Emails from Mark

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #24 (3/7/10)

Greetings from 71N in Ohio!

We are headed back to State College after our second Big Ten match of the year where we defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 30-26, 30-27, 30-18 in St. Johns Arena tonight.

Glamorous travel…yeah, right!

The Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes seem to always enjoy the opportunity to compete against one another. It is the only chance both teams get to experience what their fellow student-athletes experience within the Big Ten. There is something special about our matches.

Last weekend OSU had a tough three-game loss against UCSB and from the stats it showed the OSU was playing much better than when we saw them at the beginning of the season. We were expecting a tough match in their gym.

Game one was tight through the first half as we couldn’t slow down the Buckeye attack. They had a 13-14 lead on us but kills from Turko and Sunder sandwiched an OSU hitting error for a 16-14 PSU lead, but OSU tied at 16. PSU moved out to a 20-17 lead after aces from Turko and Price but OSU kept coming back and closed to 23-22. A Turko kill and OSU hitting error gave PSU a 25-22 lead and the separation we needed. Our sideout game kept the difference and at 29-26 a Lipsitz kill ended it at 30-26. Game leaders were Price (Kills – 6; Blocks – 1; Aces - 1), Goas and Turko (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 3). PSU hit .571 to the Buckeyes .467.

Game two was tied at 10 when PSU starting to slowly pull away. The Nittany Lions got the score to 20-16 but once again the Buckeyes started to answer back. The closed to 24-23 and dodged a couple of bullets as the Buckeyes had swings for real points but couldn’t find the court and at 29-27 a Goas dump found the floor for a 30-27 win. Game two leaders were Price (Kills – 6; Aces - 1), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 5). PSU hit .400 while OSU hit .333.

Game three started with the Nittany Lions wanting to come out firing…and we did just that as a Wolf kill and Lipsitz block started things off for the Lions’ 2-0 lead. The lead was 7-2 after a Sunder/Turko stuff and the lead kept building! At 12-7 kills by Wolf, Sunder and Price was followed by a Goas/Lipsitz monster block for a 16-7 lead. We never looked back and only gave up one real point to the Buckeyes from that score on. A Price kill ended the match at 30-18. Game three leaders were Wolf (Kills – 4), Lipsitz (Blocks – 3), Sunder (Aces – 1) and Goas and Del Valle (Digs – 3). PSU hit .393 while OSU hit .108.

So we notched our second Big Ten win of the season and did it with a very efficient effort. Offensively, Edgardo made some very good decisions and got all of his hitters into good rhythm and the hitters made the most of their swings. Our block and defense managed to get onto the Buckeye offense and started to touch and turn their attacks into point scoring opportunities for us. We kept pressure on them from behind the service line and played well. It was a good win in a place that is tough enough to get a win let alone a three-game sweep. Match leaders were Price (Kills – 13; Aces – 2), Lipsitz (Blocks – 6) and Del Valle (Digs – 9). PSU out-hit OSU .444 to .291; out-blocked the Buckeyes 10 to 2; out-aced them 5 to 2 and out-dug them 30 to 27.

We will see the Buckeyes again at Rec Hall on Sunday, March 21 at 4 PM. That match will be the first live broadcast of men’s volleyball on the Big Ten Network! It’ll be a fun match!

So, you wanna play collegiate men’s volleyball? You wanna go to other campuses and other cities? You are enamored with the thought of glamorous travel to exotic campuses and seeing new sights? Yeah, well guess again. Let me fill you in on our “glamorous travel”. The six hour ride in the bus to, let’s say, Columbus, OH is filled with studying, watching movies or Direct TV or surfing the web as the miles and minutes roll by…usually at night so the landscape is just black as the oncoming traffic looks like a line of owls to your left. We arrive at a hotel, get the keys distributed and head to the room. I just am happy my legs work and the knees bend. I can only imagine what the bigger guys are feeling. Your head hits the pillow and you’re out.

Morning comes as the alarm kicks on and breakfast is served. The guys come down for the breakfast buffet in their practice gear and sweats and within the next 45 minutes we are back on the bus heading to our practice. We get some passing and serving in, groove our sideout offense a bit and then head back to the bus and to the hotel. Lunch is on your own. The staff finalizes the scouting report and then it is catching up on paperwork, watching ESPN or CNN and counting down the minutes to when the shirt and pants will be ironed…finding any glamour here?

We meet and go over the scouting report. Grab our stuff and check out of the hotel and head to Damon’s for dinner. Where today I begin to show the guys a great card trick but in the middle of doing it I find I can’t remember what to do. The guys just shake their heads and politely tell me to sit down and finish my dinner…sigh! We then head to the gym and get there about 5 PM and wait for the match. After the match we get everyone on the bus, stop for something quick and we’re back travelling against the oncoming line of owls. We’ll get back around 2 AM and the guys will be in class tomorrow morning and in the gym tomorrow afternoon getting ready for GMU on Saturday. Someone point out the glamour in the travel. We see bus, darkness, hotel, gym, bus and darkness…but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Well, maybe for chartered flights but unless you know someone willing to fund that we’ll motor along!

We hope to see you in South Gym this Saturday as we complete our first half of the EIVA Tait Division schedule with our match against George Mason. A win would put us at 6-0 in the Tait Division with all other Tait teams having at least two losses. We would love to South Gym loud and packed this Saturday!

I’ll be back to you with my thoughts on that match later this weekend!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the guys who are passing the owls!

 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #23 (2/26/10)

Greetings from the PA Turnpike!

We are headed west back to State College after defeating the Princeton Tigers tonight 30-16, 30-13, 30-24. The Nittany Lions are 5-0 in the EIVA Tait Division and 13-2 overall.

You never know what you’re going to get travelling in the winter!

The Nittany Lions knew that Princeton always plays a little bit better at home and that the Princeton crowd will heckle our guys and it’ll be creative. We wanted to get off to a good start and look again to separate from the Tigers in the middle of the game. We needed to keep the crowd sitting on their hands with our play.

Game one began with PSU up 5-2 and kept the lead at 13-10 after a Turko kill. Price then added a kill and a Tiger error gave PSU a 15-10 lead. After a Tiger sideout PSU stretched the lead to 20-11 on a service error, two Wolf/Turko stuffs, a Princeton hitting error and a Price kill. We had our separation and a Princeton serving error ended game one at 30-16. PSU leaders were Price (Kills – 4; Aces – 2), Wolf (Blocks – 2; Digs – 4) and Turko (Blocks – 2). PSU hit .619 to the Tigers’ .100.

Game two had PSU pick right up where we left off in game one as we rolled to a 15-3 lead. Price had four points on his serve with two aces and making Princeton’s offense predictable and Lipsitz had seven points during his service term with most of them coming from our transition game as our defense provided opportunities which we converted. Princeton made a mini-run to close to 17-10 but PSU settled out and a Lipsitz/Covello stuff ended game two 30-13. PSU leaders were Sunder (Kills – 8), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2), Price (Aces – 2; Digs - 3) and Wolf (Aces – 2) PSU hit .500 while Princeton hit .000.

Game three had Covello continuing to set the offense after entering in game two and Hendries was in the middle. Game three had PSU up 10-3 but two Tiger blocks sandwiched a PSU hitting error had Princeton back in the game at 11-8. PSU settled down and went back up 17-11. Princeton would not back down and at 27-19 three Tiger kills closed to 27-22 but a Pereira kill ended the run. The teams traded sideouts and a heavy Comfort/Hendries stuff ended the match at 30-24. Game three leaders were Wolf (Kills – 6; Digs – 3), Comfort and Hendries (Blocks – 1) and Lipsitz (Aces – 1). PSU hit .333 and Princeton hit .200.

We did what we wanted to do in taking out the Princeton crowd early…they did make some noise in game three but it was the first time all match. We gained the separation around the early teens and kept our sideout offense in synch. Match leaders were Wolf (Kills – 11; Digs – 9), Lipsitz (Blocks – 3) and Price (Aces – 4). PSU out-hit the Tigers .468 to .109; out-blocked them 7 to 3; out-aced them 8 to 2 and out-dug them 31 to 17.

It was a day that the “snowicane” was battering New York City, northern NJ and northeastern PA. I had driven to the office thinking that State College and Huntingdon weren’t hit too hard but wondering what the Princeton weather would be like. I spoke with Princeton coach Sam Shweisky twice before 9:30 AM, Kurt Breon (our Cole bus driver) and Meteorologist/PA Announcer par excellence Dean DeVore and we all decided that we could make the trip. We went down to Harrisburg and took the PA Turnpike east toward NJ. When we hit Valley Forge, PA the sun was out and blue sky was abundant! Had I not watched TV or heard anything about the weather I wouldn’t have even thought that 90 minutes north there was 24 inches of snow accumulating! We had sunshine all the way into Princeton. So far the trip back has been just as easy. Now, we’ll see what the hills of central PA have in store for us but this trip was a pleasant surprise!

