Penn State women’s volleyball held its 10th weekly media availability of the 2021 season Tuesday afternoon before practice at Rec Hall.

Rose discussed a variety of topics ahead of Penn State’s home matches against Maryland and Illinois this weekend. The Nittany Lions moved up a spot to No. 13 in this week’s AVCA rankings after sweeping Minnesota and losing to Wisconsin.

There was another scheduling conflict this week, but we’re hoping to speak to a player Wednesday via Zoom and will post the transcript from that interview in a separate article if so.

Russ Rose

What are your thoughts on the Minnesota and Wisconsin matches?

“I thought we played really well in the Minnesota match. We came out and had a really good ball-handling match. That kind of enabled us to get the ball to the middles. Any time anybody can hit .350 in the conference against a top team, you have to acknowledge the fact that your passers did a really good job. I thought our passing was good. Gabby [Blossom] did a good job getting the ball in the right spots to the middles. Both middles had really good nights offensively. I thought Adanna [Rollins] played really well in a tough match for her, where she was returning to where she had played previously for her three years and played with a number of those players. I know that there had to be different sort of butterflies kind of flying around in her world, but I thought she played really well and got three kills in a row at the end of the second game that helped us with a comeback. Jonni [Parker] had a real strong night offensively. Off to Wisconsin, where I thought we started really well and lost a deuce game in the second and won the third. I thought we really were doing some things well and I thought the players got a little tired in their effort. For a couple of people, it’s the first time they’ve ever played in front of a crowd of that size. You can talk about it, but you can’t replicate it. It was a good match. I thought we played well for probably three-and-a-half games, then kind of ran out of gas. Wisconsin has some veterans players at key positions. [Sydney] Hilley and [Dana] Rettke have had such great connection and energy together that they were able to score almost at will. I was really pleased on how we played Friday and I was pleased with how we started Saturday. It is what it is. When kids kind of run out of gas, you recognize that’s a factor.”

What are your thoughts on Maryland having already played them this season?

“Our last match with Maryland was a really tough one. They won the first two games and we came back and won the last three, but I thought Maryland played really well in that match. Their outside hitters had really big nights for them. We certainly knew that they were a team to be real attentive with, because they had just come off of beating Wisconsin a couple of matches earlier at home, so it wasn’t like we were naive to the fact that they were playing really well and playing really well at home. Adam [Hughes] was here for a number of years as a State College native, so I know the type of coach he is. I wasn’t surprised that they played really well and that they’ve been continuing to play really well.”

How have you seen Gabby Blossom and Jonni Parker mentoring the younger players?

“Well, certainly that’s always the responsibility of the captains and the older players is to spend adequate time and attention on those factors. It’s a little easier right now for Gabby, because Jonni is student teaching. I think, a lot of times, you can lead by your effort on the court. I thought Jonni had two good matches offensively last week. We certainly need to have that as best we can.”

Erika Williams seems to be a little more involved in practice and made the trip last weekend. How have you seen her come along so far with her shoulder recovery?

“I think she’s recovering. I thought it was important for her to see those venues and see those players and understand what it takes to be successful. I think Erika has some real strong tendencies in her game right now. She needs to see how good the top middles are and what it is they do to be successful and see how she can transfer those to her game.”

What would you like to see the team improve on heading into the next matches?

“Well, again, I thought we were really good on Friday night. On Saturday night, I thought we struggled a lot with tip retrieval. And it’s a two-pronged thing. One, I think Wisconsin is really good and Rettke, especially, as high as she gets the ball. In the last two-and-a-half games, [Devyn] Robinson kind of took off. We weren’t really able to slow her down for the end of the match. We need to acknowledge the importance of serving tough. I thought we served tough in one game against Wisconsin, the third game. I thought after that, they had very little trouble passing our serves. That’s a problem if you don’t have service pressure, so that would be something that hopefully when we get back, now that we’re back home, we can get in the main gym and get some serving time and see if we can pick up where we left off as far as getting some pressure on the other team serving.”

How do you feel about your defensive specialist rotation? It seems Quinn Menger is playing more now.

