I had to follow along on ncaa.com for the most part. After set 3 they switched the teams for the live pbp - highly annoying
WVB National Championship
- Thread starter mcpat
- Start date
Can't believe how they came back after losing set 2, after they lost 10 set points! Unbelievable.
1st ever coached by someone with stage 2 cancer!!!
Great resilience after losing that epic 2nd set. Came out in the 3rd all business. If anything it was Louisville after the 2nd set who kind of ran out of gas.
Congratulations Lady Lions, National Champions!!
The mental toughness of this coach and her team is off the charts. Really easy group to root for this season.
One of the commentators observed that most teams come out strong but then start to falter a little bit because of tiredness, but not this team. They get stronger the longer the match goes. Just speaks to their toughness and attitude that a lot of youngsters can learn from.
Someone posted video of the match here. It probably won't be up for long. Jess Mruzik was on fire -- which is such a fitting end for the season and for her college career.
Also check out the postgame press conference -- PSU stayed loose and really wasn't bothered by the loss of the epic 2nd set. They ended up in a jam at the end with a bunch of back row players forced to play at the net because they had run out of substitutions. Said they were laughing about it in the locker room and that kept them loose. Quinn Menger had a good comment -- said they actually appreciated Louisville's play climbing back into the 2nd set and battling to win it, but they were confident PSU could play well too and steal one back.
If you watch the match, if anything it was Louisville that ran out of gas after the 2nd set. PSU just shifted to a higher gear and just had too much firepower for them. If Louisville hadn't lost their star middle to an injury in the semifinal match, it might have been a different match.
Louisville has great frontcourt players but I thought PSU's backcourt and floor defense was better, and of course Izzy Starck was setting so brilliantly -- that was also a big part of PSU's success. The quality of play was extremely high at times. Volleyball was amazing to watch 15 years ago when PSU was in the midst of its dynasty, but the level of skill and intensity is higher now, and there are way more high-level programs -- Louisville and Pitt being prime examples.
Also check out the postgame press conference -- PSU stayed loose and really wasn't bothered by the loss of the epic 2nd set. They ended up in a jam at the end with a bunch of back row players forced to play at the net because they had run out of substitutions. Said they were laughing about it in the locker room and that kept them loose. Quinn Menger had a good comment -- said they actually appreciated Louisville's play climbing back into the 2nd set and battling to win it, but they were confident PSU could play well too and steal one back.
If you watch the match, if anything it was Louisville that ran out of gas after the 2nd set. PSU just shifted to a higher gear and just had too much firepower for them. If Louisville hadn't lost their star middle to an injury in the semifinal match, it might have been a different match.
Louisville has great frontcourt players but I thought PSU's backcourt and floor defense was better, and of course Izzy Starck was setting so brilliantly -- that was also a big part of PSU's success. The quality of play was extremely high at times. Volleyball was amazing to watch 15 years ago when PSU was in the midst of its dynasty, but the level of skill and intensity is higher now, and there are way more high-level programs -- Louisville and Pitt being prime examples.
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The match is up on ESPN app. I'll catch it some time this week. Lots of great events this weekend.
This is a great win for the WVB program and Penn State overall! I am so happy for the players and most of all for our coach, Katie Schumacher-Cawley, and her family. Battling cancer is terrible and to coach a team to a national championship while undergoing chemo treatments is incredibly courageous.
WE ARE PENN STATE!!
WE ARE PENN STATE!!
I like how Katie always gives a shout out to Russ Rose in her post match comments. She is all class. Good luck to her in the cancer battle. I'm excited to see how the team evolves going forward.
