Blue White Illustrated

VARSITY VIEWS Outside hitter's rise fuels championship hopes GREAT SCOTT BY RYAN JONES Blue White Contributor the Penn State volleyball program's re- markable success. Among Rose's tactics is what you might call the Preseason Accountability Quote, a regular feature in the team's annual media guide. Here's what Rose had to say in this year's edi- tion about outside hitter Ariel Scott: "Last year she had fantastic matches R and matches where she wasn't able to have the same sort of impact. We'll need her to be ready every night and a lot of our fortunes will rest on how she performs." That's what Rose said. Here, bluntly translated, is what he meant: If we want to avoid a repeat of last season – and we do – you've got to dominate. No pressure. Penn State went 25-8 and made the NCAA Sweet 16 last fall, a terrific season for nearly any other program, but a massive disappointment for a team coming off four consecutive na- tional championships. As a freshman, Scott was a regular on the 2010 title team, so she knows firsthand the level of excellence required to finish the season on top. She also knows why last year's team fell short, and why that shouldn't happen again. "I think we were a really young team – that may be an excuse, but we needed more experience and a little more con- fidence last year," Scott says now. "I think we've progressed a lot. We have better leadership, and we're much more accountable." uss Rose is a master of the subtle motivational ploy, a skill his players credit with playing a huge role in Standing 26-2 and ranked second nationally at press time, the 2012 Nit- tany Lions certainly seem to have solved last year's problems. A sweep of Indiana in mid-November clinched the program's 15th Big Ten champi- onship, and Penn State looked a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourna- ment. And, as Rose strongly implied before the season began, Scott's con- sistency has been vital to the team's success. A 6-4 junior, Scott was leading the team through mid-November with 358 total kills, a rate of 3.65 per set. That she was the Lions' top attacker with such relatively modest numbers – the official NCAA stats show the nation's top 50 scorers, and Scott's average isn't close to cracking the list – speaks to another strength of this year's squad: balance. "This is much more of an all- around team," she says. "We score from all six positions." As they should. One of the benefits of that four-year title run – and one of the reasons last season was so disap- pointing – was the massive talent influx of Rose's past few recruiting classes. Scott was among the jewels of Penn State's 2010 class, a New Jersey Player of the Year and three-time state cham- pion coming out of Immaculate Heart Academy in talent-rich Bergen County. And she hasn't exactly disappointed, earning first-team All-Big Ten and third-team All-America honors as a sophomore last fall. It's by lofty comparison that Scott and her current Nittany Lion team- mates inevitably suffer. Along with classmate and fellow outside hitter Deja McClendon – the National Fresh- ABOVE THE NET Scott said the team "learned last year that just being in a Penn State jersey isn't what makes you a champion." man of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament in 2010 – Scott came to Happy Valley in the shadow of Megan Hodge, the four- time first-team All-American who ranks as arguably the best outside hitter in school history. Scott watched the likes of Hodge and fellow All-Americans Christa Harmotto, Blair Brown, Arielle Wilson and Nicole Fawcett dominate at the net, and she came to Penn State to add to that lineage. If she thought matching their accomplish- ments would be easy, last season dis- abused her of the notion. "We learned last year that just being in a Penn State jersey isn't what makes you a champion," she says. Scott says the Lions are a different team this season from top to bottom, but she knows her personal develop- ment has been substantial. As impor- tant as anything, she says, has been adjusting to the pace of the game. Fit- tingly, being more comfortable on the

• Cover