Now we get ready for our trip to Columbus, OH to take on the Buckeyes on Wednesday. It should be a typical PSU – OSU match with the teams slugging away at each other. It is our second Big Ten match…the first one occurring in Hawaii. It’ll be fun to play them! I’ll be back to you on the way home from Columbus Wednesday evening! Have a great weekend!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the guys!
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #22 (2/22/10)

Greetings from the home office!

The Nittany Lions downed the IFPW Mastodons 30-21, 30-22, 30-20 pm Saturday evening in the South Gym.

Another Honorary Coach is 1-0!

On Friday evening the Mastodons won a tough five game match over on the mountain at Loretto, PA against the Saint Francis Red Flash. They had been on the short end of many very close games and the win against SFU would give that young team a confidence that Head Coach Arnie Ball could parlay into motivation against the Nittany Lions. We talked about playing at a good level then when we had the opportunities to turn points and create some separation we needed to take advantage of those times. If we could really put pressure on IFPW to score points their youth may lead to errors.

Game one began with PSU gaining a 6-2 lead but IPFW settled out and closed to 19-17. The teams weren't really sharp but both teams were taking advantage of each other's errors. At that point a Wolf kill and IFPW error preceded an IPFW sideout. But PSU answered with a Price kill, Wolf kill, a Sunder/Lipsitz stuff and another IFPW hitting error for a 25-18 lead. The Nittany Lions got the separation we were looking for with an 11-4 run as a Sunder kill ended game one 30-21. Leaders for PSU were Price (Kills - 4; Digs - 4) and Sunder and Turko (Blocks - 3). PSU hit .292 to IPFW's .114.

Game two saw PSU again gain an early 6-2 lead with a couple of blocks but IPFW could only close to 17-14. Goas was running the offense with great efficiency as we were not allowing IPFW to score when they were serving. At 18-15, kills from Lipsitz and Sunder sandwiched a Lipsitz/Goas stuff for a 21-15 lead. With Gardo's offense this was the separation we needed. Wolf closed out game two with a kill for a 30-22 win. Game two leaders were Lipsitz (Kills - 7; Blocks - 4) and Price and Del Valle (Digs - 3). PSU hit .679 to IPFW's .200.

Game three was at 12-10 when PSU started to pull away thanks to a Sunder kill, Lipsitz/Pereira stuff and a Price ace for a 15-10 lead. That five point lead was pushed even greater with three three-point runs to get to 27-17. A Sunder kill ended the match with a 30-20 game three win. Game three leaders for the Nittany Lions were Sunder (Kills - 6; Aces - 1; Digs - 4), Lipsitz (Blocks - 3) and Price and Turko (Aces - 1). PSU hit .385 to IPFW's .036.

The Nittany Lions did play well at the beginning of each game and we found the separation we were looking for in the middle stages of those games. We weren't as sharp offensively as we were the previous night when we committed only one unforced hitting error in three games...this night we committed nine...but we managed to control the net and have our defense in the right spots against this young Mastodon team. Match leaders for the Nittany Lions were Lipsitz (Kills - 12; Blocks - 9), Price (Kills - 12; Aces - 1; Digs - 10), Sunder and Turko (Aces - 1). PSU out-hit IPFW .462 to .118; out-blocked them 13.5 to 4; out aced them 3 to 2 and out-dug the Mastodons 29 to 12.

We played well this weekend and are looking forward to heading to Princeton on Friday to face the Tigers and new head coach, Sam Shweisky. Sam is a former player at Vassar and has worked our camps. He was hired to assist the Princeton women's team and head coach the men after Glenn Nelson retired last year. Sam will do a very good job with Princeton and we look forward to seeing him next Friday.

We also enjoyed another Honorary Coach on the bench with us this match. It was Ken McMillan. Yep, Colin's father! We had Mark Price -- Will's dad -- on the bench with us as Honorary Coach for the second Laval match. It seems as if the dad's are checking up on their sons! Ken, Colin is gainfully employed and doing a great job...even if it is in Blue and White! They both are 1-0 so it may not be a bad thing!! This honorary coach opportunity that The PSU MVB Booster Club has offered has been a lot of fun and very interesting I am told by those who have done it. Again if you are interested in being part of our game days and sitting on the bench during the match along with accompanying me to the post-game press conference check out how you can at http://psuvolleyball.com/support.htm.

So next Friday kicks off a stretch of 6 matches in 15 days with two major road trips squeezed in there. This week is a heavy mid-term week and when we get back from Spring Break we have another five matches in eight days. This week is going to be the week when we need to take care of academic side of the house and prepare for the month of March!

I'll be back to you from the bus after the Princeton match! Have a great week!

All the best,
Pav, Colin, Jay and the guys!
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #21 (2/20/10)

Greetings from Rec Hall!

The Nittany Lions defeated the Ball State Cardinals last evening 30-18, 30-15, 30-22.

Did we find a new middle blockers coach?? Hmmm??

The Cardinal arrived into State College at 3 AM Friday. Having been on those bus rides that go longer than anticipated and knowing how hard it is to win on the road, the Nittany Lions needed to keep our level at a consistent and high level. We felt, at some point, fatigue may set in and if we could just keep our standard high we could get some separation in the games. We wanted to come out strong.

Game one began with the Cardinals and Lions at 9-8. Then we managed to get the separation we were looking for as kills by Price, Lipsitz and Sunder helped with a 4-1 run to 13-9. Goas’ serving gave PSU another 3-1 run to 17-11 and after a Wolf kill made it 22-14 a Goas kill, Sunder/Lipsitz stuff and Sunder kill moved the score to 25-14. Ball State scored three late but a Cardinal hitting error ended game one 30-18. Leaders for the Nittany Lions were Price (Kills – 5) and Sunder (Blocks – 2; Digs – 4). PSU hit .483 while BSU hit -.033.

Game two had PSU up 8-6 when three BSU hitting errors were wrapped around a Turko ace for a 12-6 lead. PSU stretched it 20-9 as our defense and transition game kicked in and BSU gave us a few points on their hitting and serving errors. A Lipsitz kill from Covello ended game two 30-15. Game two leaders were Lipsitz (Kills – 4; Blocks – 2), Turko (Aces – 1) and Price (Digs – 4). PSU hit .478 while the Cardinals hit -.179.

Game three began with Covello running the offense. Tor entered the match at the end of the game two and after remembering to breathe in the first couple of rallies he did a very nice job. Now he had the game to himself. Ball State came out playing better and they had a 9-10 lead but then kills from Lipsitz, Price and Sunder preceded a Covello/Lipsitz stuff and a Price kill for a 14-10 lead. PSU didn’t let Ball State get any closer. Tor was making good decisions and putting the ball in the right place for his hitters. His final set to Sunder finished off the match as Joe buried a ball from the backrow for a 30-22 win. Game three leaders were Price (Kills – 6), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2) and Wolf and Del Valle (Digs – 2). PSU hit .750 for the game while Ball State hit .419.

The Nittany Lions did keep pressure on the Cardinals with our offense and we seemed to touch everything which they attacked. Our serving, while not resulting in many aces did result in several overpasses and non-swings by them. We did get the separation we were looking for in every game. The offense looked good with either setter at the controls and we took advantage of balls that we dug. The match leaders were Price (Kills – 15; Digs - 8), Lipsitz (Blocks – 5) and Turko (Aces – 1). PSU hit .566 to BSU’s .079; out-blocked BSU 9 to 8; out-dug them 28 to 12 but the Cardinals recorded 2 aces to PSU’s 1.

Last evening we were one short on our staff. Colin was attending the wedding of his sister in New York City. However, during the pre-game warm-ups, PSU announcer par excellence, Dean DeVore volunteered to coach the middles. He yelled at Max, “Play better!” Max went for 12 kills, one error in 15 swings for a .733 efficiency; blocked 5 balls, and…for those who have watched Max serve recently…had no serving errors! Fire Colin!

We have Arnie Ball’s IFPW Mastodons tonight in South Gym. They defeated Saint Francis last night in five games. If we can keep things moving in the right direction tonight we’ll see what happens! I’ll be back to you with my thoughts a little later.

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the guys…and Dean

 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #20 (2/18/10)

Belated Greetings from Rec Hall!

The Nittany Lions defeated the Laval Rouge et Or Saturday night in front of 3200+ fans in Main Gym by the scores of 19-30, 30-25, 30-23, 30-23.

