By Andrew J. Cassavell
and Jocelyn Syrstad
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITERS
Christa Harmotto may have graduated last May, but she still hasn't quite graduated from the Russ Rose school of volleyball thought.
With two wins this weekend, the Penn State women's volleyball team would not only advance to the semifinals but increase its already NCAA-record win streak to 100 -- a streak Harmotto helped start during her two national championship seasons.
But just as Rose -- the head coach who is currently in his 31st season -- and his players have echoed all year long, Harmotto said the century mark is just another number on the way to the most important goal of becoming the first team to win three-straight national titles.
"A hundred is a pretty cool milestone, but the number the girls have a chance to claim on Dec. 19 is even more meaningful," Harmotto, who is currently playing in China, said in an e-mail. "After being a part of the Penn State volleyball program for four years, I don't think I can truly appreciate the winning streak unless they win the title."
The Lions' 98-match winning streak has garnered national attention not just in the volleyball world, but in the entire nation's sports scene.
This season alone, they have passed the 88-game win streak of John Wooden's UCLA men's basketball team of the early '70s led by Bill Walton, and the 92-game win streak of the North Carolina women's soccer team of the early '90s highlighted by Mia Hamm and Tisha Venturini. They trail only the Miami men's tennis team whose streak of 137 consecutive wins ended in 1964.
While Penn State is in the midst of its win streak, the players admit they aren't really aware of what they have accomplished up to this point. Right now, junior middle hitter Blair Brown said the team is focusing on the match at hand and not the overall big picture.
"Hopefully, in a couple of weekends, then that's when we can appreciate it," Brown said. "Right now it's more of us getting done with school and focusing on that as well as volleyball. You appreciate it while you're doing it, but you definitely appreciate it more looking back."
Rose has said on numerous occasions that he is not concerned with how many matches his team has won. When the Lions win one match, he immediately begins preparing for the next one and encourages his players to do the same.
He's treating the tournament the same way. Rose has barely even mentioned a potential third-straight national title, instead focusing on how the Lions will fare against Florida at 6 tonight in Gainesville.
"I don't look at the bracket that far ahead," Rose said. "I look at who we're playing next. The goal is to beat the team we're playing next. It's not about beating all 63 teams."
Rose compared the thought process to the way he goes about his Christmas shopping.
"There's a lot of matches," he said. "And I think the people who look forward are also the people who are looking at Christmas books right now to do their Christmas shopping instead of focusing."
While the streak may not currently be on the minds of Rose and the players, it has drawn attention from former team members and other spectators.
Harmotto expressed her anxiety when it comes to the streak, saying she watches all the matches on Gametracker and constantly checks the scores to see how the team is faring.
"This team and what they have accomplished is very special, and I was thrilled to be a part of the adventure for four years," Harmotto wrote in the e-mail. "All the players who have been through this program, before our time and present, deserve credit for building this program.
"In regards to college volleyball, these girls have a chance to do something no one has done before."
