E
rica Dambach did not inherit a er
three seasons as the U.S. National Team's
U-17 head coach.
But Dambach has taken
the strong foundation that
she inherited from prede-
cessors Pat Farmer and
Paula Wilkins and built a
cathedral on top of it. In
her nine seasons as coach,
the Nittany Lions have won
eight regular-season Big
Ten titles and have twice
played for the national championship.
That history of success reached a crescen-
do this past December when the Lions won
their ed her career record at Penn State
to 157-50-10. "I'm just so proud of this
team and this group of seniors."
Dambach, who went by her maiden name
Walsh before her marriage in January to
State College Spikes president Jason
Dambach, is a native of the Philadelphia
area. Her parents owned a summer camp,
and it was there that she developed a passion
for team sports.
With the Nittany Lions entertaining high
hopes as they get set to defend their 2015
championship, that passion doesn't seem
likely to fade anytime soon.
■
ERICA DAMBACH
COACH OF THE YEAR
|
Women's soccer mentor leads Penn State program to a new plateau
MISSY DOHERTY WOMEN'S LACROSSE Since arriving from Towson in 2011, Do-
herty has led the Nittany Lions to the NCAA tournament in five of her six seasons.
She's led them all the way to the quarterfinals in four of those seasons, reaching that
plateau again this year with a 14-13 overtime victory over second-ranked Florida in
Gainesville, then moving on to the semifinals with an 8-4 win over Penn.
GUY GADOWSKY MEN'S ICE HOCKEY The Nittany Lions continued their steady
ascent in 2015-16, going 21-13-4 overall and 10-9-1 in the Big Ten to finish third in
the conference standings. It was their winningest season yet, and along the way they
set an assortment of offensive and defensive records, including PSU marks for goals
(140) and saves (1,164). The Nittany Lions were also a big success at the gate. They
played before the fullest house in college hockey, as the average attendance at Pegula
Ice Arena this past season was 105.4 percent of capacity.
JOHN GONDAK TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY There's no such thing as an off-
season for Gondak, who coaches four teams that together compete in the fall, winter
and spring. Under his leadership, the women's cross country team won Big Ten and
Mid-Atlantic Regional championships and finished 16th at NCAAs. The women's
track and field team was third at the Big Ten indoor championships in February, and
the men's team opened the outdoor season by tying host Oregon for first place at the
Pepsi Invite, a rare accomplishment by a visitor to Hayward Field.
RUSS ROSE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL Yes, the Nittany Lions only reached the re-
gional semifinals of the NCAA tournament, falling to Hawaii in three sets to end
their season. But the fact that the team's 28-6 finish could be considered less than
fulfilling speaks to just how high the expectations have become under Rose's lead-
ership. He's been at Penn State for 37 seasons, and in December he signed on for five
more.
CAEL SANDERSON WRESTLING Sanderson has what amounts to a lifetime ap-
pointment to this list. But even by his lofty standards, this past season was a cut
above. In addition to winning Big Ten and NCAA championships and claiming two
individual titles at nationals, the Nittany Lions compiled their first undefeated dual
meet season in Sanderson's seven years at Penn State. It would be tempting to label it
a career year, but who knows? The way Sanderson and his staff have been recruiting,
there could be more like this to come. – M.H.
H O N O R A B L E M E N T I O N
DAMBACH
