Pop quiz time.

Identify the states that border South Dakota (besides North Dakota).

No ... no ... no...

If you need help, go no further than the Penn State women's volleyball team and ask its resident South Dakota native, senior outside hitter Ashley Pederson.

"I'm proud to be from South Dakota," Pederson said. "Especially coming out here, at school, few people heard of South Dakota but no one knows where it's at. It's awesome being different, I guess."

Pederson is a native of a familiar city, whose location is also uncertain, Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls is South Dakota's largest city, with more than 135,000 residents. It is located on the eastern half of the state, in the area where it borders three states (Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota).

Pederson lettered in both volleyball and basketball at Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls. She was an accomplished basketball player at Roosevelt, leading the Rough Riders to 83 consecutive wins and four consecutive state titles. But Pederson's dream was to play volleyball, so she had to find another place to play it if she wanted to play big-time collegiate volleyball. That was place was Minnesota.

"She joined a J.O. team that was from Minnesota, so we drove three times a week -- an hour-and-a-half one way -- during the week," her mother, Linda Pederson said. "And then three to four hours for tournaments on weekends. We did that for about three years."

It was during those three years that Pederson was spotted by Penn State. She also starred in volleyball at Roosevelt High School, leading the team to the state championship in 2000. She was selected to the all-state team, was a Volleyball Magazine "Fab 50" selection, and was named 2001 Gatorade Player of the Year.

"She's a kid that came into the program as a middle hitter, knowing that we were going to turn her into an outside hitter," Penn State assistant coach Mike Schall said. "She probably played a little sooner than she was ready to, but she did a good job with that. She's gotten better every year in certain areas."

In her freshman year, she showed some growing pains. Moving from the middle to the outside is more difficult than people think, and Pederson saw her hitting percentage drop from .452 to .141. She ended that season with 141 kills in 23 matches played, and also sparked a come-from-behind, upset win again fifth-ranked Wisconsin.

She showed no signs of a sophomore jinx in 2002 as she improved her attacking skills: in 98 games she averaged 2.94 kills per game and saw her hitting percentage rise to .221.

The next season, Pederson began to show signs of being a workhorse for the Lions, setting a Penn State record for attacks in one season with 1,444. She also added her name to two top-10 lists in 2003: both her 509 kills and 3.94 kills per game ranked ninth all-time for a single season at Penn State. After putting up numbers like that, her senior season should have been her best yet, in terms of statistics. But it was far from that.

"She's been such a workhorse, in terms of that we have asked her to do so much offensively," Penn State coach Russ Rose said. "Physically, it probably wore her out a little over the course of time. She didn't have as good of a year statistically, but her importance to the team was far greater because we didn't have the same offensive threat that she had next to her last year with Cara [Smith]. I feel uncomfortable with the fact that her senior year was a year where she had an injury, and it's been hard to play through it and I am not easy on people at any point and time. So it was hard for me to be demanding of her when I knew she was hurting as well."

Her injury, which Rose is prohibited from talking about per NCAA policy, didn't seem to slow Pederson down until late in the Big Ten schedule when she went through a month of hitting .145 during the stretch run. But she was more upbeat than one would think.

"It was a personal struggle," Pederson said. "But I decided to overcome it for the good of the team, and my teammates stepped it up.

"We won the Big Ten and that been the best part of this season so far. So I can't complain about my senior season."

Ending her career with two consecutive Big Ten titles is not too shabby for a girl from South Dakota, who always wanted to come to Happy Valley.

"Coming out of a state that isn't really known for volleyball, so I am really proud of that, " she said. "I am proud to be representing my state. I guess it shows you that if you dream big, you can accomplish anything."

***

Ashley Nicole Pederson was born on March 5, 1983. She was the baby of the Pederson clan that already consisted of three boys (Jason, Aaron and Brian) and one girl (Leslie).

Being the youngest of five, Pederson looked up to all of her siblings, and that included following in their competitive footsteps. All of them played varsity sports in both high school and college.

"My older siblings definitely gave me an interest in sports," Pederson said. "It was my responsibility whether to pursue it or not. It was all I knew because we were never into music or drama or anything like that. I had to fight being the youngest in a competitive family. But we are also very supportive of each other."

Coming from such a big family help Pederson adjust to Penn State easily. She didn't have time to worry about herself too much, as she was paired in a dorm with another freshman on the volleyball team, Syndie Nadeau.

Both were from far home (Nadeau is from Quebec) and really didn't know anyone, so the two became fast friends. Nadeau always mentions that Pederson should get most of the credit for helping the French-Canadian transplant learn English.

"I don't think I could have made it without her being here," Nadeau said. "She's been a great friend, she's always been there for me. Like with my English on the court and when I was having a tough time, she was always there for me."

Taking Nadeau under her wing is just something that stems from Pederson's personality. Outside of Kaleena Walters, Pederson is the first one to be energetic during a match or crack a smile on the street. Her hard work on and off the court has been an inspiration to her fellow teammates.

"She's a great teammate, on and off the court, which fits her personality," fellow senior Tabitha Eshleman said. "She is one of my best friends here, so we get along really well."

Even though Pederson enjoys the company of her teammates, she says in her spare time she likes to hang out and "just be a bum and feel like a normal college student."

So as the 2004 season winds down, Pederson and her fellow classmates -- Nadeau and Eshleman -- embark on their last matches as Nittany Lions. A season that they hope ends in Long Beach, Calif., and a national championship.