When most students head out of state to college, leaving behind both their family and friends, it usually is not too far away.

There are the exceptions, such as traveling from the East Coast to West, or visa versa. But for Leilani Schlottfeldt, she didn't just head out of state, she headed 4,345 miles north of her native country.

Growing up in Brasilia, Brazil, life was quite a contrast from what it is now. Different people, culture, weather and landscape are among many things that forced her to adjust to her new surroundings in State College.

However, if there was one constant between the two countries, it was her love of volleyball. She had played for her all-state team for five consecutive years, twice earning best defensive player honors. At the end of those five years, her team was a four-time state champion and two-time winner of the National Championship tournament.

But Schlottfeldt was faced with a difficult decision when her service was up — volleyball or an education. Fortunately for Penn State, she chose both.

"There are no sports in high school or college," Schlottfeldt said. "It's just clubs. To play volleyball again, I would have to not go to college."

Her desire to continue playing led her to Pennsylvania, the one place she was familiar with in the United States.

"I came here to visit (my aunt) and stay with her for a month," Schlottfeldt said. "I heard Penn State, Penn State and that came into my mind. I didn't know anything about Penn State before I got here."

She had some knowledge of the success of the Penn State women's volleyball team in recent years, but had no knowledge of how good it was.

Schlottfeldt decided to give the university a shot anyway. She soon arrived on campus, and her welcoming was anything but warm.

"I got here in January, right before a blizzard," Schlottfeldt said. "And it was summer in Brazil. It was something different because we don't have snow in Brazil. I like the snow, but it's too cold for too long."

Little did she know how rewarding her experience would be. She caught the eye of Lions coach Russ Rose, who gave her a shot. Four years wiser, Schlottfeldt is now the lone senior on the Nittany Lions squad. She has experienced the lows of losing in the national championship game, and the thrills of bringing the hardware to Happy Valley for the very first time.

This season, she stumbled upon one more valuable experience — don't take anything for granted.

In just the third week of the season, she began to feel a little under the weather. The doctors examined her and came to the conclusion that Schlottfeldt had mononucleosis.

The feeling inside the back row specialist was complete disappointment and helplessness.

"There's really nothing you can do," Schlottfeldt said. "It's not one of those things where if twist your ankle, maybe the next morning you'll wake up and its going to be feeling much better. It's just something that you have to wait for to get over."

Schlottfeldt was not alone in the experience. Penn State outside hitter Hillary Sexton had missed the first two weeks of the season due to an appendectomy. Sexton said she sympathized with her older teammate, knowing how hard it was for her.

But if there was a bright side to the whole experience, it was the fact that the doctors had caught the sickness late in its phase. This meant it wouldn't be much longer before she would be leading her team to victory on the court.

That was good news to Rose, who said the loss of Leilani was one reason for some early season struggles.

"The fact that we had to switch the lineup around shows how important she is to this team," Rose said.

The time for her return finally came three long weeks later against Minnesota at home.

Schlottfeldt took to the hardwood floor once more to play the game she loves, and yet again her name echoed throughout the friendly confines of Rec Hall — her home away from home.