Maybe Jess Ullrich should've listened to Arielle Wilson all along.

Back when Wilson and Ullrich were club teammates in high school, Wilson and another teammate playfully argued about whom Ullrich should follow to college.

"Come to school with me, come to school with me," Wilson recalled with a chuckle.

After two years in a Purdue uniform, Ullrich transferred to Penn State this spring, reuniting with her former club teammate for both players' last two years of collegiate women's volleyball.

"The program wasn't exactly for me, just in the way it was run," Ullrich, a defensive specialist, said. "Some places fit for people, and some places don't. That just happened to be one that didn't."

Ullrich said she wasn't misled in her recruitment with the Boilermakers, but added, "not everybody was a man of their word."

"Some of the things I was promised were not upheld versus as I was promised here," Ullrich said. "Coach [Russ] Rose is very straightforward and honest with you, and you don't always get that from coaches."

Still, Ullrich has no hard feelings toward anyone at Purdue, saying she couldn't have asked for more opportunities.

She started every match last year.

"I like the Purdue program," said Rose, who recruited Ullrich while she was in high school. "She came in here and she's far better than she was as a high school player. Her experiences at Purdue made her a better volleyball player."

Ullrich chose Purdue because of its proximity to her hometown of Winfield, Ill.

But second thoughts about the Boilermaker program came after just her first year.

She rationalized to stick around another year because most freshmen have a difficult time adjusting to the college game.

But when "situations" sophomore year weren't positively impacting her life, Ullrich needed to leave.

"College is college," Ullrich said. "When you go into it, nobody knows what's gonna happen, especially with volleyball. Everybody tries to tell you, 'Oh this is gonna be great. This is gonna be great.' Penn State's 10 hours from home for me. That was a big number when I was 17 years old trying to make a decision."

Ullrich got accepted to Penn State the day before spring classes started and lived in a hotel for a week because everything was last minute.

"Nobody knew I was transferring until the last minute," Ullrich said.

Aside from that moving headache, Ullrich said her transition from Purdue was easier than expected.

Going back to West Lafayette, Ind., next year, though, won't be as easy.

"I'm not exactly looking forward to going back there because of tensions possibly, but I wanna win on that court. Not that it would be to rub in anybody's face, but I'm part of a new team now."

The unique thing about Ullrich's new team is the presence of her old peppering partner.

When Wilson got word of her former teammate's plans, she did her part to make sure Ullrich wouldn't bypass playing with Wilson in college a second time.

"I shot [Rose] a text message here and there and whispered in his ear," Wilson said. "But not a lot. He already knew her from her visit before. It was just a matter of getting her here."