Gillian Grimes, Ava Falduto experience ‘one of the best feelings’ winning national title with Penn State

The greatest moment of Gillian Grimes’ volleyball career is just a blur.

Ditto for Ava Falduto.

Grimes, a junior libero from Nazareth, was on the floor when Penn State won the NCAA Division I national championship by beating host Louisville 25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17 on December 22 before a sellout crowd of 21,860 at KFC YUM! Center in Louisville.

Falduto, a freshman defensive specialist from IC Catholic Prep who also played in the match, was one of the teammates who mobbed Grimes after match point.

“Honestly, I don’t remember much just because you’re in that moment, have dreamed of this game, and to have match point is really so surreal,” Grimes said. “All the hard work you put in up until that point, it really is just, ‘Wow, you kind of did it.’

“It just hits you, the whole team comes crashing in and confetti comes down. I still have no words to describe it. It’s one of the best feelings in the world.”

Grimes and Falduto have won championships before. Grimes helped Nazareth win its first state championship in 2021, while Falduto, who led IC to second-place finishes in 2022 and 2023, helped U.S. U19 national team win the Pan Am Cup in 2023.

But they had never played together before or experienced winning on such a big stage.

“It was great having such a big crowd,” Falduto said. “It was so loud.

“There was mostly Louisville people but we kind of used it as an advantage and used it in our favor and it was really fun.”

Falduto had 14 digs and two aces against Louisville, while Grimes recorded 16 digs and one ace. It was the eighth national title for the Nittany Lions (35-2) but first since 2014.

“In the moment, I didn’t even realize what we were doing until we got that last point and it was like, ‘Oh my god, this is real,’” Falduto said. “This being my first season, it was surreal and we set the bar pretty high for the next few years, but in the best way possible.

“It was just a really great experience the whole year, we learned a lot and grew together. The best part, obviously, was winning, but it was better with this specific group of girls and these coaches.”

Grimes and Falduto are two of four Chicago-area players for the Nittany Lions, joining graduate senior outside hitter Camryn Hannah of Marist and sophomore middle blocker Catherine Burke of Loyola.

Falduto is following in the footsteps of Grimes, who has started since she was a freshman and has been the libero for the past two seasons. Falduto got to know Grimes better after enrolling early at Penn State last January.

“We never played together before Penn State, but we had similar friends,” Falduto said. “Once I got there, we immediately became really close.

“She’s an awesome person to look up to and she really helped me this season to navigate the new team and the speed of the game. I think we played pretty well together.”

Grimes concurred.

“Ava is great,” Grimes said. “She is always bringing the energy.

“She’s just so unreal to play with and I think we kind of bounce off each other. She’ll get a great dig, then other back row people will get great digs.

“It’s just so fun to play with her because we play very similar. When we’re playing together, you know what she’s going to do and I have so much trust and confidence in her that she will have a great match.”

That was the case in the Louisville match. Other than the final point, their favorite moment came when Penn State ran out of subs and the 5-foot-8 Falduto was forced to play in the front row against much taller players.

Grimes knew this would not be a problem because Falduto was a dominant outside hitter in high school, leading the Knights in kills. Falduto did not get a kill against Louisville but Grimes said she would have set her had she had the chance.

“That was so funny,” Grimes said. “We all had the most confidence in her when she was up there because she’s been there before.”

But neither had played in a national championship game before. Nor had Nazareth coach Melissa Masterson, who played collegiately at Illinois.

Masterson and her husband, Kyle, were in attendance to watch Grimes win it all.

“I couldn’t miss that one,” Masterson said. “We drove down Sunday morning, attended the match and stayed the night, so we got to hang out with her and her whole family.”

Grimes is the first player coached by Masterson to win a national title. Seeing the Mastersons in the stands meant a lot to her.

“Once I saw them, that actually made me start crying,” Grimes said. “I have to give all the thanks in the world to both of them because they kind of made me get to that spot.

“With all the hard work that they put into me and the all the belief they put into me, I just have so much faith in them. We were all crying together so it was kind of a special moment because I’ve never done that before.”

Masterson said she has never coached a player quite like Grimes.

“I always felt Gill had this thing about her, that she could change the tone of matches,” Masterson said. “She was incredible with team culture and getting everyone motivated.

“From the libero position, what she was able to do to help her team score points, or score points from the service line, or bring the fire by getting an incredible dig was pretty impressive. She always found a way to somehow change matches and step up big when a team needed it.”

Grimes is continuing to make a similar impact at Penn State. She was the only libero selected for the Final Four’s all-tournament team.

“I have yet to coach another libero that had that same mindset and impact on a team’s culture,” Masterson said. “It’s not any secret or surprise to me that she’s continued that.

“Obviously she’s surrounded by incredible talent at Penn State and incredible coaches. But she’s a part of what they all did to get that.”

Grimes was successful from the get-go at Penn State, crediting her older teammates with welcoming her. That boosted her confidence and led to her getting the libero jersey as a sophomore.

“To be able to wear the Penn State jersey, I really let that sink in,” Grimes said. “You have to be proud to wear this jersey, and the confidence follows. Also getting confidence from your teammates and having them make you better, I started playing better.”

Grimes is paying that forward by mentoring Falduto. They both have bright futures in a time when the popularity and quality of women’s sports is higher than it has ever been.

“I was fortunate to play in the Big Ten,” Masterson said. “My last match my senior year in the Sweet 16 against Hawaii. they had 9,000 people and I thought that was a lot.

“Just to see the way Louisville showed up to support women’s volleyball was unbelievable.”

Both teams in the final had female coaches. Penn State’s Katie Schumacher-Cawley, a former Mother McAuley great who coached 14 years at UIC, is the first female coach to win a Division I volleyball national championship.

“Volleyball has finally arrived,” Masterson said. “Obviously, Jill winning was great but just to see the whole atmosphere, I told my club team, ‘You guys are coming up at a great time. You’re going to have amazing opportunities.’”

The magnitude of that was not lost on Grimes.

“I’ve never played in front of that many people, and to play on that stage at that time was so cool,” Grimes said. “I was so happy for all of us.

“I think I took a few moments to myself to really just have that sink in.”

Grimes finished the season with a team-high 529 digs to go with 163 assists. Falduto led Penn State in aces with 39, one more than Grimes, was fourth in digs with 310 and also had 70 assists.

Falduto wants to play professionally one day. Grimes, who is majoring in criminology with a minor in business, isn’t looking that far forward just yet.

“I have one more year to figure out what I want to do,” Grimes said. “I’m trying to stay present and stay in the moment as long as I can. It’s kind of unreal and not a lot of people get to do that.”