“I think Quinn has one of our better serves. She’s a tough competitor and is willing to be low and make a hard defensive play. I thought Maddy [Bilinovic] played better over the weekend than she had been playing. She’s one of our better passers, so it’s important to get her in there. It helps us with getting some opportunities for the middles. Cassie [Kuerschen] was playing a lot earlier. We’re getting some production out of those [players]. We need more as the season progresses.”

Halfway through the conference schedule, what are some of your general thoughts on the Big Ten?

“As always, I think the Big Ten is a very challenging conference for all teams. I don’t think there are any easy matches, home or away. Everybody has quality attackers, everybody has a good plan. If a team’s not ready to play, they’re going to get beat, that’s it. No excuses. It’s what it is. We lost a couple of games in the fifth and we didn’t play well in the fifth. In both cases, it was at Purdue and at Wisconsin. When you’re up 2-1, you need to be able to finish matches off. If you’re on the road in front of big crowds, you’re always going to be susceptible to some momentum changes when you have some young players out there. I think a combination of young players and how crowds can not only impact players, how they can impact officials, that you need to be able to demonstrate some more maturity as a team and understand the importance of trying to finish something off when there’s a small window to do it.”

What are some of your early thoughts on Illinois?

“I haven’t gotten to Illinois yet, but I know they’re good. I saw them play earlier against Wisconsin. They have three really good outside hitters. The one middle, [Kennedy Collins], is playing really well. Katie [Schumacher-Cawley] and I were talking about how she’s a Chicago kid and she just keeps improving. I think Illinois is one of the better offensive teams in the conference.”

Are you seeing the type of termination you would like from your outside hitters at this point in the season?

“I think it’s been kind of a revolving door. We’ve had a lot of different people having to play because of injuries and other factors, but I thought AC [Fitzpatrick] played well in some matches. I think Anjelina [Starck] has been getting comfortable playing. She has a real good volleyball IQ and feel for the game. I think counting on getting the ball to the outsides, they need to be able to convert at a higher level than we are right now. Right now, there’s an awful lot of pressure on Jonni to score a lot. She’s a really fine attacker, but she’s undersized when you compare her with some of the other big attackers in the conference.”

Emily Oerther played a bit against Rutgers. How have you seen her improve?

“Emily is kind of in a tougher situation, because some other people I can put in in different situations. As the backup setter, I really can’t just throw her in as a server or as a serve-and-backrow player, because if you do that and then Gabby gets knocked down and is out, I’ve already wasted my sub just to keep her in the rotation. I enjoy Emily’s effort. I find her a really engaging young person.”

How do you feel about the rotation and how you’ve been able to tweak it throughout the season?

“It’s been a challenge. You never know who’s going to be able to play and not play. I would have hoped I had a better bench, but part of that is the bench has been beat up, and that makes a difference.”

How do you feel about scheduling in the Big Ten this season with some of the back-to-backs and significant travel?

“I don’t really know all of the variables they use to put it together, but I would say, if coaches are complaining, I would listen to the coaches who are complaining. I’m an older person who just realizes it is what it is and you have to play the schedule you have. Sometimes, it’s in your favor, and sometimes it seems to be unreasonable.”

How important are the student managers who assist the program?

“Well, over the years, they’ve had different levels of input. Some of them have been volleyball people and you can give them some statistical things to do. Sometimes, it’s just people who are there to help shag balls, run drills, keep the scoreboard, and things like that. I’ve been able, over the years, to develop a pool to money to give them some money for their time. It’s always a valuable addition to have people in the gym who can bring some energy and interact with the players and make it a more enjoyable culture.”

Outside the conference, why do you think Louisville has been able to be so successful this season?

“I watched some of their match with Pitt and some of their match with Nebraska. I think the staff has done a great job attracting players who have good volleyball IQs. They’re in a great location to get some of those local players. They just play really well as a group. I saw them play against Pitt. Pitt may have outhit them by .50 points and outblocked them and outdug them and done everything, but Louisville found a way to win. Certainly, it helps when you’re playing at home. Louisville, earlier in the year, went into Nebraska and beat Nebraska 3-0, and that’s a hard thing to do. I just think, similar to last year’s Kentucky team, they play really hard together. They seem to like each other. We won some championships with teams who really liked each other as well.”