Rec Hall

October 22, 2011
Rec Hall (Capacity: 5,812)
State College, PA
Penn State Nittany Lions vs Michigan Wolverines
Final Score: 3 – 0

After seeing daytime football at Bucknell, I concluded the trip with a first on my journeys: volleyball. And what a place to start as Penn State is one of the most celebrated women’s teams in the NCAA: This was my second visit to the University, which is located in beautiful State College. The appropriately named city, is in the center of Pennsylvania (Centre County) and home to 42,000. It is a true college town in every sense of the word as the number of undergraduates on campus is more than the population. Penn State is technically in University Park, but that is mainly just used for the mailing address within the school’s area. This huge state university is also one of the higher ranked schools in academics and features a campus impressive in its size. The women’s volleyball team has quite a streak going as they are the 4-time defending National Champions. Other accolades include 8 straight Big Ten titles and 30 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, as they have never missed one. Their dominance in recent years was at its peak in 2008 when they won every set played in the regular season. Home games are at the Recreation Building, more commonly referred to as Rec Hall. This old arena was built in 1929 and renovated many times since. Along with volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling takes place here and it was home to the basketball team until 1996. Rec Hall features a great atmosphere for one of the country’s top teams.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5

Location

As opposed to all of the other athletic facilities at Penn State, Rec Hall is on the southern part of campus, much closer to the academic buildings and dorms. This also is closer to the actual town which is a nice plus. State College has a downtown full of local restaurants, bars and shops. One of the more popular ones is the Hotel State College & Company building which houses several good places to eat, drink and hang-out. From here, it’s even possible to walk to Rec Hall, cutting through campus as the school’s butts right up against the main streets of town. It makes for an interesting contrast. Outside of that, there is really nothing to entice visitors.
Location Ranking: 6 out of 10

Accessibility / Parking

Most folks use I-80 to US-220 and then it’s pretty straightforward after getting off at Exit 74. Park Ave then takes you right near the building and there are three lots to choose from. There was no traffic, but if volleyball coincides with a football gameday, there will be issues. From the south, it’s less straight-forward as the mountainous terrain means that a more roundabout way (I-99 or US-322) is needed.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8

Exterior

Don’t be fooled on the outside like I was. When walking to Rec Hall, I thought the front of the building was facing the road (Atherton Street). Instead, that’s the back and people were walking around to the real front. Once there, it becomes evident that this is the main entrance. The brick building isn’t exactly attractive, but it shows its age and history. It’s very Palestra-like in the design in that it has those steps at the top of the structure and there are some arched windows (though the big ones in the middle are oddly blocked off and filled in with a lighter brick). Two small entranceways lead you inside as you walk through either “Ticket Window” or “Will Call”. Recreation Building is written in small letters above that.
Exterior Ranking: 4.5 out of 10

Concourse

Fans enter into a tiny hallway and then into a tight concourse that is set up like a square. At one of the ends, the concourse opens up and becomes wide and complete with a view of the arena (only when the top bleachers are pulled in, which it was on my visit). This was also where the two concession stands were located as they were placed in the corners. The bathrooms were interesting in that there were only two of each and they were quite small and crowded. However, there is a somewhat unknown bathroom that I found to escape the lines. When going thru the main entrance, if you turn left and keep going straight through some double doors (instead of rounding the concourse), there is a set of bathrooms nearby.
Concourse Ranking: 2 out of 5

Food

Those two concession stands offer very little. Besides drinks, the only things you could buy were hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, soft pretzels and candy.
Food Ranking: 1.5 out of 8

Interior

Rec Hall is designed to accommodate several sports, so the seating isn’t built specifically for volleyball and therefore it’s not a great place to watch a game. There are several pull-out bleacher sections (one on each side) and the sideline seats are best as they are actually quite close to the floor. The ends and corners however counter that as they are far away for such a small building. Signs point to some restricted view seating and those can be found in the seats are higher up near the openings leading out to the concourse. The design is primarily a rectangle and though the seats are numbered, everything is essentially blue bleachers. A walkway surrounds the top of the stands. One plus is that it is a nicely-lit facility and features murals on the end walls with Penn State logos and scripts.
Interior Ranking: 5 out of 14

Scoreboard

High up on each end wall was a good-looking scoreboard. Graphics were placed on here when the match was in a rare break, otherwise, it was strictly used to provide a digital overlay of the score. A crisp and clear presentation of both game information and stats was displayed. This was done with a subtle Nittany Lion logo in the background. The only problem was that they not use to show any video game footage.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4

Displays

The white concourse walls were adorned with team pictures from every sport dating all the way back to the early 1900s. It made for a nice walk around to the arena. There were also a couple display cases for various sports and even though there was one for volleyball, I couldn’t seem to find the National Championship trophies anywhere. Inside, Rec Hall has a ton of white and blue banners hanging down from the ceiling. These were from Volleyball, Wrestling and Gymnastics. There were of course many Women’s Volleyball banners as conference championships and deep NCAA runs were displayed. I’m a stickler for presentation though and would’ve liked to have seen their 5 National Championships stand out, instead of looking identical to the other ones. Also, on the sides there are small pennants for each Big Ten school.
Displays Ranking: 4 out of 6

Cost

It was a very reasonable trip as the parking was free and tickets only cost $8. A program was $3 and the limited food prices were cheap as well, except for the $1 charged for extra cheese to go with the nachos or pretzels. Drinks were surprisingly high ($3 for bottled water and $4 for a Gatorade).
Cost Ranking: 7.5 out of 8

Fan Support

It is impressive that they got a legit crowd of 2,578 during a game that took place while Penn State football was playing on the road vs Northwestern. So far this year, PSU has averaged 3,300 and they have seen announced attendance over 5,000 during big games. The last several years Penn State has been in the top 10 for national attendance as this is a well supported program.
Fan Support Ranking: 6 out of 8

Atmosphere

Rec Hall has a great atmosphere that is really enhanced by the large pep band. The music was enjoyable and they were the ones leading the cheers. When Penn State gets a possession, they yell a letter of “P-S-U” for each touch. Serves also get a big “Whoosh” yell from the band. It was also cool to see a full set of cheerleaders, along with a mascot. I guess having over 40,000 students helps in getting these participants. The fans were equally great and they started with a nice gesture by politely applauding the Michigan girls as they were introduced. After that, they clapped after each Nittany Lion point, roared during big plays and gave standing ovations on set points. Overall, it was a good and knowledgeable crowd.
Atmosphere Ranking: 10 out of 14

Other Stuff

The similarities with Philadelphia’s Palestra is likely because Rec Hall was designed by the same architect: Charles Klauder…..Head Coach Russ Rose has been leading the Nittany Lions since 1978.

Game

Each set was close, but Penn State prevailed 3-0. Michigan hung with the Nittany Lions and it started in the first as Penn State had to rattle off a 9-2 run to gain control and eventually win 25-22. In the second set, a Michigan error and a Deja McClendon ace gave the Lions a 25-21 set win. Michigan was in control for much of the last set, but Penn State squeaked by winning the last two points to cap off a 25-23 victory. Ariel Scott had 11 kills for Penn State and Ali Longo had 12 digs.