Penn State women’s volleyball held its 11th weekly media availability of the 2021 season Tuesday afternoon in Russ Rose’s office at Rec Hall.

The Nittany Lions, who dropped two spots to No. 15 in this week’s AVCA rankings after sweeping Maryland and losing to Illinois 3-1, did not have practice Tuesday due to the election.

We’re hoping to speak to a player Wednesday via Zoom before Penn State’s home matches against Michigan and Michigan State this weekend. The program is hosting its second Silent Set match Saturday versus the Spartans.

Rose discussed the return of the popular match that began in 2019 and was unable to be held last season due to COVID-19. Fans will be silent from the opening whistle until Penn State scores its ninth point of the first set in order to raise awareness and honor the hard of hearing community. Cheering in sign language is, of course, encouraged.

Russ Rose

What are your thoughts on playing the two Michigan schools back-to-back weekends?

“I mean, it’s just what the schedule is, I guess. I don’t really have an explanation or anything for it. I would just say that’s what was on the schedule. I understand it makes good sense when we go on the road and travel, but I don’t know why we’re playing them back-to-back weeks or in the same order, either. Previously, we always addressed that, but I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with either of their football teams. I don’t know. I didn’t really look at it. I never worry about things that I can’t control.”

What stands out to you about Michigan?

“Michigan has three really strong outside hitters, similar to Illinois, in that a large portion of their offense is generated by [Paige] Jones, [Jess] Mruzik, and [May] Pertofsky. They’re all three really strong attackers who have each had matches where they’ve led the team in kills. They’re always a really well-coached team and play hard. We didn’t play them last year because of health-related matters, but Michigan is always very strong. Michigan State is, traditionally, bigger and maybe a little more physical in some of the things they do. They beat Purdue a couple weeks ago, so that certainly garnered everybody’s attention in the conference, because Purdue is having a strong season. Everybody in the conference is good. That’s why it’s so important when you have a window of opportunity to be successful and finish the job, you really need to be focused on the task. I thought we played well on Friday against Maryland. I thought we started well against Illinois and had some errors at critical times. Illinois was able to gain confidence, and they’re good enough without you giving them extra opportunities.”

What do you recall about Dominique (Gonzalez) Tomlin as a player when you were coaching her?

“Well, one of the things I liked the most about Dom Gonzalez when she was one of our captains is I saw her every day. I thought she was a terrific player, a terrific leader, a great representative of her family. She represented Penn State in a great way, always worked hard, and I think is making great contributions as a coach. Her mother is still coaching. She came from a program where there were always high expectations for her. I was for sure not her toughest coach. Her mother was way harder than I was, but I’ve always been a big advocate for all of my players who want to get into coaching and give them my opinions on the profession. Dom is doing a great job at Michigan State.”

What are your thoughts on the Silent Set match?

“Well, we did it a couple of years ago. I think it brings awareness to a subject that is worth taking a look at as it deals with athletics. And it also gives kudos to those athletes who find a way to compete and play and play well with others, even though they might have what some might consider to be a disability. I thought it was good when we did it two years ago and I’m glad that we could do it one more time for Jonni [Parker].”

How would you assess Jonni’s performance of late?

“I thought Jonni had a really nice weekend last weekend. I thought she played well in both matches. She carries a really heavy load for us offensively. I’m always impressed by her competition level and how tough she is, because I know her knees are banged up. She has a way of impacting the people who she plays with and the people who she’s around. Not everybody has that intangible.”

What are some things you like about Gabby Blossom’s personality off the court?

“Gabby is competitive all the time. She’s loud and she is who she is. I’m a big believer that people should be who they are. I think Gabby brings a lot of fun intangibles to the table.”

Who are some of the freshmen or younger players around the Big Ten who are standing out to you?

“Well, obviously, the outside hitter at Michigan State, [Sarah Franklin], is doing terrific. When we played Wisconsin, the Polish girl, [Julia Orzol], had a really good match. [Anna] Smrek had a great match when Wisconsin beat Nebraska. Nebraska has two or three freshmen who are very strong. Indiana has some players who are strong. I guess I just base it on when we play those teams. I’m not working on my all-conference ballot at this point in time, but with the players who we’ve played and who we’ve seen, there’s always great talent in the conference. Last year was really, really hard to just pick the six players who were going to make the all-freshman team, because AC [Fitzpatrick] played the whole year, and I thought she had a good year. There were some great players in the conference last year in the freshman class.”

How are you and your staff approaching the extra COVID season of eligibility? I recall hearing Penn State football is essentially operating as if it isn’t a thing, except in certain situations where it makes sense for the player and the program.

“The COVID year was hard for everybody for a lot of reasons. Even this year has had some challenges associated with last year. Some players played last year and they weren’t real healthy. They’re coming back a little stronger. I think that’s a good thing that the players are getting their health back, but certainly it’s a big factor how COVID impacted so many people and their families in real life.”

As a Chicagoan, how can your players learn from Michael Jordan’s competitive nature?

“Well, it was about a year ago when I asked the players to watch the special on TV, [The Last Dance]. I told them that they should watch it when we had all that downtime, and they didn’t watch it. That showed me and told me a little bit about my team last year. A couple of the players looked at it. I guess the answer to the question would be he was a challenging teammate, because he wanted to win all the time. He had greater success when he found the importance of having other players be able to [contribute], where he had to give the ball up a little bit to help the team, but I am a big fan for sure. That was exciting to be a Chicago fan during the basketball era. It also was nice to see the one snowflake that seemed to escape the sun when the Cubs won the World Series a couple years ago, and then ownership couldn’t figure out how to handle it and felt the best thing to do was to get rid of everybody.”

Is there anything that surprises you about this year’s team?

“Well, it’s been a work in progress. We’ve had to keep changing the lineup. The lineup has just never been set. We’re eight matches left in the season and we’re still tinkering with the lineup because of players who are available to play. I guess that would probably be one of my things when I look at the season is that we’ve had some matches where I thought we’ve played really well, and we’ve had some matches where we haven’t been able to sustain the level that we’re accustomed to.”

What are your thoughts on how Katie Clark is coming along?

“I think Katie has a really good skill set and she’s strong. She’s always really pleasant and upbeat. Those are some really nice traits to have in life and in sports.”