It's over. After 109 straight matches won and three national titles in a row, the Penn State women's volleyball winning streak came to an end. The Nittany Lions lost to Stanford 0-3 on Saturday at the Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic in Florida. Interestingly, Penn State's last loss before the streak was to Stanford way back in 2007.
What an amazing ride it has been for Penn State. The win-streak will go down in history as the longest in the sport of volleyball but also ranks second across all college sports behind only the Miami men's tennis team's 137 wins in a row. What Russ Rose and his teams were able to put together over the course of the past three years is nothing short of miraculous. There are no asterisks next to this record. These women did an incredible thing.
In the course of the win-streak four separate squads won an incredible amount of matches 3-0. They won 111 straight sets and only lost 19. I don't think we'll see the likes of a streak like this one for a very, very long time.
That said, the end of the streak was bound to happen this season. The team suffered huge losses with the graduation of Alisha Glass and Megan Hodge. Now the bulk of the hitting load is carried by seniors Arielle Wilson and Blair Brown along with freshman Deja McClendon. Watching the first match of the tournament against No. 4 Florida it was clear that they had some weak spots that could be exploited. Florida managed to take the first set 25-20.
Penn State fought back in sets two and three, showing shades of their former dominance, but never quite seemed up to the excellence of the teams of the past. In set four Florida hung tough, tying the score at 17 before their passing broke down and they allowed Penn State to run off a string of points. Penn State finally won the fourth set 25-23, but had Florida not faltered, Penn State might have needed five sets to finish Florida off.
After watching that match, I was fairly certain that if Stanford was consistent, they would be able to win the match. Though they started out slow (down 6-1 from the jump in the first set) they fought back and found their rhythm, winning set one 28-26. Stanford controlled sets two and three from start to finish, winning the sets 25-12 and 25-18. They held Penn State hitters to a .091 team hitting percentage while hitting .389 themselves.
This loss occurring so early in the season could be a blessing in disguise for the Nittany Lions. It can't be easy to play with the burden of the streak hanging over their heads. Now they have been freed to find their rhythm, try some new things, find their new identity as a team. Though they are not as strong as they have been in years past, they are still a very strong team that will do well this season.
The streak may be over, but the season is just beginning. The journey will still most likely end at the Final Four for this Penn State squad. Winning an unprecedented fourth national championship in a row would be another incredible feat. If this weekend was any indication, the road to the championship will likely go through Palo Alto. I, for one, am looking forward to what could turn out to be quite a grudge match in December.
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