BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL MEDIA DAYS

August 2, 2022

Katie Schumacher-Cawley

Taylor Trammell

Anjelina Starck

Penn State Nittany Lions

Press Conference

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: I want to thank Commissioner Warren, the Big Ten office, our senior women's administrators who pushed for this event. We're really lucky and fortunate to be here. And I'm excited for our players and the future of volleyball. And we're happy to be here.

Q. Of course with Coach Rose leaving, big shoes to fill. The question most coaches have been asked this weekend. How will you honor him and his legacy, and what are you going to bring to the table?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Like I've said before, I feel a great deal of responsibility to continue the traditions and the legacy that Coach made this all possible, not only for Penn State volleyball, but I think Big Ten volleyball and the country, that he's kind of set the tone and paved the way for so many people.

I'm excited to continue that, and I want Penn State volleyball to continue to rise and always be great.

Q. With so many newcomers coming to the program, how have you addressed adding them and getting the team cohesion together?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: With not being able to train in the summer, the girls have been lifting and doing conditioning with our strength coach. But everyone's been here. I'm proud of how they've been treating each other and working together. And I'll let you know in a week how it is in the gym. But I'm excited to get in there with everyone.

We have four transfers, four freshmen, nine returners, I'm looking forward to getting them together and getting them working and being on the same page.

Q. What have you seen from Anjelina and Taylor so far this week, this summer?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Anj was back this spring. It was great to see her in the gym. She improved. Got a lot stronger.

Anj works really hard. She's going to do things on her own that will separat her from other athletes. Excited what she'll do this year. She'll definitely make an impact.

Taylor, we're happy Taylor chose Penn State the second time around. Obviously she has the experience in the Big Ten that we need and we're looking forward to her holding down the middle and do some great things.

Q. Taylor, what did you see from Penn State when you were lining up from them across the net, and what ultimately led you to the program, joining them this year?

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: Everyone knows Penn State has like the best legacy there is when it comes to volleyball. And seeing their team was going to be fresh was something I was looking for, a fresh start.

I just felt really welcomed when I got here. Just the overall energy was something that really intrigued me.

Q. (Question about departure of Jenna).

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: I think Maddy did a really great job in the spring. Cassie's doing really nice things. Quinn has come in, she'll be able to help us out. But who is going to be in that position yet? I don't know.

Q. Also setter, you have a couple of options with (indiscernible).

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: We have two new setters, a freshman Katie Hurta and Seleisa, who is our transfer. We'll see what they do in the gym and who will earn that spot.

Q. Can you tell us where you started and all the stops to get to this spot in this building?

ANJELINA STARCK: Too many.

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: It's been great. No complaining on our part.

ANJELINA STARCK: It's been a lot of fun.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: The podcast, SiriusXM. That was nice. Making all the TikToks, it's been great. Treated us with kindness. I'm happy.

Q. Do you remember all the stuff you did?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: I mean, I do.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: We started off with the interviews downstairs. And then we went to another interview room.

ANJELINA STARCK: We went to the radio podcast.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: Radio. ESPN. TikToks. Came up here. Did the Big Ten. And then --

ANJELINA STARCK: More TikToks.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: More TikToks.

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: They're a big fan of the TikToks. But this is the most important one, right?

Q. What did you do on TikTok?

ANJELINA STARCK: We danced.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: A lot of dances.

Q. Did coach get involved?

ANJELINA STARCK: Yeah, a little bit.

Q. How similar is Taylor's style to Kaitlyn Hord, and how much do you have to kind of change the offensive attack with a big piece leaving like her?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Taylor's Taylor. I'm not going to compare her to anyone. Taylor brings a lot to the table. She's who she is. And she's going to help us and she's going to be a force in the Big Ten.

We replaced quite a few players that graduated and went on to new schools, and I'm confident the players we brought in are going to embrace being in the Big Ten. It's a Big Ten school and it's Penn State.

Q. How has being a head coach changed since you were a head coach to know with the different responsibilities?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: It's all the media stuff, right? No, I've been fortunate the schools I've been at. UIC and at UPENN, both schools that really did the best they could with volleyball. I've been fortunate to be around a lot of really good people. I'm happy to be here.

