re passing really well. As a setter, obviously that’s huge. As a team skill, that’s huge, but as a setter, that’s really nice. It allows us the opportunity to run an offense the way we want to. It allows us a lot of opportunities to run different plays and give hitters opportunities where they can be successful scoring. So much of our success offensively is because we’re passing so well.”

What stands out to you about Maryland and its blocking?

“Maryland’s a very good blocking team. They had a crazy number of blocks against Wisconsin, which is an incredibly huge offensive team, so they’re very good at what they do — their schemes and how they block. I think, for us, it’s running an offense that we can hopefully get our hitters in the best situations and then, more than anything, be there in coverage to cover our hitters.”

Has the team asked Erika about some of the Maryland players and what to watch out for?

“A little bit, but our coaches do most of the scouting work. We kind of watch games more as fans and then our coaches give us the scouting report and we practice it really hard in the gym. She’ll help in some stuff, because obviously she knows them better than any of us would know them after playing with them, but most of our scouting comes from our coaches. When we have players who come from different places or even know people on different teams, it’s always nice to get more feedback.”

What are some things that you pay attention to when you’re watching a match for leisure, not necessarily for scouting purposes?

“When I just watch as a fan and not in any terms of scouting, it’s definitely cool, because so many of us have friends on different teams who we grew up with and who we met through the sport of volleyball, which I think is so cool about the sport itself. I think when you’re just watching it for fun, you’re obviously watching your friends, but as a setter, it’s cool to watch different offenses’ schemes and what they’re doing and how different setters are running the floor and doing stuff. That’s something you always kind of watch for, because we’re so used to scouting and what we’re doing, but when you watch it for fun, you just hope your friends are doing well.”

How has volunteer assistant Jeremy Garcia helped impact the team?

“Jeremy’s awesome. He’s in the gym with us whenever we want to be in the gym, getting reps, working on stuff, watching film with us. We watch film probably three times a week, at least he and I together, and then with our setting group and with different position groups. He brings a great energy and a great vibe, because obviously we’ve had some rough patches. It hasn’t always been great, so having his positivity and young energy and just the vibe he brings is so important and so special for us to get over a loss, get in the gym, and keep working hard.”

How impressed have you been with Cassie Kuerschen’s contributions?

“She’s been amazing. Coming in as a freshman, it can be so challenging and so new, just because college volleyball is so different than any other volleyball you’ll play, but she’s been so good and so confident. I’m so happy for her. It’s so cool to see a freshman come in and make such big contributions. I’m just excited for the rest of her career here.”

What stands out to you about Nasta’s versatility?

“She literally can hit right side, middle, and left side, which is so huge and so special in a player. I think, from when she came to Penn State to now, how much she talks on the floor and just stuff like that is so cool to see her grow in that area. Her versatility is so important and helps our team in so many ways. Fans have seen her play left side and right side in games, and that’s hard to do, but she does it so well and has such a positive attitude about whatever role she’s asked to fill.”

How has majoring in psychology helped you as a leader?

“I think, in a lot of my classes, it’s very applicable. I love psychology and I love my psych classes. I have really great professors and classmates. Just real-world applications and figuring out different people need different things in life, so it’s super applicable. I really love the psych department. They’re really awesome people, so I’m excited I majored in that.”