LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Anna DeBeer gingerly removes her right shoe as tears stream down her face. Louisville's fifth-year outside hitter fixes her gaze to the floor as she sits in front of her locker at the KFC Yum! Center.
She places the shoe away from her sprained right ankle and pulls off her white socks. She lifts her head. A group of reporters surrounds her -- some with cameras, some with fluffy gray mics and some with their phones.
She tries to smile, but her lips quiver. Tears fall freely from her eyes. She wipes them with the sleeves of her black jersey, but it doesn't stop the flow.
"It seemed like all the stars were aligning for such a perfect game in Louisville, finishing my career," DeBeer says. "It was just so close." Minutes later, Jess Mruzik, Penn State's fifth-year outside hitter, strolls into the news conference a few feet from the Louisville locker room flashing a smile.
She's holding a trophy, and part of the volleyball net is hanging off her shoulder. She's wearing a gray hat with the words "national champions" written in blue. She sits down next to her teammates and whispers something to them.
They all laugh. Head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley looks down at the stat sheet and gasps. She has just noticed that Mruzik took 73 swings in the NCAA volleyball national championship match on Sunday.
"Seventy-three! That's a lot," she says away from the mic, but it picks up her voice. Mruzik nods at her coach and smiles shyly. "If you would have told me three years ag.