Glass, Penn State setting sights on a national title.

ALISHA GLASS of Leland (above) and her Penn State
team are just two matches away from claiming an NCAA
national championship in volleyball.

Alisha Glass has been at the top before, but now the stage is a lot bigger.

Glass, a sophomore at Penn State, is the starting setter for the No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions women’s volleyball team that is just two match wins away from a national championship that will be decided in Sacramento, Calif.

Penn State earned its top ranking in mid-November while going 20-0 in Big Ten Conference play to win its fourth consecutive conference title. Over the weekend, Penn State downed No. 17 Brigham Young University 30-23, 30-15, 30-18 in the NCAA Regional final to advance to the semifinals for the sixth time in the program’s history.

Glass said while the setting is bigger – the ARCO Arena in Sacramento seats 17,317 people – she has played for championships before. Glass took the Leland Comets girls’ volleyball team to the Class D state title in 2005. Glass and the Comets played in University Arena in Kalamazoo, which seats 5,421 people.

“You could say I have some experience in this. I’ve dealt with this kind of stress before and having that experience is keeping me focused,” she said Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions arrived in Sacramento early Tuesday afternoon after a six-hour flight.

Penn State is 32-2 overall. Reaching the NCAA women’s volleyball semifinals was no easy feat for Glass and her teammates. While they have dominated throughout the playoffs, Glass said a big hurdle was winning the Regional final on Saturday. “This is where we ran into trouble last year. But, we are all a year older and have the tournament experience we didn’t have last year,” she said.

The Nittany Lions will play No. 6 California in the second semifinal match tonight at 11 p.m. local time. The first semifinal contest featuring No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 5 USC begins at 9 p.m. eastern time.

Glass is a year wiser and stronger in a nationally prominent program run by head coach Russ Rose, now in his 28th year at Penn State. Glass said Rose is a tough taskmaster who expects his setter to be consistent in her play.

“He always has a high level of expectation for me of being in control of the team. Setters run the offense and Coach Rose emphasizes that even if I’m having an off game, I have to be consistent in how I deliver the ball to the hitters. He wants me to understand the magnitude of the importance of the position,” she said.

To help guide Glass’ development, Rose has her working with former Penn State All-American setter Salima Rockwell, who is in her second year as assistant coach with the Nittany Lions. Rockwell played for Penn State from 1991-94 and was a three-time All American. She played with the U.S. National Team from 1995-99 and was team captain in 1997 and 1998.

“Coach said when he first saw me play that I reminded him of Salima. Having her here now to guide me is a dream,” Glass said.

While Glass and her teammates are happy to be in Sacramento in the Final Four, she said they are in no way satisfied.

“Oh no, we want to win. We’re not settling for just being here,” she said.

As setter, Glass is averaging 13 assists per game and has 1,378 assists for the season. She has 81 kills for the season, 11 aces, 103 blocks, and 181 digs. She said one of her biggest improvements from last year is the balance she is achieving as far as offense and defense. “I spent a lot of time after last year working on defense and just improving overall as a player. As a team we have all worked on talking with each other and communicating on the floor,” Glass said.

Her best weekend as a player, Glass said, were the matches against Minnesota and Illinois. “As a team we played very well. I had a lot of good blocks and played a good overall defense. I thought I had a good overall game against both of those teams,” she said.

When Penn State takes the floor tonight, Laurie Glass will be in the stands at ARCO to watch her daughter. “I’m flying out Wednesday. My sister is trying to see if she can go, but I will definitely be out there,” Glass said Tuesday afternoon.

The biggest change Glass has seen in her daughter between this season and last is confidence. “It was exciting watching her this weekend (regional finals). She was the Alisha I remember, having fun, looking comfortable in her position and being confident in her ability. California should look out, she is not the setter they saw at the beginning of this season,” she said.

While Glass won’t be home for the game Thursday, she said a good-size crowd will be at her house watching the match.

Glass moved two final exams into next week to accommodate playing in the final four. She is studying during the downtime this week, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“As one of the assistant coaches said ‘What will you remember best, winning a national championship or how you did on an exam?’” she said, laughing.