BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 2, 2023

Katie Schumacher-Cawley

Allie Holland

Zoe Weatherington

Penn State Nittany Lions

Press Conference

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: I just want to thank the Big Ten, Grace, Sue, my guy Noor over there for all their support. The Big Ten is special, and we're super proud to be a part of it.

But the support that this conference has for volleyball is unmatched, and we're so excited for the season.

ALLIE HOLLAND: Again, thank you to the Big Ten because seriously I feel like a celebrity. This has been so much fun, and this facility is, like, amazing. I'm super thankful to be here. I'm super excited for the season, and yeah, I'm proud to be here with my girls up here.

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: What she said.

Q. Katie, what prompted the interest in the transfer portal during the off-season? You hit it pretty hard and got a lot of roster rebuild. What sparked your need to do that?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Well, if you remember last year, we had quite a few as well because we had several players that didn't come back for their fifth year. We were on this one-year cycle of having players that were here for one season.

We had the scholarship monies and we want to be the best and waited to see who was available and got some really great players.

Q. Is that a cycle that you see in the future, or have you been hitting the high school ranks harder?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: I think this year we have four freshmen, so I think that will slow down a little bit as far as the transfer goes.

We always want to get the best players, so I'm hopeful, and I always want players to be here for their entire career. But it's been a little different these days.

Q. When you're talking to transfers, I know some of those came from opponents you played against last year, too. How do you deal with that, where they may be facing the awkwardness of their former coach, former teammates, things like that? How do you deal with that in recruiting them to come join your program?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: I want them to be in the best position they can be in. We don't make it weird at all. We want players that want to wear the blue and white and are proud to be Penn Staters and compete and be great teammates.

Q. What is something that either young maybe high school AAU players don't necessarily think about when integrating with a new setter and it's not something that you have necessarily had to play with yet? Open gyms are a little bit like that, but take us behind the curtain a little bit about getting to know a new setter. And, Zoe, obviously, you've been with multiple programs now, you can go a little bit into that.

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: I think that sometimes players forget that it's a mutual thing. It's like developing a relationship. You have to both give. It's not like the setter has to adjust to you or you have to adjust to the setter, it's both, and it's at the same time.

Talking to setters and just communicating is a key thing in volleyball anyways, but during games, before games, getting extra reps is always a key, but it's a mutual thing. It's never one-sided because the moment it becomes someone is giving more than the other person, it's not going to work.

ALLIE HOLLAND: Yeah, I agree with that. It is definitely a mutual relationship, but also I think that it's super important to be adaptable, and I think going into a new setter, it can be frustrating for the setter, can be frustrating for the hitter. Maybe you're not getting the outcome you want in the summer practices, but I think building that relationship on and off the court so you have that ability to talk through it together, then it leads to in the season and at the end of the season you really have it on lock.

Q. Zoe, what was the timeline like? Were you kind of following Penn State's additions through social media, or was there discussion about we got Jess or we got Mac? How did that work out for you?

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: Yeah, the coaches fill us in with their recruiting and stuff. We're one big happy family, so we always talk about who might be a next addition.

A lot of us are friends with each other off the court, and we all know each other, so there might be talk, and if we see someone that we might -- hey, send a little text, hey, saw you're in the portal.

But yeah, the day we found out that we got all these new transfers was a day of celebration. Our team just keeps getting more and more talent, and I'm really excited for the season.

Q. What does Megan Hodge Easy bring to the coaching staff, and how excited are you to work with her?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Yeah, I'm thrilled Megan is coming back, her and her family. This will be her first coaching role, and she's so excited to be a part of the team and back at Penn State.

I'm looking for her to continue to be a role model for our players, and obviously her experiences playing will be super helpful for all of the athletes.

It's a great addition.

ALLIE HOLLAND: Yeah, we're super, super excited. We're counting the days down until we can have her in the gym with us. She came to visit in the spring and she was super, super kind. So I'm very excited for her to be there.

And also just having another Penn State icon in our gym is going to be so helpful to us. Having like these female, strong athletes that have played at Penn State, one here with me and also Megan, is going to be huge.

