A group of wild, volleyball-crazed fans attached themselves to the Lady Lion volleyball team last season as the team roared into the NCAA tournament.
They were loud, supportive and very creative with antics such as (Leanne) Kling's Kill Korner. They called themselves 'The Fan Club.'
Now, a year later, Coach Russ Rose wouldn't mind seeing them storm the stands at Rec Hall for this year's squad, especially when his 4-0 team takes on Georgetown at 8 tonight. The Lady Lions also face Army at 1 tomorrow afternoon and West Virginia at 7 tomorrow night.
"We need to get the fan club back out and the enthusiasm we had last year," Rose said. "We need it more this year than last year. Last year the benefit was to the fans, this year we need the fans to help the girls. We need a little payback. If we don't play well, we could lose this weekend."
Rec Hall has been very kind to Penn State in previous years --Penn State hasn't lost in two years, since New Mexico accomplished the feat in 1989.
But even with the crowd and Rec Hall in the Lady Lions' corner, Rose says his team will have to be at its best to beat the Lady Hoyas.
And for the Lady Lions to win, they will need middle hitter Kling to be healthy; Kling twisted her right ankle in practice this week. Without her, the already inexperienced team will be in that much deeper of a hole. Rose, however, expects his star offensive player to play.
"I will be there," Kling said.
Penn State, out of action for the last two weeks, has been practicing and trying to rid itself of the errors that plagued the team during its four victories. And despite the victories and the high ranking (No. 15), Rose is far from satisfied with his team's performance.
"I think we'll be hungry to play this weekend," he said. "I think Tracy Coon is playing very well right now and I think she's moved into one of our top back row players. I think we work hard and have the components to play a good match . . . I think they demonstrated against Pitt that they are pretty anti-losing. But the ones they have to protect themselves from are themselves. It's not like the other team poses an enormous threat."
Nevertheless, Rose has settled on a starting lineup.
"We've got three good backrow players and there aren't going to be many freshman setters better than Salima (Davidson) in the United States. I think Jenny Schuller is playing as well as she has during her four years here. Kim Kumfer is hitting smarter than she was earlier in the season."
Sue Boner and Jenny Myszewski, along with Kling, fill out the rest of the lineup.
"I feel that we should beat them," said a confident Kling, "but if we get crazy and lose control, than they may have a chance to beat us."
The Georgetown team that arrives in State College from Washington D.C. is 6-2 and a much better team than it has been in the past. The Lady Hoyas have been playing well. They won an early season tournament, and in the Illinois State Redbird Classic, they beat Purdue in five dramatic games. The Lady Hoyas expect to give Pittsburgh a bullfight for the Big East Championship.
But for now, Georgetown's goal is to knock off a Penn State team that has always been a notch better than them in the past. Coach Nila Strakker has never beaten Penn State in her four years at Georgetown.
"You can never underestimate Penn State," Strakker said. "They have that tradition and a great coach. They find a way to beat you. Russ has always had an excellent team, a notch higher than ours in the past. Now, I'm hoping that this year's team, with our older players, can find a way to beat them."
Captain Jean Erlenborn, setter Erin Murray , outside hitters Simone Kollman and Meike Weaver, Lisa MacDonald, who hit .600 versus Purdue, and blocker Heidi West comprise a solid starting lineup.
"Georgetown must be playing awfully well. They've been putting together their program for a couple of years," Rose said
