On Tuesday, Oct. 12, there was something different gracing the Rec Hall South gym during practice for the Penn State women's volleyball team. Slung over one net was a crumpled Canadian flag, quite out of place.

There was no practice on the previous day, in "honor" of everyone's favorite early autumn holiday: Canadian Thanksgiving.

The Nittany Lions' resident Canadian, senior outside hitter Syndie Nadeau, was solely responsible for the brief respite. The Lions were in high spirits after sweeping both Purdue and Indiana on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. In the Indianapolis airport en route to Happy Valley, Nadeau casually noted the celebration only a day away. That's when the ruthless taunting began.

Sophomore defensive specialist Kris Brown already knew Canadian Thanksgiving was on the horizon.

"I was going to tell you 'Happy Thanksgiving' on Monday," Brown said to Nadeau. "I saw it in my Day Planner."

Never one to pass on an opportunity to rag on some of his players, Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose had many questions about typical Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations.

"Do you eat bison for that?" Rose asked.

Nadeau was honored as the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week, and also Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday for her efforts in the Lions' wins over No. 5 Minnesota and Iowa. She is the first Penn State player to ever earn the honor of National Player of the Week, and the first to be recognized by the Big Ten since junior setter Sam Tortorello nabbed the weekly distinction on Sept. 20.

"So many great players have been here and would have deserved this honor so many times," Nadeau said. "Such a recognition says a lot about the team, the coaches and the program. It's a great honor that would have been impossible to get without being part of a great team."

On the road in hostile Minneapolis in front of a crowd fervor 4,406 strong, Nadeau crushed a season-high 19 kills. She got it done on defense too, with 13 digs -- a stat the Golden Gophers usually dominate.

The next night, Nadeau turned in a literally flawless performance. Iowa City was a complete 180-degree turn from Minneapolis -- crickets were chirping in the stands with the 304 spectators. The number of cows in Johnson County, Iowa, outnumbered fans at the Penn State-Iowa matchup 100-to-1. But Nadeau didn't need the fire of a harsh crowd to get her motivated. She took 22 swings on the attack, 11 good for kills, all without a single attack error.

"It wasn't anything special," Nadeau said. "I had a good hitting night and so did the team. We were hitting against a team who is 11th in blocks in the conference, which made it easier for Sam to give everybody a lot of one-on-one opportunities."

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St-Frédéric, Québec is a world away from State College. It's a quaint village in the Chaudière-Appalaches region south of Québec City, a place Nadeau loves to call home.

"Going back home for me is just the same as everybody else," Nadeau said. "I can't wait to see all my friends, family and eat a good home cooked meal."

The transition from prep school in St-Georges to Penn State was hard, especially since English is not Nadeau's first language. Picking up on the different slang terms Rose used in practice was the hardest part for Nadeau.

"The expressions he was using were definitely not the ones I had learned in school," Nadeau said. "My English caused a lot of good laughs and still does."

Easing the transition during her freshman year was Nadeau's roommate, teammate Ashley Pederson. The fellow senior helped Nadeau decipher Rose's creative idioms and the players' friendship grew fast.

"We came here together and happened to be roommates," Nadeau said. "It worked out perfectly as she became my best friend. She helped me to go through a lot and I honestly don't think I could have made it through without her. We went through the ups and downs together and I consider myself very lucky to have found such a true friend."

Rose had plans for this very tall French-Canadian when she joined the program in 2001. Penn State is a volleyball powerhouse and she was going to be a powerful player.

"Syndie came in with a very good volleyball IQ," Rose said. "My goal was we were going to bring Syndie in here. We're going to get her with the strength trainers. We're going to get her with the nutritionists. She's going to start drinking American beer and a lot more of it than the Canadian beer she was drinking, and I'm saying to myself, 'We're going to be able to put 10 or 12 pounds of muscle on Syndie.' And four years later, she's maybe three pounds less."

Nadeau's body was not able to handle additional weight to help her develop into the physical outside hitter offensively that Rose had in mind, but she became a different type of player, one that embodies consistency.

"She passes well, and she plays good defense," Rose said. "She's a player that doesn't cause a lot of friction, which is a very good trait. When you're on a women's team you realize that some players are high maintenance and she's very low maintenance."

The first three years of her career, Nadeau played primarily as the left side outside hitter, but this year changes were in order. With the addition of talented freshman Kate Price to the lineup, Rose knew he needed Nadeau on the court too, and chose to try her on the right side. The switch was no problem for the unselfish Nadeau, and she has stuck to her strong suits -- defense and passing, with the occasional kill here and there too.

As the season winds down, and the Lions are tied for first place in the hunt for back-to-back Big Ten championships, Rose and his team know none of it would be possible without Nadeau.

Next year, when Nadeau is no longer playing Nittany Lions volleyball, she can spend Canadian Thanksgiving back home, in St-Frédéric with family and friends.

"We eat turkey!" Nadeau said. "Coach just likes to take advantage of every opportunity he has to get a good laugh."