“A simple shrug of the shoulders…”

After Friday evening’s match in South Gym, Laval had the opportunity to get another good night of sleep and put additional recovery time from that 13-hour bus ride on Thursday. We expected them to be even better for this match. It was going to be an even more physical match than Friday.

Game one began with Laval looking like they were going to show the Nittany Lions why they are the #1 team in Canada! A 7-13 lead for the Rouge et Or was as close as PSU could get. We looked lethargic and as if we expected Laval to hand us the match. When a PSU attack sailed wide the game was Laval’s at 19-30. Game one Nittany Lion leaders were Price and Lipsitz (Kills – 4) and Goas, Sunder and Pereira (Digs – 1). PSU hit .194 while the Rouge et Or hit .611.

Game two found our guys awake and competing. After a Laval service error made the score 8-7, a Price/Lipsitz stuff and a Laval hitting error moved the score to 10-7. PSU never lost the lead as it was close to 21-19. The Nittany Lions found another gear as kills from Price and Sunder made it 23-19 and held that lead until a Laval service error ended game two 30-25. Leaders for the game for PSU were Price (Kills – 5), Lipsitz (Blocks – 4) and Sunder (Digs – 4). PSU hit .400 while Laval hit .200.

Game three had PSU up 17-16 then the match seemed to turn on the stretch beginning with a Lipsitz kill. It was followed by a Lipsitz-Goas stuff, Wolf kill, Goas stuff and Price ace for a 22-16 lead. A Wolf kill ended the game at 30-23. Game three leaders were Price (Kills – 4; Aces – 2), Wolf (Kills – 4), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 5). PSU hit .500 to Laval’s .150.

Game four had PSU’s torrid stretch continue as we led 11-5. Laval put on a strong burst to get back to 22-19 but PSU stopped their run an answered with an 8-4 run of our own that ended with a Turko kill for a match ending 30-23 win. Game four leaders were Sunder (Kills – 7; Aces – 1), Lipsitz (Blocks – 3), Price (Aces – 1) and Goas (Digs – 4). PSU hit .552 while the Rouge et Or hit .207.

After game one, our offense kicked in and we started to block balls and convert the ones which we dug. We answered their physical level of play in games two through four and played at a very good level for most of the remaining match. Nick Turko came in and put ten balls away in eleven swings and helped raise the energy level which brought the crowd into the match. Match leaders for the Nittany Lions were Price (Kills – 16; Aces – 3); Lipsitz (Blocks – 9) and Sunder (Digs – 10). PSU out-hit Laval .403 to .248; out-blocked them 11 to 4; out-aced them 5 to 4 and out-dug them 37 to 26.

The best thing about the match to me was our reaction after the first game. It was a simple shrug of the shoulders that said, “Bad game! Forget it and let’s play how we can!” Our level picked up and we kept building on it. The effort was clearly there and we were getting contributions from everyone again.

It was fun playing two physical matches against a good team here in Rec Hall. Now can we build on this weekend with Ball State and IFPW coming in here this weekend? It should be fun! We’ll be back to you with the updates this weekend!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the guys!
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #19 (2/13/10)

Greetings from Rec Hall!

The Nittany Lions defeated Laval last night in a packed and noisy South Gym by the scores of 30-27, 33-31, 25-30, 30-27. It was as fun and physical a match that has been played down there in a long time!

When you get a chance to play great teams, and compete hard, good things happen!

Laval had bussed down from Quebec City on Thursday. They left at 7 AM and arrived at 7 PM so there was no doubt that they were still recovering from that trip last night and we had to take advantage of that factor while we could. However, they aren’t #1 in Canada for nothing! They’d find a way to compete hard. PSU MVB was looking forward to these matches.

Game one began with a Laval ace and a Laval overpass kill. We looked like the team who just completed a heavy travel day! We tied at 7 on a Laval hitting error then a three point run with two kills from Lipsitz sandwiching an ace by Wolf for a 12-9 lead. From that point on, it had the feel of a great fencing match: lunge and parry; a great dig and a point; a block by the other team for a point but neither team could put together more than two points in a row. Defensively, Dennis and Wolfie were coming up with a dig here and there and we fighting hard to side out. At 26-25, both teams traded sideouts until PSU was up 29-27 when a Del Valle dig was converted by a Price kill for a 30-27 game one win. The leaders for PSU were Price (Kills – 7), Hendries and Sunder (Blocks – 2), Wolf (Aces – 1; Digs – 3), Pereira (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 3). PSU hit .484 to Laval’s .375.

Game two had PSU get out to a 13-6 lead, but Laval’s block started to figure out our offensive rhythm and coupled with some PSU hitting errors the score was tied at 18. From then on neither team enjoyed more than a two point lead. It was tied at 27 and the teams were siding out until a Sunder kill out of the back row gave PSU a 32-31 lead and a Laval hitting error ended game two 33-31. Game two leaders were Sunder (Kills – 5; Blocks – 2; Aces – 1), Lipsitz (Kills – 5; Aces - 1), Hendries (Blocks – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 5). PSU hit .214 while the Rouge et Or hit .289

Game threes against really good teams, especially when they are down 0-2, are the games where you have to be prepared to weather their desperate best…in waves…throughout the game. Unfortunately, we came out for game three and left our passing back in the meeting room as Laval ran out to a 4-0 lead without us putting a ball in their airspace! Not a great start…and it didn’t get much better as Laval led 4-10! The sleeping giant from the Great White North seemed to have awakened or at least their block did! But then the Nittany Lions blocked three consecutive balls and we served notice we weren’t going to give any more. After two Laval hitting errors we found ourselves up 14-13. However, Laval came roaring back with five straight points to go up 14-18 and that seemed to take the wind out of sails as the closest we could come to them was 20-22. A Laval kill ended game three 25-30. Game three PSU leaders were Price (Kills – 5), Hendries (Blocks – 5), Lipsitz and Del Valle (Digs – 1). PSU hit .250 as did Laval.

Game four started with PSU serving well as Sunder served two aces on the way to a 13-8 lead. Laval mounted a sustained comeback but PSU answered all of their efforts with ours. Laval closed to 2-24 but with a couple of Laval service errors the first of the final two PSU kills came from Ian Hendries to make it 28-25 and at 29-27, Ryan Wolf put away the ball as all three Laval blockers went with Max Lipsitz leaving Wolfie with no block! The match was PSU’s with a 30-27 game four win. Leaders were Wolf (Kills – 5; Blocks – 2), Hendries (Blocks – 2), Sunder (Aces – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .317 to Laval’s .343.

It was a great match with a terrific opponent. As the match wore on you could see the Laval players hitting stride. There was some absolutely outstanding defensive plays made. Dennis once again showed why, in my humble opinion, he is absolutely the best libero in the country, as he dug four or five balls that were absolutely shelled at him! It was a great match in which we found we could respond well when a good team started to play well against us! Match leaders were Lipsitz (Kills – 18), Hendries (Blocks – 11), Sunder (Aces – 3) and Del Valle (Digs – 13). PSU hit .308 to Laval’s .314; blocked 14 balls to Laval’s 13.5; out-aced them 6 to 2 but were out-dug 32 to 40.

Good thing happen when you decide to compete hard against a great opponent! The final stats seem to indicate that Laval may have been the better team but it was the Nittany Lions eliminating unforced errors at crucial times and allowing ourselves to play volleyball and forcing Laval to play volleyball. It was a physical match to which we seemed to become very comfortable and raised our physical level of play. Sometimes, when faced with this type of opponent, we try to force our physical play and it results in a chaotic, rushed attempt to do more rather than just elevate our play. Last evening we were controlled and smart AND physical! Now can we do it again tonight? Laval will have the benefit of a good night’s rest and the tape of last night’s match. We will have those same benefits. I am very interested to see how the Nittany Lions compete tonight!

First serve is scheduled for 7 PM in Main Gym. There is a 100 team USAV boys’ junior qualifier tournament being run by Scott and Rose Atkinson so the gym tonight should be full and loud! Make sure you are in the gym!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the guys!
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #18 (2/8/10)

Greetings from the home office!

The Nittany Lions defeated the Springfield Pride 30-14, 27-30, 30-25, 30-24 pm Saturday evening in the South Gym. The Lions are now 4-0 in the EIVA Tait Division.

"Only one play away..."

We last saw the Pride two weeks ago at their place and came away with a 3-0 win where we lost a late game one lead and had to win 33-31. We then took care of the final two games and came out feeling that Springfield, if we allowed them to get comfortable with a certain style of play, could play at a pretty good level for ten points or so. Our aim going into this match was to stay physical with them and match their peaks of play with ours and then some.

