The clichéd phrase "champions are born, not made" could not be any less true in the context of Big Ten women's volleyball. Teams don't take home the trophy because they look good on TV, or they're the most talented.
Penn State women's volleyball begins its 14th season of Big Ten play on Friday against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.
The Nittany Lions will be defending a pretty large trophy that Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose just handed to athletic director Tim Curley between the first and second quarters of last Saturday's football game against the University of Central Florida. That trophy says 2003 Big Ten Champions in nicely engraved letters.
Ancient history.
No. 1 Minnesota (10-1) is enjoying a second straight week at the top of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll, thanks to No. 13 Illinois' upset victory over No. 2 Southern California, then the No. 1 team, on Sept. 11. The Illini victory snapped an NCAA-record 52-game Women of Troy winning streak, and the win over the two-time defending NCAA champions caused some big ruffling of feathers.
No. 4 Penn State (9-0) had a nice little non-conference season of its own, defeating No. 12 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., and Brigham Young in Rec Hall.
What makes the Big Ten schedule so tough in women's volleyball?
"This schedule and this sport is the purest Big Ten champion because we play a double round-robin," Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said.
Big Ten women's volleyball uses a home-and-away series format in which each team plays every other team in the conference twice every year -- once in the comforts of home, and again on the hostile road.
"We're going in, in a good spot. 9-0 is a good position to be in," senior defensive specialist Tabitha Eshelman said. "We have to realize though that the competition in the Big Ten is probably the best out of any conference in the whole U.S. We have to stay focused the entire time and we can't take any team lightly."
Youth and inexperience is what worries Rose and his team right now, with seven freshman and only three seniors on the roster. Freshmen Kate Price and Melissa Walbridge have already received eons of playing time at outside and middle hitter positions, respectively. Price is already second on the team in kills this season with 104.
The real test is now for these freshmen.
"It's all mental," Eshelman said. "All the freshman we have playing now have the physical abilities, it's just about mentally being able to step it up. What we can do [as seniors] is just to be encouraging and help them realize that they can rely on us, but at the same time realizing that there's a level of performance that they need to be at."
Sophomore middle hitter Cassy Salyer continues down the road to recovery from a lower leg injury, but despite any pain she's played tough in every game this season and is, incredibly, fourth on the team in kills with 74.
"It's frustrating, but I also know that despite whatever's happening with my body I still have a job to get done," Salyer said.
"When I don't perform it's no different from anybody else. I still have the same standards and expectations that everyone else has when they step onto the court. If I'm not getting my job done then I have the same problems as everybody else."
