There’s a bit of a buzz around Penn State these days. With the second summer session under way, more and more student-athletes have been filtering into town.
That means a lot of work for coaches. Just the other day, I bumped into women’s basketball coach Coquese Washington, who was loading her vehicle with drinks and snacks for the three freshmen players who were officially Lady Lions.
In this edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a look at a stellar rookie and have one of our most memorable moments of the year in Penn State Athletics.
Female Rookie of the Year
When Arielle Wilson’s season began, she wasn’t sure what her role on the Penn State women’s volleyball team would be.
Would she sit? Would she start? Come off the bench? Take a redshirt?
It was a mystery, for sure.
She sat for the first few games before her efforts in practice forced head coach Russ Rose to start giving her some playing time.
Once she got onto the court, it was hard to take her off.
Wilson got better and better as the Nittany Lions’ season wore on. She became a force at middle hitter and when Penn State’s season ended with a national title, Wilson was recognized as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
“My freshman year definitely exceeded my expectations. I went into it thinking that I wouldn’t play. I thought maybe I would get some
(playing) time, but I really didn’t know how it would play out,”
Wilson said.
It played out better than anyone — including Wilson — could have imagined. When the dust settled on the Nittany Lions’ championship season, Wilson had some gaudy numbers:
She was fourth on the team in kills with 198.
She was second on the team in blocks with 149.
She fell just shy of the NCAA tournament record for hitting percentage with 68 total attacks, hitting .618 with 2.56 kills per game in 18 games.
Looking back, it’s hard to believe that Wilson didn’t earn her first career start until the Nittany Lions took on Stanford on Sept. 15. In that game, she racked up 10 kills and four blocks.
That, Wilson said, was her coming out party.
“Coach said that he was thinking about redshirting me, and that was very hard. Finally, when I did get to play, it was a lot different from what I expected,” Wilson said. “Playing (Stanford) was really, really exciting. I really wasn’t expecting (to start) at all.”
Wilson admitted that sitting and being a cheerleader wasn’t exactly her cup of tea. And the thought of a redshirt? Well, that was hard to take. Like any athlete, she wanted to play, wanted to contribute, wanted to compete.
“Coming from club, I was always playing. It was hard to sit there and watch,” Wilson said. “I kept thinking ‘why not try me?’ You never know what may happen. At the same time, though, (the redshirt) wasn’t a bad idea. I would get some experience under my belt and that would later pay off.”
For the 6-foot-3 Wilson, adjusting to the collegiate game took a little bit of time. Coming from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill., she knew that things would be difficult, transitioning from club volleyball to a Division I-A powerhouse.
“The speed of the game is different,” Wilson noted. “Blocking-wise, I was good at blocking in club, but it’s at a totally different level here. Everything is bigger and better.”
To her credit, though, Wilson was able to run with the big dogs. She made her presence felt on the Nittany Lions and made an impact in the Big Ten. Of course, big things are expected from the freshmen at Penn State.
Knowing that, Wilson turned to her teammates for guidance.
She worked closely with senior Melissa Walbridge and junior Christa Harmotto — both middle hitters themselves — to improve her game.
“We would compete against each other and they really helped me a lot with the transition from club to college. It definitely was very hard, but they helped me through it,” Wilson said.
The Nittany Lions’ season came to an end, of course, on Dec. 15 when they won a 3-2 thriller over Stanford in the national championship in Sacramento, Calif.
“I never imagined being a national champion as a freshman. Playing in that match, being on the floor, it was amazing. I can’t describe it,”
Wilson said. “I wasn’t nervous at all. We just came there to win a national title and we weren’t leaving until we won it. It still really hasn’t kicked in. It was crazy, and I was psyched as a freshman to be playing. It was sweet.”
The question now becomes, what exactly does Wilson do for an encore?
After capturing numerous awards and honors as a freshman, how does she follow that up? Is there added pressure to produce?
Wilson, who appears to be as cool as a cucumber, said no.
“I definitely don’t feel like it will put pressure on me. It will make me better. I came to Penn State with no one knowing what I could do.
There was no pressure at all,” Wilson said. “Winning the Rookie of the Year won’t make things any different. I just want to keep working hard. We have everyone coming back. We’ll be good.”
Wilson will be back, of course, after a summer of practice and off-season workouts.
“I need to work on some stuff that I didn’t do last season. And I need to get better, get quicker,” she said. “Coach Rose doesn’t want us to be good, he wants us to be great.”
That translates to her being a better all-around player.
Now that’s a scary thought.
Moment No. 8: Tennis Breaks Through
Our No. 8 moment of the year is a sport that doesn’t get much attention. It’s tennis.
The Penn State men’s tennis team posted the program’s first victory in the modern-day NCAA tournament format, which began in 1999.
Behind solid doubles play, the Nittany Lions swept past VCU, 4-0.
“This was a very exciting win for our program and the guys should be extremely proud of today’s result,” said Penn State coach Todd Doebler. “We gained a lot of momentum by playing great doubles.”
The Lions used victories by seniors Michael James and James Dwyer.
Junior Adam Slagter then gave the Lions a clinching victory with a straight-set singles victory.
In addition to writing for gantnews.com, Chris Morelli is the editor of Blue White Illustrated, a magazine devoted to Penn State sports. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.