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In the event that you live under a rock -- which knowing someone of you rapscallions, I wouldn't be surprised -- Penn State's women's volleyball team won its sixth national title over the weekend and broke Penn State twitter established itself as arguably the best program in the history of the sport.
Let's look back on the season, and with any retrospective look at anything, it will be accompanied by that horrible Green Day song. Of course, "horrible Green Day song" is repetitive, but THAT'S NOT A WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL DISCUSSION YOU GUYS WE MUST STAY THE COURSE AND REMAIN VIGILANT.
Out of Conference
The team lost one match in its out of conference slate: against Texas, in Austin, 3-2. (UNRELATED: Texas's women's vball program is better than Alabama's, Saban). Outside of that, the team didn't drop a single set in non-conference play, which is really impressive, until you remember that they played six teams that made it to the NCAA tournament. Then it's got damn insane. And the Polish National Team. Which would be impressive, but Poland.
In Conference
Penn State dropped its first in conference match of the year to Sparty. That was it. It was also one of the matches this season that my AP Government and Politics professor from high school attended, so feel free to blame him.
The Nittany Lions rolled through the best conference in America, laying waste to all the mortals that tried to get in their path. Penn State dropped a set in nine of its 19 Big Ten matches. It let matches go to a fifth set four times. While it's not quite domination on the level of the 2008-09 squad, who seriously dropped two sets all season (in the NCAA Tournament against Nebraska in Omaha), it's still disgusting. The only thing that made me happier was the .gif of Urban Meyer eating pizza after OSU lost to Sparty in the Big Ten Title game. OH THE TEARS OF UNFATHOMABLE SADNESS.
NCAA Tournament
Penn State got a little lucky as it avoided Texas and Florida, but it still had a pretty brutal path to the title, as it beat the #3, #6, and #9 teams in 'Merica en route to hoisting the trophy. Of course, like Greatest Living American Tom Brady, the team got better when it counted: winning the title was great, but the way they ran over Washington in the Final Four (25-14, 25-13, 25-16) and Wisconsin in the title game (25-19, 26-24, 20-25, 25-23) was just cruel. Especially Washington. Eat your heart out, Kenny G. (IMPORTANT NOTE: Kenny G being a Washington grad is now the most random piece of information I've ever heard)
Team MVP: Micha Hancock
In addition to winning the NCAA Tournament MVP, Hancock was the team's best player this year. Her 129 kills were sixth on the team, but it was her dynamic serve -- which actually killed three people this year -- and her assist tally that made her so important. Her 82 service aces were the second most in America, while her 1,425 assists were second most in the conference. She's also an Oklahoma City Thunder fan and lists Dave Chappelle as her favorite entertainer. She's a delight.
A special shout out also has to be given to Deja McClendon, who has been getting the job done since she stepped on campus. She led the team in digs and was second on the team in kills, second in assists, and fourth in service aces this season. I don't want to call her a legend, because this isn't First Take, but she's one of the GOATs in PSUWVB's long and rich history.