Game one began with us adhering to that philosophy as Lipsitz powered a kill on his first swing for a 1-0 lead and after a Pride error and kills from Goas, Wolf and Price the score was 5-0. The Nittany Lions continued to convert our point scoring opportunities and ran the score to 17-6. At that point, we got Alan Mars and Mark Shipp into the match to give them opportunities and after a PSU serving error made the score 26-14 Springfield made four consecutive hitting errors for a 30-14 Nittany Lion game one victory. Lion leaders for the game were Goas and Price (Kills - 5), Hendries and Sunder (Blocks - 1) and Wolf and Del Valle (Digs - 4). PSU hit .548 to -.033 for Springfield.

Game two had us starting Alan Mars, Nick Turko and Jesse Wagner. We had figured on Springfield increasing their intensity this game and felt it would be a great experience opportunity for additional players. The Pride did play much better this game as the score was tied at 16. After Springfield put away an overpass to gain the 16-17 lead, it was clear they weren't going to roll over. The Nittany Lions then went on a 7-2 run for a 23-19 lead. We were playing well and seemed to raise the bar to Springfield's play. However, Spring field went on their own 11-4 run that saw them record four stuff blocks and PSU commit three hitting errors. The Pride took game two 27-30 on a very nice ten point segment by them. Game two leaders for the Nittany Lions were Turko (Kills - 6; Blocks - 2), Wolf (Aces - 1) and Price and Wagner (Digs - 2). PSU hit .167 while Springfield hit .259.

Game three had our game one lineup back on the court. We knew that this game was going to the game which Springfield would throw everything they could at us to force a fifth game at worst for them. They had just played the best ten points a Pride team had played against us in Rec Hall and they were energized by it. I had hoped our guys would return their level with one of our own. A Sunder and Lipsitz stuff gave us a 13-10 lead but after a Pride ace and stuff of their own it was tied at 16. It was here where the Nittany Lions started to pull away. Our sideout game settled into a nice groove and we started to convert our chances and forced a Pride timeout at 25-21. At 29-25 a Price kill gave game three to PSU 30-25. Game three leaders were Price (Kills - 5), Lipsitz (Blocks - 4) and Del Valle (Digs - 3). PSU hit .379 to the Pride's .206.

Game four seemed to find the Pride running out of steam and the Nittany Lions staying at a better, not great just better, level. A 6-1 start to the game helped keep Springfield's enthusiasm in check, but after a Hendries and Wolf stuff made it 12-4 Springfield took their second timeout. After that timeout, the Pride put together another ten point stretch where they outscored PSU 11-4 again. PSU committed five errors and Springfield blocked a couple of balls and the score was 16-15. After our timeout, where we strongly reiterated the need to get back to hitting the court and not giving them easy points we started to re-establish our advantage. A Goas-Lipsitz stuff made the score 26-21 and a Pride hitting error at 29-24 ended the match at 30-24. Game four leaders were Lipsitz (Kills - 7; Blocks - 2), Goas and Wolf (Aces - 1) and Del Valle (DIgs - 6). PSU hit .171 but the Pride hit only .073.

The match was not a work of art by any stretch of the imagination. Springfield, true to form, refused to go away...no matter how much we wished they would. It took playing a physical game to eventually wear them down and get the match. Match leaders for the Nittany Lions were Price (Kills - 16), Lipsitz (Blocks - 6), Wolf (Aces - 2) and Del Valle (Digs - 13). PSU out-hit the Pride .294 to .121; out-aced them 3 to 2 and out-dug them 46 to 42. The Pride held a 14 to 10 blocking advantage.

We constantly preach to everyone that "you're one play away" from entering the match. If our players take this heart, and something happens - like an injury - they should be ready to go. However, if the guys not on the court are not into the match in the right context that transition of being off the court to being on the court can cost their team points. One of the more common situations we have had is when we dominate an opponent and then get some other guys into the match. The inexperienced player may just wait for the opponent to continue to give easy points. Generally, that is not the case. Teams come back a little more focused after a bad game loss and force us to play at a higher level for a longer time. The guys that understand that opportunities arise in these situations usually deliver because they focus on how they need to do their job not on the past performance of the opponent...something which we have no control over in the present. The important aspect of matches like this is that something is felt when a crowd is looking on with points going up on the scoreboard and a team in another uniform is competing on the other side of the net. Competitive juices are flowing and watching a point go up that was just scored by you for your team creates a great feeling. Conversely, watching a point go up for the other guys that was directly attributed to you gives a feeling that really can't be duplicated in practice. Winning or losing these types of games creates an accountability ledger for everyone and certainly educates these young student-athletes very well. You are one play away...can you make an major impact in less than moment's notice? If one trains with this in mind it can be a great experience for him and his team. I suspect much was learned in game two!

We now prepare for a busy weekend on campus. The University of Laval will be returning to Rec Hall. It has been a long time since Coach Pascal Clement and his Rouge et Or visited our court from their beautiful Quebec City. Currently, Laval is ranked #1 in Canada and has already clinched a berth in their eight team national championship. I am hoping we can provide them with two tough matches so they can capture their National Championship in two weeks! You will see some outstanding volleyball and possibly hear French, English, Spanish and Portuguese spoken on the court as well. Friday evening we will be in South Gym at 7 PM and Saturday in Main Gym at 7 PM. We will be charging for the Saturday match and with the 100+ boys junior teams taking part in the USAV Qualifier being played in all 11 courts in the IM Building and the 8 courts in Rec Hall both nights look to be very well attended. Ya might want to get there early to get good seats...or at least the ones you are used to sitting in.

I'll be back to you after the match with the update. (I also try to immediately update you via Twitter and Facebook.) Have a good week and get ready for some awfully good volleyball in Rec Hall this coming weekend.

All the best,
Pav, Colin, Jay and the guys!
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #17 (2/6/10)

Good morning from Rec Hall!

Last night the Nittany Lions defeated the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders 30-19, 30-22, 30-21 in South Gym. While the snow was coming down outside the Nittany Lions were taking care of business inside.

Honorary Coaches Undefeated!

Rutgers-Newark has been in two five game matches and a tough four game match so far this year and from we saw on video we knew they would have stretches where they would play well. We needed to keep our level of execution high for a long enough period of time to pull away when they cooled off!

Game one was close to 20-18 then the Nittany Lions started to pull away. A Price kill gave the ball to Goas to serve. Eight serves later PSU was up 29-18. In that stretch we converted on every dig and generally made Rutgers pay for not putting their first swing away. Our transition game was working pretty well and after a Rutgers kill ended Gardo’s run a Will Price kill ended game one 30-19. Game one leaders were Price and Wolf (Kills – 5), Goas and Lipsitz (Blocks – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 3). PSU hit .483 to R-N’s .148.

Game two was tied at 17 when the Lions started to assert themselves! This time is wasn’t a long serving run by any one in particular but instead we had two runs of three points and two runs of two points while siding out without yielding a real point to Rutgers. Game two was wrapped up on another Price kill for a 30-22 PSU win. Game two leaders were Sunder (Kills – 8; Blocks – 1), Goas and Lipsitz (Blocks – 1), Pereira (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 7). PSU hit .472 while Rutgers hit .259.

Game three began with a five point PSU run. Rutgers closed to 9-7 but that was as close as they would come. PSU kept siding out and not allowing Rutgers more than, at most, two points in a row from then on. The lead was stretched to 28-21 when a Sunder kill was followed by a Sunder ace for the match 30-21. Game three leaders were Sunder (Kills – 6; Blocks – 1), Price (Blocks – 1; Aces – 2), Goas (Blocks – 1; Digs – 4), Hendries and Turko (Blocks – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .407 to Rutgers’ .200.

Rutgers played well throughout the first half of both game one and two but we kept answering what they were throwing at us and our transition game hit a gear with which they couldn’t keep up. We are starting to look a little more crisp even though it was a very business-like approach we had. There wasn’t a lot of emotion…from us or the crowd in South Gym! We just were efficient. Match leaders were Sunder (Kills – 15), Goas (Blocks – 4), Price (Aces – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 14). PSU out-hit R-N .457 to .202; out-aced them 4 to 2; out-dug them 34 to 17 but R-N had 9 stuffs to our 7.5.

Our first Honorary Coaches, Jeff and Sharon Hyde, are leading the Honorary Coach Winning Record as they shared the evening as part of the team. They were introduced to the team at our Pass ‘n Serve practice on Friday afternoon. Many of the guys knew them as they were part of the Connecticut Valley Chapter of the PSU Alumni Association that we had pizza with after the Springfield match two weeks ago. After that practice they sat in on the scouting report meeting then met us back in South Gym prior to the match. They sat on the bench and seemed to enjoy the entire match from that perspective. No balls were blasted into the bench nor did any player pursue a ball into the bench! So far they are 1-0 as Honorary Coaches. We thank them for sharing the match with us!

