Julie Williams was an All-American defender the last time she attended a Penn State-Virginia women's lacrosse game. She played midfield and defense for the Lady Cavaliers (a.k.a., Wahoos), graduating in 1987 with 21 goals and 11 assists for her career.

She'll be on the sidelines when the teams meet Sunday afternoon at Charlottesville. She won't be in uniform and she won't even be there to watch her younger sister Susie, Virginia's fourth-leading scorer this season.

Williams is in her first season as the assistant coach for No. 1 Penn State (5-0) and is looking forward to her first trip to No. 11 Virginia (5-1) as an opposing coach. Her first stop this weekend, however, will be tomorrow's matchup at No. 5 William & Mary (4-1).

"I don't feel really super nostalgic about Virginia," Williams said. "In my heart I'm a Wahoo, but my job now is at Penn State. I have confidence in Penn State, but naturally I want (Susie) to do well . . . it's so mixed. But I'm pretty much blue and white now. I want to beat the pants off Virginia."

The Williams name is not new to NCAA lacrosse. Sally, the oldest of four girls, played at Virginia in the early 1980s. Sister No. 2, Betsy, was an All-American for the Lady Lions in 1984 and is the eighth-leading scorer in school history. Why then, did the team not land her younger sibling?

"It came down to UVa., William & Mary and Penn State," she said. "I think I wanted to go somewhere to do my own thing without Betsy. Sally was already gone (from UVa.) so I could strike out to go on my own."

Julie Williams was a very busy person in the two years between her college playing career and her college coaching career. She has been a member of the U.S. team since 1985 and has twice been to Europe to play lacrosse. The second time was last June, when she traveled to Czechoslovakia to spread the sport. She called that experience "a once in a lifetime thing I want to make happen again."

Her first opportunity to coach came at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pa., where she held assistant coaching positions in lacrosse, field hockey and basketball.

When Denise Wescott indicated she would not be returning as Penn State's assistant, Scheetz was faced with the often difficult task of finding a suitable replacement, someone whose coaching style was compatible with her own and suited the needs of the team.

Williams had worked with the 1988 Penn State summer lacrosse camp so Scheetz was familiar with her coaching ability. The head coach first worked with Williams in a coach-player situation when Williams went to Scotland with the U.S. squad for which Scheetz was an assistant coach.

"I've known Julie through the U.S. team and through her sister Betsy," Scheetz said. "She was available (to coach) when we needed someone, and she was qualified, with a good knowledge for the game."

"It happened so quickly," Williams said. "I was coaching at a camp in Philadelphia, and I got a message to call Sue Scheetz right away. I called and she offered me the job and told me I had overnight to think about it. I called her at eight o'clock the next morning."

With the rash of recent college athletics hirings and firings, player quotes regarding adjusting to a new coach are common. For senior tri-captain Tami Worley, adjustment is needed whenever there is a new coach, whether it's a head coach or an assistant.

"You have to get to know the personality and how she goes about teaching and coaching," Worley said. "Sure she's different than Ms. Wescott in her own ways. She really knows her stuff, but she has a different coaching style."

The 'stuff' Williams knows most about is defense. She has helped the Lady Lions with the asset that made her an All-American.

"That's my specialty," Williams said. "In a nutshell, defense is sheer determination. It's like, 'If that ball's on the ground, it's mine; if my team doesn't have the ball, I'm going to do all I can to get it.' It's dogged persistence.

"More than anything, defense is team play. It's important to make kids understand they're not out there by themselves, that they can take risks because there will be someone there to back them up."

As she is only a few years older than the veteran players, she can usually relate to any problem facing one of them.

"She knows what we're going through because she just went through it," Worley said. "She's an excellent coach; I totally respect her. She's played international and collegiate (lacrosse), and she's been on the U.S. squad, so she's really been around. She was coached by great coaches and I'm sure they've rubbed off on her."

"I have had some good coaches," Williams said. "I've had Sue (Scheetz), Jane Miller at Virginia, I've coached with my sister at camps. Every day I'm drawing from each coach; I'm a conglomeration. But of course there's some of me, too."