Penn State Volleyball: An Epic Event

Epic.

Honestly, that’s probably a word that I overuse in my everyday life, but I’d be impressed if you can find a better word to describe what happened on Saturday night in Tampa Bay between Penn State and Texas.

Even if you strip away all the historical and championship implications, Saturday night was a great display of volleyball, and one of the most entertaining sporting events you’ll ever see.

But when you add in that it’s No. 1 vs. No. 2, there’s history on the line in the form of three straight national titles and the dynasty that is Penn State, you come back to one word.

Epic.

The match-up was even better than I expected, and I expected quite a bit.

Maybe I underestimated the impact that Salima Rockwell would have on the match. For several stretches, it looked like the Texas defense knew exactly what the Penn State offense was doing before they did it.

Maybe Penn State was just a little off, or maybe Rockwell knew what was going on inside the head of her former pupil, Alisha Glass.

Regardless of what it was, the Texas advantage didn’t last long enough and Penn State showed why it is the No. 1 team, and Russ Rose cemented his spot as one of the top collegiate coaches in any sport.

When Penn State went down 0-2 and looked beaten in the second set until they put together a nice little run at the end, I heard from quite a few people, asking me if it was possible for Penn State to come back.

And I answered them honestly: absolutely.

I’m not going to say that I never had a doubt in my mind that they were going to win, because that would be an absolute lie. But I was 100 percent confident that they could do it. If Texas could win two straight, then Penn State could win three.

I didn’t see any way that Megan Hodge and Alisha Glass weren’t going down without a fight, and I didn’t see any way that their teammates were going to let the two senior leaders, along with the inspirational story of Kelsey Ream, finish their careers with a loss.

And they didn’t.

Before the season began, Coach Rose told me that one player who really stepped up as a leader was Alyssa D’Errico, who won the libero job in the off-season. She certainly showed leadership in the form of her play on Saturday night.

In my eyes, she was really the unsung hero of the night. She not only made some spectacular digs, but she was passing right on target during the stretch run. The libero position is simply never going to get enough credit, but D’Errico had maybe the match of her life, and I know her teammates and the coaching staff appreciated it.

I could go on and on about every player (Darcy Dorton, anybody? With all apologies to Dick Vitale, that’s a “diaper dandy”), because they all stepped up and everyone was phenomenal, but you get the picture.

I could even talk about the amazing play of Destinee Hooker, who was absolutely great in defeat, and deservedly was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

But in the end, it was an amazing night for sports and an incredible accomplishment for a great group of girls and a top-notch coaching staff. While it was nerve-wracking and in doubt the entire night, right up until the end, I don’t think I’d want it any other way.

If I only had one word to describe it, I don’t even have to think about it.

Epic.