Instead of joining her team on the road for a weekend when the NCAA Division I women's volleyball record for consecutive victories was broken, Alyssa D'Errico had to sit at a computer and follow the matches on GameTracker.
D'Errico, a libero/defensive specialist, said she suffered a concussion in practice last Wednesday. Although she said she feels a lot better now, the injury made her stay in town instead of traveling with her teammates to Illinois and Purdue.
The coaching staff and the rest of the team made the final decision to keep her home, D'Errico said. The choice was not just because she wouldn't be able to play, but also because the loud student sections, especially from the Fighting Illini, would not improve her condition.
"I'm grateful that I got to stay home and relax and not worry about being in that atmosphere," D'Errico said. "It was good to stay back and get healthy."
Calling the experience a frustrating one, D'Errico said it is hard to tell what was really going on through a computer screen because all she saw were statistics.
Penn State coach Russ Rose couldn't say much about the injury, but he did say the situation was like one earlier in the season when senior libero Roberta Holehouse's injury pushed D'Errico into Holehouse's position at Indiana on Oct. 1. Holehouse was also out the next match against Michigan State on Oct. 4.
This weekend, it was sophomore Cathy Quilico who got the chance to play because of an injury. Quilico had nine digs in the two weekend matches and added one ace and three service errors in the No. 1 Nittany Lions' sweeps of Illinois and Purdue.
Rose, who said he isn't overly worried about the injury, thought Quilico played well against the Illini.
"I thought she played good defense," Rose said. "She played really well in the one match and the other match wasn't sharp ... But it wasn't all on her shoulders. It was a good situation to give people an opportunity to play."
Quilico said she was pleased in her performance and added she knew last Thursday she would play for D'Errico. Quilico said the injury happened when a ball with topspin hit D'Errico in the head during a game in practice.
As for D'Errico, she hopes to be ready to play this weekend. A win Friday night against Northwestern would give Penn State its sixth straight Big Ten title, and D'Errico wants to be part of the action.
"It's an opportunity of a lifetime," D'Errico said. "I'm still upset I missed the NCAA record-setting performance. Missing any weekend is a downfall, but it was a smart decision to stay healthy and get back for this weekend."
