Penn State women’s volleyball held its seventh weekly media availability of the 2021 season Tuesday afternoon before practice at Rec Hall.
Russ Rose and senior libero Jenna Hampton discussed a variety of topics ahead of a big home weekend against No. 10 Nebraska and Northwestern. The Nittany Lions moved up a spot to No. 13 in this week’s AVCA rankings.
Hampton had two of her best matches so far this season in wins over Maryland and Indiana last week, tallying 23 digs in a reverse sweep of the Terrapins in College Park and 20 digs in a 3-1 victory over the Hoosiers in Bloomington. Hampton currently leads the Nittany Lions with 168 digs and was identified by Rose as the team’s top passer in his interview today.
Russ Rose
What are your thoughts on the Maryland and Indiana matches?
“Both matches have different emotional involvement, because both of those teams are coached by people who were so instrumental in helping us build our program, so it’s always just a little different for me. I always want them to have success, but, of course, not when they play us. The Maryland match, I thought it was easy to see why Wisconsin could have lost there a week earlier, because Maryland was playing very well. It’s a facility that’s maybe a little foreign to what some of the other places are, and they are very comfortable in it. They had a nice crowd and a nice game plan. We were fortunate to start playing better in the second game, even though we lost the second game deuce, and had some good performances at the end that allowed us to win there. Indiana, they play really hard. They have some players who are going to score against everybody in the conference, so it’s the same thing. I don’t think anybody can just assume that they’re going to win on the road in the Big Ten, whether you’re the top team or not. I mean, certainly the Wisconsin match showed that to the rest of the country. Minnesota had a tough match at Northwestern, and we’ve had tough matches at Northwestern. I just think the conference is really tough. I think it’s a challenge on the second night. What’s the physical and mental health of your team? The school has to make a commitment to give you the best chance to be successful. It’s as simple as that. I was pleased to have two victories last week. I thought we had some players who had one or two good matches of the two, and that’s probably what we have going for us. It will be nice to be home this weekend. It will be nice to have some time at home and give the players an opportunity to hopefully get a little more rested and be able to play in front of a home crowd, if we can get a home crowd.”
How does Lauren Stivrins’ return impact Nebraska?
“Well, I think Lauren Stivrins is a fabulous player and one of my favorite players, just because of the positive energy and excitement that she plays with. If she didn’t just lead the conference last year, she may have led the nation in hitting percentage. Her and Nicklin [Hames] connect really well. I watched their match on TV against Michigan. She’s in terrific form right now. She hits the ball really high and has great vision, so she makes them significantly better.”
What are some of your general thoughts about Nebraska’s team?
“I think they have a number of younger players. John [Cook] was looking at what was going to be their best lineup. I’m sure he knew that at some point in time Stivrins was going to return. At that point, he knew the advantages that would come with her return, but they have a couple of young kids playing key positions. The fact that the decision was made to go with those [players] gives you an indication that, on a day-to-day basis, those are the best players to play. John’s not going to play someone just because he said he was going to play them. I think he’s pretty clear on what their goals are. They have two liberos at times, because [Kenzie] Knuckles, who was the libero for the last couple of years, comes in for three rotations. When her and [Lexi] Rodriguez are in the back, it’s a great backcourt defense.”
What are some things you like about John Cook as a coach or person?
“I’ve always felt John works really hard. I think they recruit exceedingly well, but I think John works really hard. Recruiting is one thing. Having the best talent doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win. It gives you an opportunity to play at a higher level, if you can get them all to play together and you stay relatively healthy. We went through that stage and phase, but I think they’re playing well. They lost some matches earlier in the year. Utah’s very good. Louisville, right now, is one of the top teams in the country. Louisville is probably similar to last year’s team with Kentucky in that the players play really well together. They’re coached well, the kids play hard, and they’re embracing the success that they’re having. I think a couple of the [Nebraska] losses were based on checking out personnel and playing really good teams. If you play good teams, you have a better indication of what things you need to work on with your group and how you stack up. I think that this is a year where there are a lot of different results happening, because there are a number of fifth-year players and kids who decided to come back, so teams are really more experienced than some other teams. I think Nebraska is certainly one of the strongest teams in our conference. It’s tough to win there. The fact that Utah and Louisville did is just an indication of how good those two teams are to be able to do that. We’ll see if Big Ten teams have the success that those two teams had on their exposure. Again, it’s before Stivrins’ return and now after Stivrins’ return. They hit like .460 against Michigan. Michigan’s really good. To hit close to .500 in front of 8,000 people, that would be a challenging day.”
What stands out to you about Northwestern?
“I think Shane [Davis] has done a real nice job. They have good talent. Temi [Thomas-Ailara] is clearly one of the top attackers in the conference. They had a couple of match points against Minnesota. We saw Minnesota play earlier in the year. We lost to Stanford and Oregon, and they beat those two teams. That, in itself, should kind of give you a good indication that Northwestern is playing really well and has a number of players who are having good success.”
What can high school liberos learn from watching Jenna Hampton play?
“I think there are a lot of things that young players can learn. She always plays hard, she always has a smile on her face, she’s resilient physically, which is a really important thing, in my mind, for that position. For us, I always want my libero to be a good passer. She’s our best passer. She had kind of a different role when Kendall White was here. It’s maybe similar to Nebraska, where Knuckles was really good in that position and now Rodriguez has the position. I think it’s important that one always assesses in the setting role and the libero role, in my opinion, ‘What’s your impact on the team?’ It’s not just, ‘What are your numbers?’ I think Jenna always has a positive impact on our group.”
