The formula for winning a conference title is as follows:
--Play at a consistent level.
--Have an unexpected breakout season.
--Overachieve a bit.
--Most importantly, have a little luck.
The No. 3 Penn State women's volleyball team did all these things en route to its second consecutive Big Ten championship.
Penn State was led by the consistent play of senior outside hitter Syndie Nadeau and juniors Sam Tortorello and Kaleena Walters.
Nadeau averaged a double-double during the Big Ten season, compiling 11.7 kills and 12.05 digs in 20 matches. She could arguably be considered the team's most valuable player, as she came up in the clutch over the last six matches. This is what earned her a spot on the all-Big Ten team.
Walters and Tortorello, on the other hand, are two of the best players at their respective positions in the conference. But a setter and a libero can only do so much; they're only two-thirds of the puzzle when it comes to scoring. There is still the need to terminate the ball.
This is where the emergence of superfrosh Kate Price comes into play. With the Nittany Lions losing their two top offensive weapons, Cara Smith and Erin Iceman, they needed an outside hitter to fill the void of they graduates. Price filled it and then some. She led the team in kills with 385, 20 more than senior outside hitter Ashley Pederson.
"I think it's been great, and I agree with you, that we've had some teams that, you know, finished second in the country two years in a row before winning a national championship," Rose said, when asked how it feels to coach a team that exceeded expectations. "This team, not that we came out of nowhere, but when you recognized that at the beginning of the season, some of the apprehension I had was based on the fact that our two middle blockers had significant surgeries.
"And we didn't really know the sort of impact that Katie was going to make offensively. So, to predict that we would be in this position is something I wouldn't have been able to do."
Outside of player accomplishments and surprises, Penn State also received some help from other teams in the conference. After the Lions put themselves in a hole by losing two home conference games to Minnesota and Ohio State, Penn State saw Wisconsin and Illinois upset the latter two teams within a week of each other. Add to that the fact that the Buckeyes and Gophers spilt their season series, and Penn State controlled its own destiny in the final three weekends. The Lions won all six of their remaining matches and finished the season on an 11-match winning streak.