If anyone would be interested in becoming an Honorary Coach for a match contact Harry Kauffman at harrysuek@gmail.com. Harry can give you the details of the PSU MVB Booster club levels for you to join us on the bench!

Now we turn our thoughts to the Springfield Pride. We played them two weeks ago at their place and today at 4 PM we get them in South Gym! They have two very good arms in their lineup in AJ Nally and Cal Palumbo. We will have to contain those two and continue to be efficient with our offense. I’ll be back to you after the match tonight! Hope to see you in South Gym!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the Guys
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #16 (1/31/10)

Good evening from Route 90 West!

We are on the way out of Chicago after losing to Loyola 26-30, 30-22, 30-24, 25-30, 7-15. The long trip home is going to seem a little longer after the tough match tonight.

Intensity squared!

After the week we had been through and couple that with the travel I was hoping we wouldn’t be running on fumes tonight. We seemed fine at the pass ‘n serve practice and the questions and comments offered in the scouting meeting really made me feel that we were in good shape. Even at the team lunch at Giordano’s I knew we would be ready to play. We were expecting a loud and vocal student crowd in the small Alumni Gym. We also knew that Loyola feeds off of its home crowd better than any team we have ever played. Our goal was to keep the level of play on our side of the net consistent no matter the score or the decibel level of the crowd! We knew it would be tough…it always is in Alumni Gym.

Game one had PSU up 18-16 but two PSU hitting errors were sandwiched by two Loyola kills for an 18-20 Rambler lead. PSU tied at 21 but two Loyola kills and two Loyola aces later the lead was 21-25. A Loyola kill ended the game at 26-30. Game one leaders for PSU were Sunder (Kills – 7), Mars (Blocks – 2; Digs – 3) and Hendries (Aces – 2). PSU hit .235 while Loyola hit .481.

Game two saw PSU up 13-9. From that point on PSU received 11 serves and sided out ten times. We again slammed the door shut with our offense and when Sunder put away a Goas set game two was the Nittany Lions 30-22. Game two leaders were Price (Kills – 7; Blocks – 2), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2), Wolf (Aces – 1) and Goas (Digs – 5). PSU hit .385 to Loyola’s .143.

Game three had PSU’s good play continue as the Nittany Lions had a 15-11. The Ramblers closed to 16-14, but that was as close as they would come. At 21-19, a Loyola error, two Price kills and a Mars kill made the lead 25-19 and when a Loyola swing went wide PSU had game three 30-24. Game leaders were Mars (Kills – 6), Lipsitz (Blocks – 5) and Del Valle (Digs – 5). PSU hit .368 while holding Loyola to .083.

Game four was tight! No team could get more than a two point lead. It was tight and at 19-20 a big kill from Lipsitz tied it at 20; however, the ball shot-hopped the Loyola libero and skipped back over the net. The whistle had indeed blown and the Loyola team had gone back to huddle with the libero as the ball crossed back over the net. Max went up and directed the ball over the net to the ball shagger with a roll shot. The referee then pulled out a yellow card. Later I found out it was for Max yelling across the net.by rule we lose the serve and Loyola has a point for a 20-21 lead. The real loss was in the next three minutes of confusion on who was serving and who had what score. To Loyola’s credit, they raised their level of play. At 24-24, two Loyola kills, a Loyola serving error, two PSU hitting errors, a Loyola stuff and a Loyola kill ended the game 25-30. PSU was led in the game by Lipsitz (Kills – 8; Blocks – 1), Hendries and Price (Blocks – 1) and Goas (Aces – 1; Digs – 5). PSU hit .324 to Loyola’s .533.

So into game five we went! The crowd was just spilling out of the stands for their team. I had hoped we would get out to a good start…we kinda did with a Loyola hitting error but that 1-0 lead evaporated quickly as two Rambler kills were followed by two PSU errors and a Loyola block for a 1-5 score. We couldn’t get close from there. Loyola was digging balls and converting. It was as if the dam broke and there was nothing we could do to stem the raging river. A final Loyola kill ended the match 7-15. Game five leaders were Price (Kills – 2) and Sunder (Digs – 2). PSU hit -.158 while Loyola hit .400.

I thought we played well enough to go to five games but our last 20 points were not very good…actually, it was Loyola’s play that created the environment where we seemed to want to beat the crowd with every swing. The more we wanted to reassert our dominance the more Loyola relaxed and let their crowd carry them. They played well enough to win in five! Match leaders for PSU were Price (Kills – 22), Lipsitz (Blocks – 9), Hendries and Wolf (Aces – 2) and Goas (Digs – 13). PSU was out-hit .275 to .293 and out-dug 49 to 52. We out-blocked Loyola 14.5 to 13 and out-aced them 5 to 4.

The intensity and emotion of the match was absolutely off the charts and it was fun to be part of that. For three-and-a-half games we handled it very well. We were playing well and celebrating. Loyola was doing the same and there was so competitive talk through the net but no real confrontations. In the men’s game, when the intensity gets ratcheted up this is what happens. It’s a shame that more matches aren’t played in that type of environment. We don’t get it enough to really learn how to play through it, coach through it and officiate through it. It was as intense and emotional a match as I have ever been part of. It certainly was much better for us than our last three wins combined! Now we get a chance to learn from it and get ready for the next time it happens. How do you shut the crowd out? How do you recover from your mistakes when the crowd is chanting your name? How do you ensure your competitiveness is focused on the right things? What a learning environment for this team! Now don’t get me wrong: losing still sucks but we did some good things. Things that will pay off for us down the road! Congrats do go out to Coach Shane Davis and staff and team for a great match. We’ll get ‘em next time.

Also, Giordano’s was absolutely excellent and while we were eating Craig and Jen Dyer met us there. Jen looks great as she is about six months pregnant and Craig is doing well as a father-in-waiting. Jen brought a new camera to the match and it prompted Colin’s mom to ask, “Doesn’t she know she doesn’t work for you any more”? To which I responded, “No, she doesn’t know that we don’t work for her any more”! The Dyers are doing great and it was wonderful to see them and get caught up. They say hello to everyone in the PSU MVB family!

Now we settle in for a long ride home. The good news is that we are home for the next three weekends! No busses, planes, trains or automobiles…well, I guess I do have to get to Rec Hall somehow! Rutgers-Newark is next Friday followed by Springfield on Saturday! Hope to see you in Rec Hall!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the Guys
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #15 (1/30/10)

Hello from the Fairfield Inn in Joliet, IL!

Tonight the Nittany Lions defeated the Lewis Flyers 30-26, 28-30, 30-25, 30-20 in front of 1279 loud fans! What an atmosphere! The stands were packed with Lewis students in their red attire and they were doing their best to keep their team going and trying to get into our heads. Don’t get me wrong; these fans were doing it well within the framework of being great college fans and it created an energy in the gym that was fun in which to compete!

“All the best laid plans…sigh!”

Playing the Lewis Flyers at their place is not an easy job. A team must come in ready to take care of the ball on their side of the net and also ready to compete…hard…and for as long as the match takes. If either of these factors slips, Lewis will make you pay!



Game one saw PSU come out firing to a 5-1 lead but Lewis wasn’t about to roll over and they tied at 7. At 17-16, Lewis committed three errors in a row for a 20-16 PSU lead. From that point on PSU remained pretty steady and a Sunder kill ended game one 30-26. Game one leaders were Price (Kills – 7), Hendries (Blocks – 2), Lipsitz (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .306 while Lewis hit .163.

Game two had PSU leading 7-3, but after that we seemed to lose our rhythm and Lewis kept hanging around. The crowd got louder, responding to their team’s effort and hustle, and after a Lewis stuff to cut PSU’s lead to 20-19 they had another stuff followed by a PSU hitting error then a Lewis ace and a Lewis kill for a 20-23 Lewis lead. The crowd was going crazy and it affected our ability to communicate…which we aren’t really great at right now…and made their team believe they could do no wrong. We managed to close to 28-29 but a Lewis kill gave them – and their crowd – game two 28-30. Game two leaders for the Nittany Lions were Price (Kills – 7), Sunder (Blocks – 1; Digs – 3), Hendries (Blocks – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 3). PSU hit .417 to Lewis’ .364.

