Penn State women’s volleyball coach Russ Rose ‘disappointed’ in team’s effort in loss to Nebraska 

If a team usually gets an “A” for effort, Penn State women’s volleyball got an “F” against Nebraska on Friday night — at least according to Russ Rose.

Rose’s squad fell to the No. 10 Cornhuskers in four sets to fall to 11-4 on the year and 4-1 in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 13 coming into the match after winning six straight matches.

After Penn State’s team’s first homestand since Sept. 26, Rose voiced his displeasure with his team’s energy in an affair that ultimately left one program unbeaten in Big Ten play.

Spoiler alert: That undefeated program is Nebraska — not the Nittany Lions.

“Well, I’m disappointed that we missed a great opportunity to play well,” Rose said. “I thought Nebraska was far more physical and far better prepared to play tonight than we were.”

The blue and white went down early in the first set and ultimately dropped that opening game, 25-16, in what wasn’t a close contest between the two teams. Penn State had five service errors in the set and wasn’t able to consistently translate attacks into points against the stout Cornhuskers.

Diagnosing each of his players’ performances in real time for each point, Rose said he was generally disappointed in his starters throughout the first couple of sets — so much so that he pulled them in favor of their teammates on the bench.

“The fact that I had to take two or three starters out because they weren’t ready to play and weren’t playing at a high level was a reflection of some of the things that I see in practice,” Rose said.

Starting outside hitters Anastasiya Kudryashova and Adanna Rollins each only played two sets. All other starters made an appearance in each of the four sets in the match.

Penn State’s first and only set victory came in the second frame, with the Nittany Lions staving off a late Husker run to control the set and take a 25-22 win. The blue and white had a match-high 75 attacks in the set, keeping up with Nebraska every step of the way.

But that came to a halt in the third, as the Cornhuskers again took a match lead on the back of a 25-23 set win. Penn State took a commanding 7-3 lead in the early goings of the game, forcing Nebraska coach John Cook to take an early timeout.

Nebraska would claw back and claim the set victory, putting the Nittany Lions into a do-or-die situation in the fourth.

The blue and white failed to equalize in the fourth in a 25-17 decision. After earning the first two points of the set, Penn State allowed a 6-0 Cornhusker run and wasn’t able to take another lead in the match.

Even with the lopsided 3-1 loss, Rose did find a silver lining in the Nittany Lions’ defeat: the play of freshman outside hitter Anjelina Starck.

“The only shining light I saw today was Anjelina,” Rose said. “[She] came in, and I thought she played really well with the skill set she has, competed hard and made some really nice plays for a person who hasn’t played very much.”

Starck saw time in all four sets and finished with 10 kills on a .206 hitting percentage to go along with 12 digs.

“It was just a moment that I’ll never forget,” Starck said. “I remember watching Nebraska play on TV for such a long time.”

In the women’s volleyball team’s iteration of the White Out, the atmosphere was complete as the backdrop at Rec Hall with a sea of white in the bleachers and the pep band playing familiar tunes during intermissions.

Heck, even other Penn State Athletics teams showed up to the west side of campus to take in the tilt between two top-15 teams.

The women’s basketball team sat behind the Nittany Lions’ baseline, men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry attended his second-straight home match and the men’s volleyball team — clad in a diverse range of costumes — stood on Nebraska’s side to disrupt Cornhusker serves.

With the energy inside the storied home of Rose’s program Friday night, almost everything was perfect.

Except one thing.

“Everything was good except the effort by the staff and the team tonight,” Rose said.

This story was originally published October 9, 2021 at 12:45 AM.