Penn State Hopes To Find Way Here Nittany Lions On Track, If Web Site Isn’t

For starters, Penn State University probably should think about getting the location right.

Log onto the school’s volleyball web site and read: Dec. 18-20, NCAA Finals at Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.

Right state (even right side of the state), correct host school. Wrong place.

The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, just eight weeks away, will be at the Arena in Spokane. And, no, the Nittany Lions were not acting presumptuously when they put the dates on their schedule.

The USA Today/AVCA No. 1-team is 20-0 (9-0 Big Ten) and just one of two Top 25 teams that remain undefeated. No. 17 Maryland, from the much weaker Atlantic Coast Conference, is 17-0.

Penn State’s closest match was four days ago at Northwestern. The unranked Wildcats took PSU to five games and led 12-8 in the rally-play fifth game. But the Nittany Lions came back and won 16-14.

PSU has defeated defending national champions and preseason-No. 1 Stanford (twice), then-No. 8 Brigham Young, then-No. 5 Nebraska, and Texas and Wisconsin, both 10th at the time.

The Nittany Lions also beat the U.S. National team 3-1 earlier this month. Nebraska, Kansas State and Michigan State all lost to the national team.

“I think beating the national team was an example of how good we could play,” Penn State coach Russ Rose said. “I think on Sunday when we went five with Northwestern, it was an example of how human we are in the fact that we’ve got 15 college female athletes who at times are not as stable as we would think of a No. 1-ranked team to be.”

Rose has coached at Penn State for 19 years. His teams never have won a national title but a trip to Spokane would be the third Final Four appearance since 1993. Last year at the East Regional final in Lincoln, Neb., Penn State was eliminated by Nebraska, losing 20-18 in the fifth game. Rose said his teams have been eliminated by Nebraska five or six times in recent years.

“I have no animosity toward Nebraska as a team, a state or an institution,” said Rose.

But he doesn’t like it enough to want to return there in December. Instead, PSU will put in a competitive bid to host a regional. It would be a first in State College, Pa.

Penn State leads the nation in hitting percentage at .327. The team is third in blocking (3.65), behind Washington (4.04) and Texas (3.78).

The Lions’ excellence begins with middle blockers Terri Zemaitis of Downers Grove, Ill., and Lauren Cacciamani of Paramus, N.J. The 6-foot-2 blockers are two of five starters from last year’s team. Cacciamani is averaging 1.69 block per game, sixth-best in the country. Zemaitis, a first-team All-American senior, is averaging 1.64 blocks per game, ninth overall.

The team is run by 5-9 sophomore setter Bonnie Bremner, a second-team All-American as a freshman. Bremner of Lisle, Ill., was a walk-on and ended up beating out Samantha Spink for the starting job.

Spink, who is from Couer d’Alene, transferred to Washington State where she’s been sharing time with senior Stephanie Papke.

“Bonnie Bremner is a very talented young person,” Rose said. “It was not a reflection that Sam wasn’t very good.”

Bremner, who has played every point this year, is averaging 11.7 assists per game. However, more impressive is her .366 hitting percentage.

, DataTimes