Ex-player returns as PSU assistant

Gordon Brunskill

For most of Kaleena Walters’ time as a Penn State student and a member of the Nittany Lion women’s volleyball team, she never gave much thought to coaching.

Grand slam propels Penn State

“I’ve always loved volleyball and being in the gym,” she said. “But I never really gave coaching that much thought until my senior year. I didn’t want to give up that lifestyle.”

The former All-American and 2005 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year has returned to the Penn State campus in just that role, as a new assistant coach with the two-time defending national champions.

Walters officially joined the staff last week and spent last weekend in Denver working the recruiting trail for head coach Russ Rose.

“It’s an amazing feeling and I’m excited to come back,” Walters said. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of the Penn State program since I was in eighth grade.”

The Mount Lebanon product replaces Salima Rockwell, who left in January to become an assistant at Texas.

Walters also is helping out in the gym. The team began spring practices last Monday, and they too have a lot of traveling this spring with tournaments in Atlanta and Dallas in April as part of their preparations for the fall.

The Nittany Lions will be in good hands with Walters, who is all over the Penn State record book, holding the program’s career marks for digs and digs per game and holds the top three spots for single-season digs and digs per game during her four-year career as a libero.

The 2006 graduate has spent the last two years as an assistant coach at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Many of the duties will be the same, but now the targeted recruits will be of a slightly different level as the team will try to go after more national championships.

“The athletes are definitely different,” she said. “Both (schools) want the best athletes for that program, it’s just what works best for that particular school.”

Penn State to host men’s championships again

The Penn State men’s volleyball team will host the National Collegiate Championships at Rec Hall in 2011. It will mark the first time the matches have returned to the East Coast since the Nittany Lions last hosted the games in 2006.

“It’s always exciting to host the NCAAs,” Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. “The Pennsylvania volleyball community always supports the championships so well with both the women and the men whenever we host these matches.”

The men hosted the national semifinals and finals both in 2002, which was won by Hawaii, and in 2006 when UCLA beat Penn State in the finals.

“We have a pretty good history,” Pavlik said. ‘Teams have left here saying it was a well-run championship. I’m pleased people have recognized what we do.”

The defending national champion Nittany Lions won last year’s crown in Irvine, Calif., and hope to capture the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association title and return to the final four in Provo, Utah, in May. Next year’s matches are scheduled for Stanford.