What advice do you have for Jonni Parker as she begins her student teaching?
“Well, she’s already in the midst of it. I think she’s enjoying it and I know her students are enjoying her. My student teaching was a really long time ago and I was in a high school. She’s in an elementary school, so big difference, but I think she’ll be a great teacher because I just think she’s such a positive, upbeat person who, whatever group she interacts with, whether it’s young people or older people or people with hearing disabilities, she does the right thing, says the right thing. It’s been great having her in the program.”
How do you feel about your outside hitters right now?
“Well, you know, games are won and lost there. Our first match of the year, when we lost, the best two outside hitters were on Georgia Tech, so we certainly had a lesson up front to see what it should look like. I think that Adanna [Rollins] and Erika [Pritchard] are both two individuals who have had success in the conference. Nasta [Kudryashova] and AC [Fitzpatrick] started last year and are playing different roles in different locations at the net at times. Games are probably won and lost by the impact of those individuals.”
What have you seen from Allie Holland lately as far as her efficiency?
“I thought she played really well against Maryland and didn’t have the same impact in the Indiana match, but it’s easy to assess why she’s having success, because she works incredibly hard every day. I think she takes what she’s doing seriously and she’s a really fine teammate. I’m pleased that she’s having the success she’s had. And we’ll see how she does, because [Kayla] Caffey and Stivrins are arguably the best tandem of middles in the conference right now. She’ll have a taste of what’s going on on Friday night.”
What’s your relationship like with Steve Aird?
“I have a wonderful relationship with my former players who are coaching and my former staff people who are coaching, because I have energy vested in them as well. I’m pleased with the job that Steve is doing at Indiana. He’s building a fan base, he’s recruiting well, he has a good staff, he always has good energy. When he was here X number of years ago, he was lightyears ahead of everybody with what the future was going to be with technology and communicating with recruits and doing things. He was really ahead of the curve on that stuff. I think he’s a very loyal son and is committed to his parents. His parents were there last weekend when we played them. Steve and [Adam Hughes], I take great pride in those guys, the same as I did with some of my other players in the conference. It’s part of the job. When you do it for a long time, you’re happy that the players who play for you want to stay in coaching. Dom [Tomlin] at Michigan State I think is making a great impact. Alyssa [D’Errico] is doing a great job. Darcy [Dorton] is a head coach at Eastern Michigan. Abby Detering is at Kent State. I talk to them all the time and try to be available to answer questions, not that everything I say is right, but certainly it allows for them to think about things as a coach. I think that’s what mentors should do.”
How much do you enjoy when players or friends stop by and talk to you at your bench?
“Sometimes, it’s good, because it prevents me from maybe watching the other team warm up or watching us hit the top of the net warming up. You know, it’s great. I saw former players in Maryland and saw former players in Indiana. It’s pretty common to see former players, and I know we’ll have some other former players coming back this weekend just passing through and coming to watch matches.”
What do you anticipate the crowds will be like this weekend?
“I don’t know. It depends what the promotion is. I haven’t really heard anything about what they’re doing, but I would hope that it’s good. Nebraska and Northwestern are two big matches. I know the Nebraska match is on TV, so I would like to think that we’re going to try and do something to get a lot of people in the seats. I know that the band will be there and the student section will be there and the booster club people will be there, so I’m appreciative of that and hope that there is some plan to get some big numbers in there.”
Jenna Hampton
What advice do you have for high school liberos on what it takes to succeed in college?
“That’s a good question. Honestly, for me, it’s take advantage of all the opportunities you have in playing club and getting to travel. I would say just living every moment, taking advantage of the tournaments with your friends. That was my favorite part of club tournaments was being with my club teammates and going to different states all the time — and playing against people who were really good at your level and then seeing it transition into college.”
How have you seen Cassie Kuerschen improve throughout the season?
“Cassie’s someone who works really hard every day, and I think that’s showing on the court. She’s been getting a lot of good touches on balls and she’s really been putting in the effort for that, so I think it’s showing.”
What stands out to you about Nebraska and Lauren Stivrins?
“Nebraska’s always a really good team. I think it’s a team that you need to be worried about, especially with Lauren Stivrins back there, even better. I think we have to really prepare and crack down on what we have to game plan for.”
Lauren Stivrins and Nicklin Hames said on their podcast that they thought players on their team were generally healthier so far this season than last spring because they were walking to classes again and not stuck in their apartments all the time. Do you think there’s any merit to that?
“Yes, it’s so much nicer actually having a schedule and getting out and not being trapped in your house all day, just walking to practice, and going back home. It’s nice to actually feel like it’s real again, your life, and actually getting interaction with other people is nice, too.”
What do you think the Rec Hall crowd will be like for this Friday’s White Out match?
“We’re hoping for a big turnout. We advertised it as a White Out, so hopefully there will be a lot of people there. It’s our 800 Strong game, too, so we’re hoping to get a lot of athletes out there as well. Just trying to advertise as much as we can, because we’re going to need the crowd for it.”
What kind of teacher are Jonni Parker’s students getting?
“Oh, my gosh, someone who’s always excited, full of life. I can see her really taking her time, even though they’re such a young age, she’s definitely trying to bring the best out of them and making every day fun for them.”