On to game three and both teams picked up where game two left off. Neither team could separate from the other through the first half of the game. At 15-15, two Price kills and a Hendries ace gave PSU an 18-15 lead. PSU kept siding out and at 29-25 a Sunder kill ended game three 30-25. Game three leaders were Sunder (Kills – 6; Aces - 1), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2), Hendries (Aces – 1) and Goas and Del Valle (Digs – 6). PSU hit .302 while Lewis hit .275.

Game four was one where we expected Lewis to come out with all barrels blazing. I had hoped we could weather an early storm and quiet the crowd or we could find ourselves in a game five. Lewis did come out on fire out to a 3-6 lead but after a Lewis attack error made it 8-9, Alan Mars went back to serve and tied it with an ace. A Goas/Lipsitz stuff was followed by two Price kills and PSU had a 12-9 lead. From that point on PSU received 11 serves and sided out on all of them. We effectively slammed the door shut on the Flyers and waited for our chances to increase our lead. Three points were scored by PSU from 19-16 to go 22-16; three more points to go from 24-19 to 27-19. Then after a Price kill made it 28-20, Ryan Wolf came in to serve and his first point was scored when Lewis hit a ball out of bounds. His match point was scored from his dig which was converted to a kill by Price for a 30-20 win. Game four leaders were Price (Kills – 7), Sunder (Blocks – 2; Digs – 4), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2), Mars (Aces – 1) and Goas and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .351 while Lewis hit .091.

I really liked how we responded after the game two loss. The crowd was fired up. Lewis was feeling invincible and we just kinda hitched up our pants and went to work! Winning in a hostile environment is more about keeping your poise and concentration and doing what you do and doing it well for an extended period of time. It just seemed that we broke the crowd and their team lost a vital piece of their game. It was a very good, competitive effort from the guys. Match leaders were Price (Kills – 26), Lipsitz (Blocks – 5; Aces - 1), Sunder, Mars and Hendries (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 17). PSU out-hit the Flyers .342 to .213; out-aced them 4 to 2 and out-dug them 60 to 46. Lewis out-blocked us 13 to 10.

The best laid plans…as the saying goes…seemed to implode once we made it to the hotel after we passed and served. The hotel wasn’t quite ready for us at 1:30…and in their defense check-in was 3 PM but we did get in our rooms after a twenty minute wait. Then a computer took at least twenty minutes to boot up when we needed it for the scouting report which took us out of our pre-game routine slightly, but we got through it then jumped on the bus to head to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Now Outback was a minute walk from the hotel. We could see it from the hotel but, me being the overly efficient guy that I am, said let’s just take the bus so we can jump in and head to the gym when we’re finished with dinner! Somehow the bus’s GPS took us away from Outback…we could see it from the bus for the entire trip which took close to 12 minutes and would have taken more had we not decided to go to the Texas Roadhouse…VISUALLY! Colin was sitting in his seat across from me on the bus and I know he wanted to say to the GPS “I got your left turn right here!!” Nevertheless, we get into the Texas Roadhouse and enjoy a very good meal. Our waitress picks up our checks at 5:18 PM… I know because we wanted to get to the gym around 5:30 and it was ten minutes away. I am thinking that we’ll be alright. Well, there were four of us at my table and three at another that waited over 10 minutes for our change! I don’t want to stereotype here but I would warn all of you if your waitress is named “Breezy”! We managed to get to the gym at 5:50 with our routine completely disrupted but we come out of the match with a great effort and good win…so what is “routine” really worth? As the late Myron Cope would utter, “Yoy”!

So tomorrow we head up to Loyola for a noon Pass ‘n Serve. We’ll watch some video then Colin (the Chicago boy that he is) is taking us for Giordana’s(?) Pizza. I apologize to you Chicago area natives for not being familiar with this local favorite but Colin promises a great meal there. Then we should be back to the gym by 5:15 or so…unless “Breezy” works two jobs!

I’ll be back to you tomorrow on the bus ride back to State College with the results!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the Guys
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #14 (1/28/10)

Greetings from Route 322!

We are heading north to Phillipsburg to pick up Route 80 for our journey toward Chicago for this weekend’s matches against Lewis and Loyola. I apologize for the delayed update regarding our match Tuesday night against the Juniata Eagles. The Nittany Lions defeated the Eagles in the Battle of Route 26 (or The Meet Me at McMurtry’s Match) 30-19, 30-27, 30-18.

Coach Tait did it right!

The Nittany Lions took Sunday to recover from the Springfield trip and Monday to prepare for the Eagles. The last time we faced them was in the EIVA finals and they were only missing two players from that team. They have a new setter and a new middle to replace Matt Werle and Dan Powers. Everyone else was back.

Game one had PSU explode out to a 9-1 lead behind some solid blocking and efficient transition offense…of course; tough Will Price serving made them pretty one dimensional. The Nittany Lions kept the accelerator pressed to the floor and gained a 24-12 lead. It was then the Eagles seemed to settle down and play better. They blocked a couple of balls and seemed to feel more comfortable hitting against our block but it was too little too late as a Lipsitz kill closed out game one 30-19. Leaders were Sunder (Kills – 4), Lipsitz and Hendries (Blocks – 3), Price (Aces – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 2). PSU hit .300 and held JC to .000.

Game two had PSU get to a 14-7 lead and force a JC timeout. After the TO, JC started to claw back and they were aided by four PSU errors, two JC stuffs and a JC ace to close to 23-22. PSU moved their sideout game up a level and sided out the rest of the way. A Price kill gave PSU game two 30-27. PSU leaders were Price (Kills – 5; Aces – 1), Goas (Blocks – 2), Comfort and Sunder (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .464 and Juniata hit .404.

Game three saw PSU once again gain a 14-7 lead but this time there was a “see-and-raise” response to Juniata’s attempt to get back into the game as PSU pushed the lead to 20-8. With Price serving, the Nittany Lions block and defense created opportunities for Goas to run a deadly transition offense. We then managed to get some other guys into the match and gain some experience. JC found their sideout game and at 28-14 they ran off three points to make it 28-17 but at 29-18 a Hendries kill gave the match to PSU 30-18. Game leaders for the Nittany Lions were Sunder (Kills – 4), Goas, Lipsitz, Hendries and Comfort (Blocks – 1), Price (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .286 while holding JC to -.029.

We thought one advantage we may have is that this was JC’s first road game. They had practiced and played in the Kennedy Sports & Rec Center for the last 2 weeks. It is a smaller gym and we felt if we could get our serves on them the perspective of Rec Hall may throw their passing off a bit. Now, whether it did or didn’t, I don’t know but our serving did keep them from running a full offense and our block and defense reaped the benefits. Match leaders for the Nittany Lions were Sunder (Kills – 11) Goas, Lipsitz and Hendries (Blocks – 5), Price (Aces – 4) and Del Valle (Digs – 10). PSU out-hit the Eagles .349 to .115 (with 15 more kills); out-blocked them 11 to 9; out-aced them 7 to 2 and out-dug JC 26 to 15.

Coach Tait did indeed do it right! One reason for the delayed update was last evening I travelled, accompanied by the PSU Voice of Volleyball himself, Dean DeVore, to Orchard Park, NY to pay our respects to the Anderson family. Mike’s viewing was last night and tonight. His funeral will be tomorrow morning. Being able to hug Matt and his mom and share memories of Mike, even for a short time, made us laugh and feel him near to us. But, as I said Coach Tait did it right: Edgardo, Will, Jesse and Max left Rec Hall immediately upon conclusion of Tuesday’s match and travelled to the Buffalo area to be with Matty and his family. When Dean and I arrived yesterday, Matt let us know that he heard from many of the PSU MVB alumni and friends. Coach had built this program on the strength of relationships. WE have witnessed the annual revisiting of this every Alumni Match and banquet, but to see it at full strength with the generations of PSU MVB letting Matt and his family know we were there for them was overwhelming for me! It just reinforces that this program is so much bigger than just any one player or any one team. It allows me to look recruits and their parents dead in the eye and say that PSU MVB is a family that will always be there for one another…no matter when, no matter where and no matter how.

I have been fortunate to have been part of many special occasions through our storied history but I can’t recall being more proud of our program and our alumni and what we believe than I was when Matty was telling me who had called, emailed or Facebooked him and what he has received from the PSU MVB family! Coach Tait did it right – Thanks Coach!!!

Some of you may have heard that the Anderson family has requested in lieu of flowers they would suggest donations to Penn State Men’s Volleyball. From all of us to them, we are very humbled that they would choose to honor Mike’s memory through us. So if you are considering a donation in Mike’s name simply make the check out to Penn State University and in the memo line write Mike Anderson memorial /PSU men’s volleyball. Please send it to One Old Main, University Park, PA 16802. With the blessing of the Anderson family we will find an appropriate way to honor Mike, not only this year but through future generations of PSU MVB! In the meantime, please keep the Anderson family in your hearts and prayers!

