Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose had seen glimpses of brilliance from Lindsay Anderson, but it seemed that each time she would get healthy enough to contribute she would get hurt.

"She just kind of went from one injury to the next," Rose said. "She was usually accustomed to practicing for a few weeks, getting hurt, rehabbing and then coming back right about the time the season ended."

But this season Anderson has been healthy and she is one of the reasons the No. 2-ranked Nittany Lions have advanced to the 1997 Final Four in Spokane, Wash. -- where they play Florida at 9 p.m. EST Thursday in one of the national semifinals. Stanford meets Long Beach State at 11:30 p.m. in the other. The winners play for the national title at 3 p.m. Saturday.

And it's a safe bet that Anderson, a junior opposite hitter, will be ricocheting high-octane kills off the Spokane Arena hardwood.

"There's times she just hits the ball so hard it's almost an undiggable ball," Rose said. "I think the threat of Lindsay is sometimes one of the advantages we have."

Christy Cochran, a junior outside hitter, knows all about the threat of Anderson from playing against her each day in practice.

"Some of the ball she hits ... we tease her. We don't know how she gets the spin on some of the balls she hits. But it's just like she'll chest you, and it's like, 'Ahhhh,' '' Cochran said, thumping her chest with her hands. "She's just a very dominating hitter."

Last season, however, was anything but a dominant one for Anderson. After seeing limited playing time during the beginning of the campaign, she suffered a severe abdominal pull and redshirted.

"It was pretty severe," Anderson said of the injury. "It just never healed. After I decided to redshirt I just stopped doing a lot of things."

One of the things she did do during her time off was get healthy for the first time since her freshman season of 1994. The 1995 campaign saw her break a foot, and 1996 was the year of the abdominal pull.

"I get more frustrated at the body than anything," said Anderson, who has started all 34 matches for 33-1 Penn State this season. "But injuries aren't something you can control, so you kind of have to deal with them as they come. This year I'm happy because I'm healthy."

And Anderson -- a high school star from Crystal Lake, Ill. -- has shown what she can do when she is healthy. She leads the team in digs (2.99 per game), is third in blocks (1.06 per game) and fifth in kills (2.13 per game).

"I think she has played really well this year," Rose said. "I think at the beginning of the year Lindsay was, at times, our most consistent player. She was the biggest surprise to me, probably from August to early October, then she went into a little slump."

Anderson has since rebounded from that slump. She was named the Big Ten player of the week on Dec. 1 after a 13-kill, 11-dig, six-block performance against Michigan State. She has been consistent throughout the NCAA tournament.

"She does some things that are very important for us," Rose said. "She's a very good server. She's a very strong right side blocker. Statistically, she's been our best defensive player."

And, it sounds, one of Anderson's kills could leave a volleyball design imprinted on an opponent's forehead.

"I always think everybody hits the ball harder than I do," Anderson said. "You always want to go up and hit it as hard as you can. Actually, though, I felt my freshman year I actually hit it harder. This year I'm smarter and more strategic."

And she's healthy.