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: Yeah, it's not every day you get a Penn State multiple-time Player of the Year in your gym. I'm hyped.

Q. Katie, what is the significance of having that third full-time assistant on staff? Yes, there was the volunteer coach previously, but to have it be a paid position full-time, what is the significance of that?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: It's a lot of people now, a lot of really big staff, and I think it's great for the sport. The more people we can get involved in coaching -- I'm really fortunate that Megan is our coach. I think it's great for the game, and hopefully it continues.

Q. Coach, going into year two, is there a process for you in just continuing to put your stamp on this program, and what year two is and how it's different than stepping in in year one, even making the NCAA, the only first-year head coach to do that last year?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: I was just glad I didn't screw that one up last year.

No, we're excited. It's year two, and I think we had a great run last year and looking forward to what this new group will do. The conference is super competitive, and we're opening up with a really tough tournament, so we'll see what we've got right away.

Q. What was the spring like for you having a smaller number of athletes on campus? What were you able to accomplish during that time?

ALLIE HOLLAND: Well, the spring is very different than the season. It's time that you can slow down and more work on skills. We also have a smaller number of players, and I thought our girls did such a great job handling playing different positions, multiple positions. Since we had such a small amount, I thought they handled it with such grace and class to be able to play multiple positions.

But yeah, I'm super proud of the work that we did in the spring. It's time to build our family, time to spend time together off the court, too, time to relax, see your own personal family.

But yeah, I thought it was a great spring.

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: This was my first spring season because of COVID, transfer portal, all that stuff. It was hard. I was definitely whipped into shape, I think, and we did a lot of things for such a small amount of people. I was glad that I got a chance to really mesh with my teammates.

You know when you're thrown into a season, it's just fast. Luckily we had a great group last year, but getting to actually slow it down, break things down in the gym, have more time off the court to spend with each other and really focus on school, I think it was great to finally get that.

But I think that with the people coming in, it's also a big adjustment because now there's like 10 more people than there was in the spring. I'm just grateful it happened.

Q. What do you enjoy most about playing for Coach, and how have you seen her grow?

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: I can go first. I love answering this. I love Katie. She's definitely like a mom to us. I think it's really easy to work with her in the gym because she played in that gym. She won in that gym. She has the experience.

I think I have really been able to develop a relationship with her as my coach. It's so easy to respect her because of the work that she's done and how much she respects us as adults and not just babying us and stuff like that.

I think she puts a lot of trust in us, and I'm just eager to -- I'm glad that I get another year with her and not just one.

ALLIE HOLLAND: I agree with everything that Zoe said. On the court she's keeping us accountable, but there's a mutual respect. And also playing for a Penn State legend, of course.

But off the court, too, like I know she always has my back. I know I can go to her with anything. She's usually my first call other than my parents if I need advice for anything.

I know she's got my back off the court, and she really has a personal relationship with every single staff member and every single player, which is huge.

Q. What's something you know now as seniors that you didn't know as freshmen, and what advice do you have for the newcomers?

ALLIE HOLLAND: This is going to be kind of a cheesy answer, but stretching and icing freshman year, you think that you don't need it every day, and then you get to be a senior, and you're like, dang, I really should have done that a little bit more.

Also, it's a long season. I remember freshman year I would be like extra work, extra work, jumping, all these -- it's like, okay, you've got to take a breath. We have a long season ahead of us.

So I think taking care of your body is something that I could go back in time and do more of.

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: I would say more so off the court for me, the type of person I am, it's probably asking for help. I'm pretty independent, so I try and take on a lot of things that there are probably people that are employed for that.

But yeah, I think as a freshman, I wish I could tell myself to not try and pile up everything on my own shoulders and ask for help sometimes because we have a big -- especially at Penn State, we have a really, really big support system.

Q. Allie, you've seen a lot of new players come in the past years. How do you work to integrate them into the team culture and keep that consistent as many of the faces are changing?

