Blue White Illustrated

t's the second day of preseason camp, and already, Ali Frantti is struggling. "My legs are pretty sore right now," Frantti says. "That first day was definitely a grind. That's the way Coach likes it." The coach, of course, is Russ Rose, college volleyball's all-time wins leader and the architect of a program that has dominated the sport for most of the past decade. As Frantti tells it, Rose likes to set the tone on the first day of camp by ordering defensive poses – essentially deep squats – that the players hold "for as long as Coach wants us to." It's murder on the thighs and glutes, but as Frantti knows, such drills are mostly designed to test the strength of the players' minds. As much as anything, Rose's remarkable career success can be traced to finding players whose resilience and attention to detail match their physical skills. In Frantti, he appears to have found another one. Although only a sophomore, she'll be counted on heavily for a team looking for a third consecutive NCAA title. She might be the Lions' best player, and based on her outstanding freshman season, she's not likely to be fazed by the expec- tations. A starter and the team's best attacker from the start of her college career last fall, Frantti established herself on the na- tional scene in an early-season loss at Stanford. In that meeting, a five-set win for the Cardinal, she registered 22 kills and hit at a blistering .405 clip. When the teams met again in December, in the na- tional semifinals, Frantti tallied 16 kills and a pair of aces as the Lions rolled to a four-set win. Asked afterward to put her performance in historical context – a freshman, playing that well on that stage – Rose was typically blunt. "She played even better the first time we played them," he said. By any measure, Frantti was terrific all season. She led the team in kills in the season opener, a 3-0 romp over TCU, and topped that category 14 more times during the Lions' run to the national title. Her season average of 3.2 kills per set was a team-high. That season-long excellence was recognized, as Frantti was named a second-team All-American and National Freshman of the Year. "Honestly, I came in freshman year just trying to make an impact," Frantti says now. "All I wanted was to help the team win, and it was such an honor just to be a part of that group last year. If I was meant to be on the court, so be it. But I'm a big competitor, so of course I want to be on the court. I don't really like to be second to anyone." That's rarely been a concern for Frantti, who as a middle schooler in Illinois during Penn State's 2007-10 run of four consec- utive NCAA titles famously emailed Rose to say she wanted to one day wear the blue and white. She earned the chance in high school, completing her prep and club career as a first-team All-American and the 2013 Gatorade State Player of the Year. Her talent was never in question, and she proved last season she was up for the challenge of playing for a program with the stated annual goal of a national cham- pionship. Now, she'll be tasked with living up to Rose's ultimate expectation: lead- ership. With the graduation of national V A R S I T Y V I E W S EARLY RISER Ali Frantti looks to build on her stellar debut | WRESTLING Illinois transfer set to join Nittany Lions As of early August, Penn State head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson was still searching for his first verbal com- mitment of the summer. But that did- n't stop him from landing a top-flight transfer who could become a fixture in the top half of the Nittany Lions' lineup beginning with the 2016-17 season. Jered Cortez revealed via social me- dia Aug. 13 that he was transferring from Illinois to Penn State. "Excited and fortunate to announce that I will continue my academic and wrestling career at Penn State University," he wrote on Twitter. "We Are!" After sitting out the upcoming sea- son, Cortez will have three years of el- igibility with the Nittany Lions. He used his redshirt as a true freshman with the Illini in 2014-15. A native of Carol Stream, Ill., Cortez went 10-2 at 125 pounds during his redshirt season, with losses to Cory Clark of Iowa and Caleb Richardson of Penn. Expected to grow into a 133- pounder, Cortez becomes a vital addi- tion to a Penn State lineup that next year will be looking to replace Nico Megaludis and Jordan Conaway, this season's expected starters at 125 and 133, respectively. At Glendbard North High School, Cortez was a four-time Illinois High School Association champion. He won titles at four different weight classes, becoming one of only 14 wrestlers in state history to accom- plish that feat. Ranked as the No. 15 overall recruit in the Class of 2014, Cortez chose the Illini over Penn State and other pre- mier Division I programs. As of early August, PSU had one verbally committed high school re- cruit in its Class of 2016. That wrestler is Mason Manville of Lorton, Va., who announced his decision last November and projects at 165 or 174 pounds in college. – TIM OWEN I

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