Q. How has the transfer portal changed? It wasn't much when you were (indiscernible). How has that changed, knowing it gives you an opportunity to refresh and kind of define (indiscernible) your own?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: It's changed the game for sure. I liked it because we were able to get players like Taylor and Seleisa and Zoe and Cass, and players that are going to make an impact in this conference.

We were in a position that we had to get transfers. I would like all of our players to stay. But they have this unique opportunity to go somewhere for grad school or maybe it wasn't the best fit. And I think it's a wild world, but I'm happy with the ones we ended up with.

Q. Where were you when you heard UCLA and USC (indiscernible), and what were your thoughts on them joining an already super strong conference?

ANJELINA STARCK: I don't remember exactly where I was, but I'm excited because it just adds even more really good competition to the Big Ten, more -- I don't know, I'm really excited for it.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: I found out through social media, and I hate to be superficial but I was excited. I was like we get trips out to Cali now, so I was fine with it. But they're two really good programs out there, and I'm excited to play them. I'll get like a year with them, a season. But I'm excited.

Q. Zoe Weatherington, she may hit the hardest ball of anybody. When she's on, she's a really good player. Could you tell us how you got her and what she might do for you?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Zoe was one of the ones that went in the portal. We reached out to her and started those conversations. I think she really took her time.

She visited a couple schools, and we really connected when she came on campus. And I'm excited to see what she's going to do here. We'll look for her to be more of a right-side player, but we'll see.

Like I said, we haven't been in the gym at all with these girls this summer. So it will be a lot of new things right away.

Q. What's your impression of two of the new outsides, Alexa and Cass, what do they bring to the team?

ANJELINA STARCK: They both bring so much energy, good energy. Cass always gets so excited whenever she's playing. And it's so easy to play with them.

Q. How have you helped bring along some of the newcomers like Taylor?

ANJELINA STARCK: Just showing them kind of how we've done things in the past. But it's also changing so much this year. And just showing them just kind of what we've done.

Q. Taylor, what's it been like adjusting to new teammates, new practices, all that stuff?

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: Well, I mean, the girls, when I came on my visit, they were automatically, like, just so friendly. They made me feel very welcoming.

Obviously I came in with the other transfers. I felt that was nice too. So the team and the girls, I feel like we've clicked since the beginning, if that makes sense. It's really nice to have that on the team, especially because we're fresh and new and going into the season I think that's really a good character you're going to have to have. But, yeah, I'm excited.

Q. What's your impression of the two new setters? What's your connection like with them on and off the court?

ANJELINA STARCK: So far, just based on open gyms, our connection has been really good. And they take feedback really easily. It's been good.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: Yeah, both the setters are really great. Elisaia, she is pretty experienced. And I just love having somebody come into our gym with that much knowledge. It's like pretty respectable, I would say.

And Katie, coming in, she's filling in big shoes, and she's doing what she does best, which is setting, obviously. And she's a great person, a great character. And I'm excited to see who is going into the spot.

Q. Anjelina, you said the teams are going through a lot of change this year. What have you seen from coach that she's put her stamp on the program to make her own, what differences have you seen?

ANJELINA STARCK: One thing that's always stuck out to me is being -- like, during the spring we started it, is being grateful for everything you have.

Before practices, we always have our grateful circle, even if it's something small. And just showing that everything we have we can't take for granted for.

Q. What do you miss about Coach Rose?

ANJELINA STARCK: I really loved playing for him. I don't know what I miss. I'm trying to think of stuff. But I'm just happy that I got the opportunity because I learned so much from him because he's been around the game for such a long time.

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: He sends his best. Called me this morning.

Q. How important is Chicago and the Midwest in general in terms of recruiting?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: Midwest has a lot of good volleyball going on. We have quite a few kids from Illinois on our team now. We'll continue to recruit the best players that will fit into Penn State.

Q. What's it like being here in your home city, what did you have a chance to do?

COACH SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY: It's great. Came in a couple days early. I had some family parties going on that I was lucky enough to go to. These guys hit the town. They had pizza. Architecture tour.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: Boat tour. Saw the bean. Lots of food.

ANJELINA STARCK: Lots of food.

TAYLOR TRAMMELL: It was great.