It has become a late fall semester tradition, something to set your calendars by. Seemingly without fail, as November slowly rolls into December, the Penn State women's volleyball team gets ready to host NCAA tournament action.
And this year is no exception.
For the 15th time in 22 years, the Nittany Lions once again received one of the 64-team field's top 16 seeds and the privilege of hosting a pair of early rounds that come with it.
Penn State is paired with Ivy League power Pennsylvania for a first-round tilt on Friday night. The winner of that match will face the winner of Temple vs. Manhattan on Saturday for the right to advance to the Eastern Regional finals at a site yet to be determined.
During the heart of Big Ten season when the Lions were, for their standards, struggling slightly, the opportunity to host an early portion of the tournament was looking more and more bleak.
But a late-season surge that included wins over highly ranked teams Wisconsin and Minnesota sealed the deal and put the Nittany Lion Volleyball nation at ease.
"This is an exciting time of year," Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said. "There's always a great sense of anticipation that goes with the NCAA championships and I just hope the players feel the same way."
Rose, who has guided Penn State to all 22 NCAA tournaments, a feat only four programs across the country can lay claim to, received word about the tournament's brackets at his home on Sunday night.
"At first I was a little upset because the announcement cut into The Sopranos, but the show has been moving slowly so it didn't bother me that much," Rose said. "It's good to be at home, but you see how far that got us last year."
Last year, as Rose alluded to, the Lions were also at home for the tournament's first two rounds. They stayed at home too, after falling to UCLA in the second round.
Still, the Lions are 24-1 all time in NCAA tournament matches at Rec Hall and are the favorites to advance.
Two wins brings a likely trip to either Northern Iowa or Florida.
"I'm sure Florida isn't thinking about playing anyone else just like we're not worrying about any other team than Penn," Rose said. "Last year, Penn gave UCLA a better match in the first round than we did the next night. It's about how you play not who you play."
How Penn State plays is going to rely heavily on a pair of freshmen, setter Sam Torortello and libero Kaleena Walters. This tournament will most likely be the biggest test of their careers to date.
"Both Sam and Kaleena have played a lot of volleyball, they're both gamers," Rose said. "But they haven't played in NCAA championships before. I'm nervous to see how everyone responds."