I’ll be back to all of you after tomorrow’s Lewis match!

Did I mention how much I love travelling Route 80?

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the Guys
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #13 (1/23/10)

Greetings from the second seat behind the driver:

Now you have my view!

The Nittany Lions opened the EIVA travel season with a 33-31, 30-22, 30-26 win over the Springfield Pride tonight.

Sad news today.

This match historically has followed a similar script over the many years that we have made the trip up Route 91 to Blake Arena. That script has the Nittany Lions getting leads in game one only to see Springfield battle back, get their crowd into the game and keep game one close through the end. Then the Nittany Lions get back to physical, error-free volleyball and control games two and three with some line-up changes. Tonight was no different.

Game one began with the teams staying fairly even and being tied at 16. At this point, PSU had committed 6 hitting errors and had been blocked three times. It wasn’t exactly scintillating volleyball! We managed to steady out and gain a 28-24 lead, but then a Pride kill followed by two Pride stuffs closed the lead to 28-27. A PSU kill gave the Nittany Lions game point at 29-27 and then the Pride hit a ball out of bounds…however…we were in the top of the net for a blocking error. No problem we just need a sideout but a Pride stuff tied it at 29. We ended up siding out the rest of the way and a Sunder ace ended the game at 33-31. Game one leaders were Price (Kills – 10), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2), Sunder (Aces – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 6). PSU hit .190 while the Pride hit .211.

Game two saw PSU’s serving and defense keep pressure on Springfield. Points were behind scored with just about every service term and PSU gained a 22-13 lead and never let them back into the game. A Kyle Mars kill ended the game 30-22. Game two leaders were Lipsitz (Kills – 5; Blocks – 4), Price (Aces – 10) and Del Valle (Digs – 6). PSU hit .225 while Springfield hit -.030.

Game three had Alan and Kyle Mars start along with Nick Turko in the middle. It was very similar to game one as it was tied at 16. At 22-21, two PSU kills and a Springfield Pride error later it was 25-21 and PSU held the four point advantage through a Nick Turko kill for a 30-26 win. Game three leaders were Price (Kills – 8), Goas (Blocks – 1; Aces – 2), Sunder and Turko (Blocks – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 6). PSU hit .303 to the Pride’s .231.

The match had everything pointing against the Nittany Lions: Sunder’s upper back seized up and he had a tough time swinging at balls; PSU was not very clean and Springfield and their fans were on a roll in game one, and I changed starters and didn’t let any group develop any type of rhythm –hit throughout the match. Yet, we kept plugging away and eventually evened out and physically started to score points in transition. It wasn’t pretty but we got contributions from the guys we need and expect them from…especially when things weren’t happening the way we wanted them to happen. Match leaders were Price (Kills – 22), Lipsitz (Blocks – 6), Sunder, Price and Goas (Aces – 2) and Del Valle (Digs – 18). PSU out-hit SC .235 to .145; out-aced them 6 to 1 and out-dug them 38 to 35. The Pride out-blocked us 11 to 8.

Tonight in the middle of game three, Edgardo chased a ball into the scorer’s table. He didn’t get it but he went hard into the table. Sitting on the other side of the table was EIVA head of officials, Scott Atkinson. Scott rode up to the match with us in his duties to the EIVA and what does he get for his efforts? Knocked off his chair by Edgardo! Now, several years ago as a linesperson, in Rec Hall Scott was knocked off his feet in what, to this day, is the worst linesperson-player collision I have witnessed. The crowd tonight gave Scott a good ovation when he “bounced” back up as a good volleyball official should! A couple of plays later the Springfield libero chased a ball toward the scorer’s table and dove for the ball into the front of the table. He severely dented the facing of the table but he too returned to the game. It was not a good night to be seated at the table!

After the match we joined the Connnecticut Valley Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association for pizza. We like to thank them and Terry Schnure for organizing the event and bringing a little bit of Rec Hall into the Blake Arena tonight. We had a great time with the group! Thanks very much!

There is sad news from today in the PSU MVB family. We got word that Matt Anderson's dad, Mike, passed away last night from a heart attack. For those who were in the gym when Matt played Mike could be heard, with that big, booming voice of his, starting the “WE ARE…” cheer from the stands. Now, for me, that cheer will always bring back warm memories of Mike Anderson. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Matt and his family. We will miss Mike!

Our next match will be Tuesday night as we take on Juniata in Rec Hall for our third EIVA match of the season. We hope to see you in Rec Hall!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the Guys
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #12 (1/19/10)

Hello from Greetings once again from the couch!

This DSL stuff at home is awesome!! On Saturday the Varsity defeated the Alumni 30-26 and 30-24. The Geezer game which followed was a tightly contested match without any major injuries with the older guys defeating the almost-as-old as the older guys 30-28….I think! I was busy chatting with the alums and the press covering the event that I really didn’t catch the final score. I just knew there was no need for our trainers to take the court in that last match!

However, in the first game within the first three points the trainers were needed! No, not on the alumni side but on the varsity side. Freshman opposite Tom Comfort may have been mesmerized by a slow moving, but accurate, crosscourt shot from Alumni opposite Ken Steadman (PSU ’06) that smacked him right in the nose! In the first account of the Alumni truly drawing first blood, the trainers were needed to wipe the floor and tend to Tom’s schnozz. While the floor was being tended to, not only did Jay attempt to use what Kelly used in Hawaii to stop a nosebleed (hitting the sole of the feet) but so did R1 Mike O’Connor. So Tom had his nose hit and the bottom of his feet hit several times…and none of it from me after watching him not be ready to play defense on that swing!

The Alumni team that took the court was Steadman at opposite with Travis Foltz (Captain of the 2008 NCAA Champions, PSU ’08) setting, Jay Stauffer (PSU ’09) and Aaron Smith (PSU ’07) at the left antenna; Keith Kowal (PSU ’05) and Kevin Hourican (PSU ’96) in the middle and Ryan Walthall (PSU ’07) at libero.

We managed to get everyone into two games against that team and Kowal and Hourican seemed to survive; however, Kevin took a ball off his elbow and it ballooned up so I hope he is able to bend it this week. Walthall kept running back toward the west stands to track balls down then run back to the court to get into the rally then run back. The only thing missing was strength and conditioning coach, Kirk Adams, saying “Ready, GO!” Smitty and Jay used all their savvy against the young block; unfortunately, they could have used about five more vertical inches! Steadman drew blood and will go down in Alumni lore for that heater that undoubtedly, as the years move on, accumulate more and more velocity than it really had on Saturday.

The varsity played a very good two games as balls didn’t fall and serves weren’t missed, but they did it with the spirit of the Alumni match showing strongly: play hard, play well and have fun with the alums! So the varsity captured the first competition of the day with a 2-0 win over the alums.

After the Geezer Game, the annual ball pull pitted Keith Kowal against Max Lipsitz. Now, for those not familiar with this annual competition, held may I add with the remembrance of John “Griz” Phillips, the PSU MVB World Champion of the Ball Pull, one must grasp volleyball and without twisting or jerking one must pull the ball out of the hand of the fellow competitor. I think I need to get a rubber bracelet made with the letters WWGD – for What Would Griz Do – for the winner. It is a best of three contest refereed, of course, by Guad. Lipsitz won in two. Next year we will need a held-held camera to capture the event on Rec Hall’s big screens! So the varsity was 2-0 in competitions.

Here was the post match photo of the teams…anyone missing must have been under the bleachers because no one was left lying on the court!

We then reconvened at the Atherton Hotel for the banquet. Guad gave a great history of the program in introducing most of the alums present. He did it much more concisely than did Jeff Keller at the Booster Club Social after the SFU match up on the mezzanine! It was an honor to have in attendance Grace Bardine and Harry and Sue Kauffman, who have endowed two scholarships for PSU MVB! Coach Tait was there allowing us to once again do what we do …as he shook his head!

After an outstanding dinner, the entertainment started with the presentation of the stools. Each new member of the team gets their very own blue-and-white stool complete with uniform number and a list of PSU MVB alums who have worn that number in the past on the seat. The freshman must read the list of those who came before him and then a photo is taken of him and any of the listed alums who are in attendance. Let’s just say that Ian Hendries had a tough time with the names of those who wore #12!

