Penn State women’s volleyball alumna Tori Gorrell signed her first professional contract with Las Amazonas de Trujillo Alto, a Puerto Rican club which plays in La Liga de Voleibol Superior Femenino.

Gorrell began her career at middle blocker for the Nittany Lions before transitioning to a utility role that saw her mainly play outside hitter as a redshirt senior this past season.

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Head coach Russ Rose gave a glowing review of Gorrell’s performance in Penn State’s straight-sets loss to eventual national champion Stanford in the Elite Eight. She finished with 13 kills (.667) and just one attack error against the Cardinal.

“I thought Tori was incredible today. She was our best hitter,” Rose said afterward. “I thought Tori, for her last match as a college athlete playing in a new position, represented herself in as good a fashion as she possibly could. I have great respect for how she played.”

The Oakville, Ontario, native put together her best season as a Nittany Lion this past fall, tallying 278 kills on a .274 hitting percentage. She added 73 total blocks, 45 digs, and 11 service aces in 2019.

“My goal since I was 12 was to play professional volleyball, and I knew that I wanted to come to Penn State because I thought it would give me the best opportunity after school to play professional volleyball,” Gorrell said.

The 6-foot-2 Canadian discussed what she wanted Penn State fans to remember about her as a player and a person prior to the team’s trip to Palo Alto.

“I was actually told this a little while ago, ‘That you can be a nice person and also be really fierce and scary on the court.’ I hope people remember me like that,” she said. “Hopefully I’m a little bit intimidating on the court, but also a really nice person to talk to after the games or when passing by me on the street or something.”

Texas standout Micaya White and fellow All-American Shelly Stafford of Baylor are joining Gorrell in the Puerto Rican professional ranks, signing with Las Criollas de Caguas and Las Indias de Mayagüez, respectively.

Kendall White, who finished her Penn State career as the program’s digs leader with 1,994, may also find her way onto a professional roster in the near future. She practiced with the U.S. women’s national team this past summer in Anaheim, California.