ALLIE HOLLAND: Well, I think it all starts really on their visit and them deciding if they want to come to Penn State. They know what they're getting themselves into. They know we're competitive. They know we work hard, but also we make it very apparent that our team culture is a family.

When they come again, like Zoe said, a lot of these transfers we know from playing against them, from youth camps when we were younger. So I think really communicating to them, on their visit and then as soon as they're a part of our team, they're a part of our team.

I think we've spent so much time together off the court this summer that we're going to be able to really build that onto the court.

Q. Zoe, a lot of these players were in your shoes where you were a year ago. What advice would you give the transfers coming into the program how to integrate and be part of the culture?

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: Honestly, once they come into the program, there's not really much we need to tell them. When they're on their visits, we don't try and sell, sell, sell. We tell them what it's like and let them know what they're getting into because if you're on your visit, I want you to know as a transfer, like, what this program is all about.

If you choose and you get here, you're part of the family. But I would just say that you've just got to work hard in our program and you'll be fine.

Q. Coach, is there an update on Taylor and having her be potentially a full go for this season and having her back on the court with you guys?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Yeah, Taylor worked her butt off this spring. She's healthy. She's a competitor. She'll be ready to go. I'm really happy for her.

Q. You're starting the season out in Tampa. I imagine the goal is to get back there. How did those matches come about, and what benefit do you see to starting the season there?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Yeah, we were invited to that tournament, and I think it's an honor and a privilege to be a part of it with those other coaches and teams.

It will be competitive right off the bat, and I think that's what this team will need, and we'll learn a lot very quickly in the season.

The goal would be to make it back down there in December. We're looking forward to it.

Q. What are your thoughts on the Athletes Unlimited Exhibition and your thoughts on the pro game in general in this country?

ALLIE HOLLAND: I thought that us having the opportunity to do that was so amazing, not only getting to have a chance to showcase what we've been working on in the spring and have a chance to have somewhat of a match in the spring, but also them coming the day before us, getting to have dinner with them, us getting to meet these girls that we've looked up to for a really long time.

I think getting to talk to them and get advice from them was probably the biggest thing I took away from that. And also just getting to see them in action. Seeing some of these girls I've been watching since I was a kid, I was kind of fan-girling. Seeing Morgan Hentz, I was definitely in fan-girl mode.

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: I agree, being able to play the pro team and sit down and talk to Morgan Hentz about her National Championships that she won is not like a common experience that every player gets, so I'm grateful about that.

I'm grateful that the pro game in the U.S. is growing and becoming more just profitable. I'm really excited about that and that we don't have to rely on overseas leagues to -- which it's also great, but I'm glad that it's here, too, because volleyball deserves to be on every screen in every country.

Q. Coach, what are your thoughts on your defensive specialists?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Well, we have a lot of them. Hopefully we'll be digging a lot more balls.

I think it'll be really competitive. I think Maddy, Gill, Lina, Cassie, Quinn, they'll compete. I tell the girls every year, it's a new season, and I'll put the best players out there and the best mix, and the goal for all of them is to win, so we'll do that.

Q. What are you most looking forward to about starting camp?

ALLIE HOLLAND: I'm excited to be able to have everyone in the gym with us. We've been able to work with the team just in open gyms and stuff this summer, but I'm excited to have an official practice and be back and start grinding for the season because I'm itching to play. Preseason is just one step closer to having our matches.

ZOE WEATHERINGTON: Yeah, with all the talent that we have here, this summer has been great, and being able to do open gyms and stuff, but I'm ready to show the coaches what we've been working on because they haven't seen us all summer.

We have a lot of talent, so I feel like it's going to be great with a full gym, even bigger staff, and big family. Just ready to work.

Q. Coach, you mentioned Tampa. I was curious, in your mind, is it all positives pushing the final back one day, having the two days off? Are there any other kind of aspects to that that you've thought about?

KATIE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: I mean, the fact that it's on national TV is -- if we can't be happy about that, pushing it a day and messing up some travel plans, then I don't know what we're doing. I think it's great. I think it's going to be a great place in Tampa, and the fact that we're going to be able to be seen everywhere is truly amazing for the sport.