United in a cause
Coach Katie's courage inspired her Penn State girls to play for something bigger than themselves
The victory by Penn State over Louisville in the NCAA women’s volleyball title match hinged on two overriding classic sports factors: 1) Penn State was motivated by more than just winning. 2) Louisville could rally around the loss of its star player in the short term, but her absence was telling three days later.
Penn State's girls refused to fold when the situation turned bleak, being unwilling to let down their courageous coach (Katie Schumacher-Cawley) battling cancer.
It might sound corny, but those girls internalized "this is not just about us" and played for a higher calling, if you will. When talent was a minuscule difference among the elite programs in the Final 4, intangibles were the X factor.
Contemporary sports have become so much about "me over we," even in a niche one such as women's volleyball. The transfer portal has provided an easy quick fix for athletes and NIL money has exerted a profound influence as well.
"There's no 'I' in team" pretty much is a forgotten concept. But this Penn State brunch showed that reports of its total demise might he exaggerated. Having an inspirational figure such as Coach Katie in their daily lives no doubt provided overwhelming motivation for her players to concentrate on the greater good.
I don't see this quote from tournament Most Outstanding Player Jess Mruzik as being a gratuitous platitude: "With her doing everything she's doing, that helped us as a group also believe that we're capable of this. Because everyone says they believe they can do this, but there aren't many people that truly, deeply know they can do this. (Schumacher-Cawley has) just been an inspiration to us, and she's helped us believe that we can accomplish what we just accomplished."
The Nittany Lions' belief system and mental toughness were most vividly illustrated during their reverse sweep in the semifinals against Big Ten rival Nebraska, when they battled back from a 22-16 deficit in the fourth, blunting multiple match points. Their determination also came into play in the final when Penn State immediately flushed the frustration of failing to score on 10 set points in the second.
Meanwhile, Louisville turned a negative into a positive in the semifinals against Pitt when its best player, Anna DeBeer, went down with an ankle injury. Then longer-term reality set in when her replacement hit .000 in the title match. That lack of production was too much for the Cardinals to overcome over a full match against a highly focused opponent.