Player and Recruiting Matrices Updated 10-22-2021

I don't mean to disparage Serena Gray at all, but objectively speaking, she didn't perform all that well this past season.  Looking at the individual statistics (gopsusports.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats#individual) Serena hit .287 on 251 attacks in 56 sets.  By way of comparison, Kaitlyn Hord hit .421 on 304 attacks in 60 sets.  In her limited appearances, true freshman Allie Holland hit .483 with 29 attacks in 8 sets -- obviously a much smaller sample size, so you really can't draw too many conclusions from it, but you can say that Allie Holland made the most of her opportunities.  Looking at blocking, Hord let the team with 1.32 blocks/set, Gray had .79 and Holland had .63.  At .89 blocks/set, Jonni Parker was second on the team.  So from the perspective of how she performed this past season, it may not be such a big loss after all.

The thing is, Serena's stats were better in 2018 and 2019.  As a true freshman, in 2018, Serena hit .325 with 1.24 blocks/set.  In 2019 she hit .382 with .79 blocks/set. Maybe she would have bounced back in 2021, but in terms of blocking, the trend hasn't looked great.

Don't get me wrong -- Serena was a very good player for Penn State.  But she was surpassed by Kaitlyn Hord, and Allie Holland looks like she can at least hold her own in Big 10 competition, even if she may not reach the level of play that Serena was capable of.  So I'm not panicked here.  I liked what I saw of Allie Holland during the season -- though I am admittedly not qualified to give anything close to a knowledgeable read on her skill level or potential.  And I think with the addition of Pritchard and Rollins, Coach Rose will have more weapons on the outside, thus taking pressure off the middles to produce alot of offence. We'll see. But my advice is not to overreact to this.  Things are on the upswing in Happy Valley.

In normal times, HIPAA (www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html) meant we could only guess about illness or injury -- unless a clearly visible cast or pair of crutches removed all doubt.  This past season, with Covid, it was truly impossible to know whether an absent player was injured, sick, or quarantining due to exposure to someone with Covid.  A long way of saying I don't  know.

First serve feels like it's getting very close now.  Very much looking forward to seeing all the new players in their Nittany Lions shirts, even though it will only be on my 15.6" laptop screen!  Still hoping to make it over to the US for the Nebraska/Northwestern weekend in early October.  I'd say 50/50 chance at the moment.  We're letting you guys into the UK but you're not letting us into the US.  Come on Joe, play fair.

 

We've updated the 2021 Roster to include (where we have them) new photos for the players and bio information for Adanna Rollins (we already had bio information for Katie Clark, and PSU added bio information for Erika Pritchard). We're still awaiting a new photo for Rachel Muisenga from PSU, as well as bio information for several of the incoming freshmen. dignittanyvolleyball.com/2021-roster/

We've updated the 2021 Roster to include bio information for Katie Clark and Adanna Rollins -- which Penn State added over the weekend. We're still awaiting a new photo for Rachel Muisenga from PSU, as well as bio information for Rachel Muisenga, Angelina Starck and Erika Williams.

dignittanyvolleyball.com/2021-roster/

dignittanyvolleyball.com/player-matrix/

OMG!! Starck's parents played WVB at Texas and MVB at Ball State. Not sure I've seen that kind of pedigree before!! No need to debate nature v nurture...she's got both.