TRAVERSE CITY -- Alisha Glass, Leland Class of 2006, national champion.
"I like the sound of that," said Glass, a 6-foot sophomore setter on Penn State's volleyball team.
Just as she did in high school, Glass led her team to the top as the Nittany Lions beat top-seeded Stanford 3-2 (30-25, 30-26, 23-30, 19-30, 15-8) to claim the NCAA Division I crown.
The title was the first for Penn State and Hall of Fame coach Russ Rose since 1999.
The Nittany Lions won 26 in a row after a loss to Stanford on Sept. 15 in the Yale Classic to finish 34-2.
"We very focused," Glass said. "The teams that came before us were hesitant to talk about it. They were like, 'We don't want to jinx it' and "We haven't been there before.' This group came in and said, 'We're not going to be quiet about it. We want to win a national championship.
"That's why we practiced as hard as we could, that's why we conditioned as hard as we could and that's why we hit the weight room as hard as we did."
The fruits of those labors came through on a Saturday night in Sacramento, Calif.
Penn State, which won its previous five NCAA tournament matches by 3-0 victories, seemed to be cruising toward a sixth straight. But the Cardinal rose up to win two games and force a decisive fifth.
With Stanford clinging to a 4-3 advantage in the fifth game, Penn State scored seven consecutive points to gain control of the title match. Glass delivered two key kills during the run.
Despite the enormity of the situation, Glass said it wasn't hard to get back into the match.
"Stanford clearly had momentum after Game 4," she said. "But I think one of the things, and this was true for the whole season, is that it doesn't matter who's on the other side of the net. It's about us and what we need to accomplish.
"It's not about stopping their momentum, but having our own momentum. Once we got it going, it was hard to stop."
Looking on from the stands was Alisha's mother and high school coach, Laurie Glass.
"It was pretty amazing," Laurie Glass said. "Just as amazing was knowing everybody in northern Michigan was watching it on television.
"I was certainly very proud."
Alisha Glass finished with 65 assists in the match, four off her career best that was set in the first meeting against Stanford. For her achievements, Glass was named to the NCAA Championships all-tournament team.
That was one of many individual accomplishments for the sophomore setter.
Glass was also named second team All-American and first team all-Big Ten.
Penn State led the country in hitting percentage (.350). As the setter, Glass deserved a lot of the credit. She averaged better than 13 assists a game and also had 91 kills, a .327 hitting percentage, 198 digs and 108 total blocks.
The scary part for opponents is that Kate Price, a part-time starter in the back row, is the only major loss next season.
"I'm excited about next year," Alisha Glass said. "You don't have many opportunities to have a great team and we know that we can keep it going."
Glass returns to Penn State for the next semester at school on Jan. 14. Informal practices and conditioning sessions begin shortly after the team arrives back on campus as the team preps for its spring season.
So there is no rest for the champions.
"That's OK, that's why we play," Glass said.
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