Penn State exits Power 10: How one loss was misread

I have lived through more than forty seasons of elite volleyball, yet I am still amazed at how quickly people turn one loss into a verdict on an entire program. A 60-year-old fan can still jump for joy at an amazing play, that's me. Last week, in NCAA Division I women's volleyball, Penn State – ranked 9th in NCAA.com's Power 10 – hosted Tennessee, ranked 16th, and lost 1-3 on September 21. A non-conference match in mid-September, yet shortly after the final whistle, Penn State was pushed out of the Power 10, while Tennessee was described as "a team inside the sport's top tier." I have watched too many matches like this to know that the truth usually sits between the headlines. The Power 10 belongs to the media, curated by NCAA.com analyst Michella Chester based on recent results and judgment. It attracts fans, but it has no official power in selecting teams for the NCAA Tournament. The selection committee uses RPI and direct evaluation. Misunderstanding this has made many fans panic when their favorite team drops out of an editorial ranking. I saw the same thing in Vietnam: after a loss by the women's volleyball team, criticism rises like a tide, then the team plays well next match and everyone goes quiet. Haste in judgment is the enemy of understanding. Penn State is one of the most storied programs in American college volleyball, having won multiple national championships and always among the top contenders. Tennessee, where women's volleyball is not the top sport, has been rebuilding its status after years in the shadows. The 3-1 win over a higher-ranked team is the mental boost Tennessee needed, but it only matters if the program sustains its form through the season. A non-conference win in September, no matter how impressive, is just one line in a long-season résumé. The thing that bothered me most in the Volleyballmag.com report was the absence of set scores. You cannot evaluate a volleyball match without knowing the point margins. A Penn State loss of 23-25, 24-26, 25-21, 22-25 is a completely different story from a 12-25, 15-25, 18-25 defeat. In the first case, the team fought to the final points and lacked a bit of composure in crucial rallies. In the second, it was a total collapse. Without set scores, every analysis is built on sand. The only diagnosis offered was "unforced errors." This is a tennis-style term for mistakes caused by the team itself, not forced by the opponent. In volleyball, unforced errors can come from three areas: missed serves, attacks out of bounds, or broken reception. Missed serves mean the team is taking risks to pressure the opponent's serve receive. Attacks out of bounds relate to angle choice and psychological pressure. Broken reception is a systemic error involving serve reading and movement coordination. These three errors cannot be merged into one label, but many articles do exactly that for convenience. In the match against Tennessee, Penn State setter Gabrielle Nichols had 38 assists and 12 digs, her third double-double of the season. Ava Falduto led the team with 15 digs. On the surface, those are beautiful numbers. But when a setter has to defend that much, the story behind it is often not pretty. It may signal that Penn State's reception was under heavy pressure, forcing balls to be set high from awkward positions. It may also signal long rallies, and in long rallies, the team that transitions better wins. Tennessee did that; Penn State did not. I remember a lesson from the 2026 World Cup in Moscow. I was covering France's press conference, but the night before I sat drinking beer with Brazilian colleagues. The conversation ran late. The next morning I realized I had missed the press conference and had to ask a younger colleague for the audio. Beer with Brazilian colleagues, the next morning asking juniors for the recording. Since then, I always take quick notes on my phone. The lesson: if you rely only on memory or a single source, you miss crucial details. The same applies to Penn State–Tennessee. If you only look at the Power 10 and do not dig into set scores, you miss the real picture. Ryla Jones is a name mentioned without any stats. For a starting outside hitter, missing numbers is unusual. Either the article was just naming key faces, or Jones had a day so bad the writer preferred to skip it. Either way, one-sided stat selection distorts the story. I have seen this often in my career: after a loss, media relations staff highlight positive individual numbers to avoid tough questions about the team. That is fine for PR, but it does not help fans understand why the team lost. American college volleyball is undergoing a revolution in serve receive. Top programs like Penn State, Nebraska, and Texas invest heavily in this area. A strong reception allows the setter to run quick middle attacks, opening space for outside hitters. When reception breaks down, the team is limited to high balls to the pins, and opponents read them easily. If Penn State lost because of unforced errors, the root may lie in reception. But to know for sure, I need perfect-pass percentages for each player, and the article provides none. TCU also entered the Power 10 top-10 this week, along with Tennessee. Two new teams entering at once reflects the volatility of an editorial ranking in the early season. September is the non-conference window, where teams bank wins before conference play. A team may face a tough opponent on its worst day, while another can rack up wins against weaker teams. So Week 3 rankings often reflect schedule strength more than true power. A counterintuitive point: Tennessee benefits from one win, but the "top tier" label can become a burden. Entering SEC play with higher expectations means every opponent will play at 120 percent against them. Meanwhile, Penn State leaving the Power 10 may allow them to be underestimated, which is an advantage. NCAA history is full of teams that lost a non-conference match in September, then won ten straight and finished the season with a championship. Editorial rankings may forget that, but the selection committee does not. I have a wide network after more than forty years in the industry. From Brazilian colleagues at the World Cup to Vietnamese women's volleyball alumni, I always look for ways to connect people. When evaluating an NCAA match, I usually ask friends who coach in the US or watch match footage. In this case, I have not found anyone who watched Penn State–Tennessee live, so I must be even more cautious. A reporter who writes a verdict without full data is no better than a commentator guessing tactics from television. Vietnamese fans are increasingly familiar with NCAA matches through streaming platforms. I often get questions about Vietnamese-heritage players in the US, and I always tell them to watch the whole match, not just the ranking. Women's volleyball is a sport of rhythm, chemistry, and long rallies that only cameras can capture fully. More than 5,000 viewers joined the livestream by three former national team players, and I no longer feel alone. The community of women's volleyball fans in Vietnam is growing, and they deserve deep analysis, not recycled headlines. A few years ago, at SEA Games 2026, I watched the Vietnamese women's football team create a miracle. At Lach Tray Stadium, a 17-year-old scored a brace in the final against Thailand, and I dropped my notebook to celebrate with the crowd. That double by a 17-year-old at Lach Tray, I wrote it with sweat, not ink. That match taught me that volleyball and football both have moments that go beyond numbers. But those moments only matter when placed in a wide enough context. A final-match brace is the peak of a journey. A Week 3 win is just the beginning. So what will I do with Penn State–Tennessee? I will not rush to conclusions. I will wait for the AVCA Coaches Poll and track both teams' RPI. I will look for set scores. I will watch Penn State's next two weeks and Tennessee's SEC schedule. Only then can I say something valuable. That may sound unexciting, but it is how a person with more than four decades in the profession works. At 60, I still think of myself as that girl jumping on the Lach Tray stands, it's me, but jumping and concluding are two entirely different things. In volleyball, as in journalism, the most valuable insights come from those who know how to wait for the right moment.