PSU vs. Ohio State 3-3-2021 6:00 p.m.

OH takes set and match on kill by Londot 25-23. 3-0.

PSU never had a set tonite where they looked pretty good. Consistency was a big problem tonight.

If they continue playing like tonight, yep.  I didn't even think of that.  That seems "inconceivable". 

Wisconsin and Nebraska are probably out of reach.  Purdue and Michigan State are possible wins.   The tournament will only have 16 at large bids which will make it a tough decision for the selection committee

Thanks for getting this out so quickly Nathan.  I've been following Penn State for a couple of years and this is probably the most downbeat feeling there has been on this board.  It's a shame because there's a lot of new players still blending in.  It doesn't matter how talented new players are, it surely is too much to ask for everything to click straightaway.  Also I think people are maybe forgetting how good Ohio have been this season; 12-0 so far!!  I've always thought that we won't see the best of this new PSU group until the Sept 2021 season begins - I know there's a chance we won't make the NCAA tournament for the first time in years, but it is what it is, you can't dwell on history.  If the fans of my football (soccer) team, Nottingham Forest, dwelt on history we would all have deserted the club years ago when we went from being twice European Champions in 1979 and 1980 to being relegated to the 2nd tier of English football in the 90's.....and we're still there!!!
So let's get positive and focus more on the medium term rather than expecting to win every match because we're Penn State. We're in transition, but nowhere near the transition that Stanford are experiencing - they have zero chance of making the tournament this season but you can be sure that come September, they'll be back up there, but what do I know I'm just an Englishman

Thanks for taking the trouble to explain that to me yogi - I totally get your point regarding recruitment.  University sport in the UK could not be more different to that in the US.  There is little or no recruitment from high schools and only a few universities offer very limited one-year sports scholarships. The vast majority of uni sport is purely recreational.  There are some leagues but the standard is poor and nowhere good enough for TV companies to be interested apart from 2 exceptions; the annual Oxford v Cambridge boat race and the rugby match between the same two universities.  The sporting 'structure' here consists of professional football 'scouts' who travel round the country watching junior (age 8-14) matches hoping to find future stars and sign them on to their acadamies. Once a player reaches the age of 16 he will usually sign for the club who will pay him the most money. Thus the few richest clubs get the best young players.  All other sports have clubs who produce their own talent through their own junior coaching set ups. It's a very haphazard disorganised 'system' which reflects the low esteem that sport has in our country, with the glaring exception of football (soccer) which has 24 hour multi channel coverage, and to a lesser extent, cricket and rugby. I've always liked volleyball and really got a passion for it as a PE teacher when my girls school teams won several All-England Schools Championships in age groups 13, 15 and 16 in the 1980's and 90's, although I have to say there were only about 20 schools who played the game to a decent standard.  It angers me that such a great game is completely ignored by the media here and this is why I started watching US college volleyball when it became available on ESPN here.  I was blown away by the high standard, the fans and the status that the game has there; so much so that in Sept 2019 I spent about £1500 to travel to Rec Hall to watch PSU, Stanford, Minnesota and Oregon in the Big10 Challenge.  I have to say it was totally worth it, especially as I got to meet Jonni Parker and her delightful family and also Kendall White and her grandad and the legendary Russ Rose!.  The atmosphere in Rec Hall when PSU took the first set against Stanford 29-27 will live with me forever!  Sorry Yogi I've rambled on a bit but I do understand what you said but I hope you now understand the reason for my 'rose-colouredness'.  Would be nice to say hi to you when I next visit which hopefully will be in Sept/Oct this year.

My impression is that the serve receive and overall defense is what really needs to improve for this team to start winning. However, I think that the screwed up schedule really hurts this PSU team. If they had a "normal" pre-season and a long Big 10 schedule, I think that by the end of the year, they would be improved quite a bit. But with a young team, the number of matches that have been postponed/cancelled, it makes it really difficult for this team to improve in the areas that they need to. Much as I hate to say it, this might be a year that gets chalked up to experience. Last years team would have handled this a lot better. As Coach says constantly, "She's a freshman, she will make freshman mistakes." With the number of freshman playing, that is what happens.

I think he has a good handle on what he can expect from this team. His comment when somebody asked him how he would handle this loss made a lot of sense. "When you get your butt kicked on the floor, there’s no reason to kick their butt anymore than that."