Hampton’s Russ fulfills her potential with commitment to Pitt

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 6, 2018 | 11:48 PM

In middle school, the thought of being a Division I scholarship athlete was going to take some growing into for Anastasia Russ.

Now standing 6-foot-5 and poised to sign a letter of intent to Pitt in November, the idea has come to fruition for the Hampton senior volleyball player.

“She’s a player I’ve never dreamed of having on our team,” Hampton coach Matt Robertson said.

It wasn’t a dream of the lifelong childhood variety for Russ, who played her first organized scholastic volleyball match four years ago in eighth grade.

Russ, a middle blocker, recently was ranked the 57th-best senior in the nation by Prep Volleyball.

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this,” said Russ, who burst on the scene as a sophomore, earning varsity MVP and first-team All-WPIAL honors on the way to helping to lead the Talbots to the Class 3A title game.

She repeated as first-team All-WPIAL last season, along with being named Prep Volleyball all-state in 2016 and ’17.

“When I first started playing, I didn’t know what my options were,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it when I started my recruiting process.”

In fact, Russ considered walking on at a local school, such as Carnegie Mellon.

Robertson found himself caught up helping Russ facilitate offers, though he did not influence her school choice.

“It was kind of crazy because we’d show up at practice, and I’d get an email from the AD’s office or voicemail on my phone from Clemson, Florida State, all these big D-I schools. It was fun talking to those people,” he said.

“We haven’t had many D-I recruits come through the program, so pushing her, making sure she’s ready for that next level, I think that’s going to benefit the team this year in seeing her leadership out on the court.”

Russ visited a handful of schools. She was fond of Miami (Fla.), which offered her on a visit, but ultimately went with where she attended volleyball summer camp last year — Pitt.

Likewise, Russ remembers the camp as the first time she could visualize herself as a college athlete.

“It just felt so amazing to be on the campus and talk with the coaches and girls playing there,” said Russ, who also said wanting to major in Pitt’s renowned pre-med program was a deciding factor.

“It just really clicked, and I thought maybe this was something I want to do with my future if I can.”

Pitt is coming off an ACC championship and second-round appearance in the NCAA tournament. It has won 20-plus games the past four years under coach Dan Fisher.

“I just think she fell in love with Pitt,” said Robertson, who also noted her dedication at the local club program, Pitt Elite, where she has played one year up.

“Every year I’ve been in club, I’ve learned a lot,” Russ said. “Being on a team of all seniors last year, I think it helped bring the level of competitiveness up so I could really grow.”

Devon Moore is a freelance writer.

Tags: Hampton