Is Penn State on the verge of taking over as the top program in college volleball?

Penn State truly lives and breathes WE ARE

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It’s more than a crafty slogan sitting around campus from glory days in State College, PA. The phrase WE ARE is preached, but more so believed and seemingly being carried out by Coach Katie and her Penn State Volleyball Staff and players right in front of the college volleyball world right now….whether you like it or not, they don’t really care.

Now, exactly what “WE ARE” might stand for is probably up for interpretation, but if some other top traditional programs don’t get it in gear, it might just stand for WE ARE the greatest program in NCAA College Volleyball and expect to be every single year.  

That is how the Nittany Lions have been acting the last 12ish months or so.

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Here are just a few signs that the winds are blowing power out East and, for the first time in a long, long time, threatening the Children of the Corn and the Bevos a little more than their proud and unrealistic fanbases will admit.

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1. Recruits are paying attention. There was a couple-year drought that Penn State wasn’t the Penn State we all knew before, and now all know again. They struggled a bit with recruiting classes, and it was hard for them to compete with Nebraska and Texas, as they had. The Class of 2026 will be a special one, but the staff worked their buns off on it, and it didn’t look as marvelous a year ago as it does today. Kudos to the staff for projecting on two prospects (Danielle Whitmire and Kendall Northern). I think the only other service that gave those two much of a shot was (yeah, you guessed it) VBAdrenaline.com. But, they were not choice 1 or 2 of some of the pretty schools last year, and Penn State believed in those girls, and it will pay off big-time.

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2. Now you look ahead to this year. A Natty, the 2026 success, the national brand is back and all of the positive media attention. Yeah, this class will be huge for the Nittany Lions, count on it 

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3. Oh yeah they are defending National Champions. So they have great players already in the program and yes despite what national media members say they did have a lot of talent coming back including one of the best leaders in the country and one of the best setters in the country. So they have their leaders back and a lot of talent back.

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4. Sorry, Nebraska fans, but outside of you, anyone at BTN who has to say that Devaney is the toughest Country Club in America to play at.  

Any athlete who has ever had to travel into a sold-out Rec Hall doesn’t pause to answer the question, saying Penn State has the best home court advantage in college volleyball. It’s loud, compact, and nasty. Fans are right on top of you and standing all the time. It’s historic, just like what made Duke a top basketball program for decades a dingy old high school gym that you only love if it’s yours and you win.

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5. They are signing the BEST transfers. It doesn’t matter how they are; they just are. Sellman and Kmart (if you were under a rock this week). So what they miss in recruiting is that they get in the portal.

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6. Great female coach with a fantastic story. Coach Katie. Enough said. Strong, alumni, fighter, courageous, tough SOB, winner, feisty. National story and wants to win at all costs for her athletes and her alma mater, and won’t back down from anyone. Just like DBK at Nebraska now.

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7. They make no excuses to anyone. They took two Nebraska transfers last year, and though they may not have been able to say it out loud publicly, they relished that chance to go and beat that team twice for those girls. ESPN might not have brought that up as a central point of the match (we all know why), but you know it made that win so much sweeter. They don’t apologize for those things because with this staff and these players, rivalries, recruiting, and sure matches are a bit personal, and I love that. They aren’t politically correct responses 24/7, they are about winning and rivalries and championships. They EXPECT to be the program on that podium.  

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Whether the media and college volleyball like it or not is up to them, I guess. I just have this feeling that Penn State believes that being the #1 program in college volleyball has been their title all along. Those other programs have maybe just held the spot for them for a little while. Are they just getting ready to take it back?

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After are that’s what WE ARE stands for right?