You can call Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose harsh, but if nothing else you have to call him honest.

Rose goes to a number of lengths to make sure his players know where they stand. None of the sometimes-harsh criticisms he utters about his team in media interviews are things he wouldn't say in front of all of his players. He holds four meetings a year with each player in which he goes over her strengths and weaknesses, tells her where she stands in the lineup and discusses other pertinent matters.

And he doesn't hold much back.

"I don't think I've ever lied to my players," Rose said. "I've identified some of the problems some players have brought to this team and I've issued challenges that those problems be fixed. That's what I do as a coach. Maybe if I pretended that we didn't have some of the problems we had this season, and that the players weren't making the mistakes the group could've been affected differently, but I'm not wired that way."

After the struggles his team has had this season with chemistry, and their unsatisfactory performance against UCLA in the second round of the NCAA tournament that led to their earliest exit in 12 seasons, Rose had a lot to talk about in his end-of-the-year meetings this week. It's likely that a lot of that wasn't pleasant. However, it is not his brutally honest words, but the response he got from his players that tells the story of the Nittany Lions' season.

In two separate interviews, Rose asked players for their assessment of the team. According to him, both responded in the same way.

"I wouldn't exactly call this a team."

On paper, the Lions' season doesn't look bad at all. They finished third in the Big Ten, without question one of the toughest conferences in volleyball.

With their 21-8 record, they continued their streak of 25 straight seasons with 20 wins or more, which began in the program's second season. They spent the entire season in the Top 25, and finished rated No. 16 in the nation. Their loss at NCAA came at the hands of UCLA; the No. 8 seeded team in the country, a program with one of the richest traditions in collegiate women's volleyball.

However, things were supposed to be a lot better this season for the Lions. They were ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll, and voted as the favorite to win the Big Ten. They took a big hit early, losing junior middle blocker Robyn Guokas, who led the Big Ten in blocks in conference play last season, but they still had two solid middles in sophomore Cara Smith and senior Nadia Edwards.

There were several points during the season when the Lions seemed ready to make a turn towards being a national force, but each time they were met with disappointment. Just eight days after what was their most dominant performance to date, a 3-0 sweep against Minnesota, the Lions were upset by Michigan. Three days after shocking then No. 5 Wisconsin, they were shut out in perhaps their worst performance against Ohio State. They were then upset again in consecutive weekends by Illinois and Michigan State.

All season, Rose questioned whether his team had physically prepared for the season enough, and never felt like his squad was consistently playing together. He blamed himself for not motivating them well enough, and acknowledged that a lot of work will need to be done over the offseason to remedy some of those problems.

"I don't think anyone had a premeditated notion to try and ruin this team," Rose said. "But some bad decisions made individually affected the team."

Rose's squad loses three starters including Schumahcher who was selected to the All-Big Ten team for the third straight time after pacing the team with 4.47 kills per game. He also loses Edwards, who finished 10th in the conference in hitting percentage, and setter/outside hitter Shannon Bortner, perhaps the team's most passionate player. Back row player Amanda Rome, who also got a number of starts, will also graduate.

However the Lions do return Levy, who recovered midway through the season from sub-par conditioning and a foot injury to finish seventh in the conference with 3.71 kills per game, returns. They also return Smith, who finished third in the conference in blocks. Freshman Ashley Pederson will also return after a solid first season, in which she averaged 2.04 kills per game.

For those that return, the challenge is to turn around a national power. They have seen what their lack of chemistry has done to a dominant national program, and they have until late August to figure out how to fix it.

"I think next season starts right now," Smith said. "We have to do a lot of work over the summer to get stronger, and we have to learn to pick each other up when we're down and learn to play as a team.

"This was not the right way to end a season. Losing in the second round is not acceptable."