We also honored Frank Agnew with a stool for he was the only player to ever wear the number 0 and John Hartranft was honored for running the PSU MVB Alumni website. Also, every year a MVG – Most Valuable Geezer – award is given to someone for something! Seriously, it can be anything done in the match, outside the match, getting to the match, etc. Once it was given to an alum who attended five consecutive alumni weekends with a different woman each of those five years! This year the recipient was Chuck Kegerreis (PSU ’82). He has begun to populate the new generation of PSU MVB as his son Scott is a red-shirt freshman this year! PSU MVB also honored Scott and Rose Atkinson as the PSU MVB Man and Woman of the Year for all they do for PSU Volleyball and volleyball in general. For those who do not know the Atkinsons, they have been long time referees, referee raters and assignors and have been involved with just about every generation of PSU MVB. They are very deeply appreciated by PSU MVB.

Then we moved to the final competition: the Old Black Water sing-off! The varsity offers their rendition then do the alums. It is the 35th anniversary of Old Black Water hitting #1 and to commemorate it I managed to get in touch and tell our story to Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons, the two remaining original Doobie Brothers. Pat wrote us a great note which was read to the group and can be best described by Yak’s reaction: “That was WAAY COOL!”

The varsity attempted to sing to a recorded version, by the Doobies. The attempt was, at best, unique but not well executed! The Alums took the stage with great confidence and with the intent to do justice to Tom and Pat’s creation. Whether we did or not is up to debate, but as the applause registered for the Alums it was not going to be a clean varsity sweep! The Alumni took the Old Black Water sing-off on its 35th anniversary with a “dramatic reading” as an introduction and mellifluous tones to the music…it wasn’t close!

So, many thanks to all in attendance and to Guad and Yak for the work the put into organizing it. PSU MVB has the best Alumni group around….just don’t ask us to join a serving contest! Until next year, keep that paddle wheel thumpin'!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the Guys



 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #11 (1/19/10)

Greetings to al!

I have written to you from the busses, planes, hotel rooms and office, but with the addition of DSL this past July in the Huntingdon area I am now greeting you from the comfort of my couch! Friday evening the Nittany Lions defeated the Red Flash of Saint Francis University 30-22, 30-20, 30-20 in front of 873 AND our esteemed PSU MVB alumni!

Early January affects everyone.

The Red Flash opened their season this past Tuesday with a 3-0 win over NYU. We did not have a particularly good week of practice and I was concerned facing a Red Flash team that returned everyone except the setter from last year’s team. Then, on top of that, we had the Alumni match and the Alumni Banquet the next day; so many Alums were in town for the weekend. Would our guys be looking past SFU?

PSU led 8-4 and a proceeded to only give up two real points the rest of the way. A Price kill ended game one 30-22. It really wasn’t a sharp game one for PSU. We missed eight serves, blocked one ball and hit three out-of-bounds. However, we managed to sideout at a pretty good clip and held SFU scoring chances to a minimum. PSU game one leaders were Sunder (Kills – 5; Blocks – 1), Price (Kills – 5), Hendries (Blocks – 1), Goas and Comfort (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 7). PSU hit .455 while SFU hit .214.

Game two had PSU go up 9-3 and never let the Red Flash back into the game. The lead stretched to 16-9 after a Lipsitz ace and then 29-19 after a Sunder ace. A Comfort kill ended the game at 30-20. Game two was still not very crisp by the Nittany Lions. We gave up ten points on service errors, three on hitting errors and one reception error. Out of 20 points scored by SFU we were directly responsible for 14 of them! Game two leaders were Price (Kills – 5), LIpsitz (Blocks – 1), Sunder (Aces – 3) and Del Valle (Digs – 3). PSU hit .367 while holding SFU to -.095.

In between games two and three, a serving contest is held by drawing people out of the stands to serve to targets in order to win prizes. Only tonight, the contestants were the PSU MVB alumni! The staff and team were in the locker room and by the time we got back on the court we had missed most of our alumni serves…much like we had missed most of our serves in games one and two (18 total service errors) but we did hear about Yak’s attempt. Luckily, there was a picture of the aftermath of his serve taken by Mike Milliron of the PSU Varsity S Club:

Yes, that is Yak “recovering” from his “serve”. I think the ball is taunting him!

Game three had Mars and Turko enter the lineup. The game was tied at 6 but a PSU run moved the score to 14-9; however, SFU fought back and the Nittany Lions took a timeout at 16-15. Up to this point, it seemed as if the SFU hitters were trying to miss our block and play safe. We had only three blocks to that point in the match. It was at 17-16 that PSU went on a 13-4 run. SFU seemed to decide to challenge the PSU block with their swings but the PSU block answered their challenge and responded. Three stuff blocks and three control blocks lead to that run and when the third block by Sunder and Turko hit the floor the match was over at 30-20. Game three leaders were Sunder (Kills – 6; Blocks – 2; Aces – 1), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2) and Price (Digs – 3). PSU hit .371 while SFU hit .081. It was a much cleaner game for the Nittany Lions as we missed three serves and hit three balls out-of-bounds.

So the match had me worried about the two SFU senior hitters: Nick Rivett on the leftside and Jordan Varee on the rightside. We held Varee, their returning All-American opposite, to a .000 hitting percentage and Rivett to .136. Defensively, we managed to touch just about everything that our block did not and as the match wore on our efficiency for converting those digs into points improved markedly. Match leaders for the Nittany Lions were Price (Kills – 16), Lipsitz (Blocks – 3), Sunder (Blocks – 3; Aces – 4) and Del Valle (Digs – 10). PSU out-hit the Red Flash .398 to .081; out-blocked them 6 to 5; out-aced them 9 to 1 and out-dug them 32 to 26.

Early January volleyball affects everyone. Players aren’t quite as sharp as they will be down the road. Coaches are still trying to gauge their teams’ strengths and weaknesses. Managers are trying to figure out how to turn the camera on to catch the first several serves of the match and referees are trying to make the jump back to the men’s game from the women’s season. Yes, the referees we are honored to have work our matches are one of the main reasons for the growth of the men’s game. In my career I can honestly say that the majority those who work men’s game do it with the intent of making the game better. They officiate to allow athleticism and physicality to develop and move the game into something more than just accepted technique and robotic actions. I have enjoyed watching the good ones work our matches…even if there are instances where I don’t see what they see. I know how hard my team works at getting better and I know how hard my colleagues have their teams working to get better and the majority of referees work hard every night to let the players decide the match. We have some great ones blowing the whistle for us!

Now having said that, as our game three lineup was being checked by Friday’s R2. I was told I had the wrong number in the game. I didn’t question it…although; I did give the lineup to Jay to check prior to me turning it into the scorekeeper. I mean, hey, I royally screwed up our lineup last year at Ohio State. I accepted the situation that I messed up again. Then I was told I had a second wrong player in the game…but before I could respond the scorekeeper loudly asked the R2 if the game three lineup card, which she held in her hand, would help with the lineup questions. So, for the record, I have yet to mess up my lineup…although the year is very young! You’ll get that with early January volleyball. By the way, the officials did a terrific job in the match.

So now we look forward to the Alumni match and banquet tomorrow! I’ll be sure to get back to you with that update soon!

All the best,

Pav, Colin, Jay and the Guys
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #10 (1/11/10)

Hello from Gate C4 of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport!

It is 5:30 AM and we are laying over for our 6:45 AM flight to Philly where we will be greeted by our erstwhile Cole Bus Driver, Jerry Clark, and bussed back to Rec Hall! It occurred to me - somewhere at 35,000 feet above the eastern Pacific - that while the past three updates gave you info on the matches there were additional notes that you may find a little interesting…or maybe not.

After getting to the Ohana Beachcomber Hotel on Tuesday, as is tradition, we held a quick team meeting and then Colin, Jay, Birch, Kelly and John Saxton hoofed over to the Outrigger Reef on the Beach where the Shorebird Restaurant patiently awaits us. Long time friend and Hawaii Men’s Volleyball Booster Club President Basil Sparlin and his better half, Kathy, had the table waiting for us. Once we sat down the trip out to Hawaii was officially over! For the next couple of hours, after the introductions of the newbies and over great grilled steak, chicken or fish we got caught up on each others’ years.Their son BJ is getting married this November to Dorie, so the Sparlins are welcoming another daughter. Their daughter Kym is still coaching the really young kids and having a blast.

We did consider giving Dennis and Tara Hohenshelt a call during dinner but we really didn’t want to wake Jake up. Dennis was with me when the Shorebird tradition started and he and Basil and Kathy were always willing to try new beers. Thankfully, Colin and Jay have filled that role not only appropriately but with the right amount of gusto for Bas and Kathy’s liking! For those who don’t know about the Shorebird, it sits on the beach. The surf is literally ten yards away from the open air restaurant. There is a large grill for the customers to grill their own steak, chicken or fish. Next to the grill is a superb salad bar. I have said before that the steers that give their lives for the steaks I have had there deserve sainthood! I heartily recommend at least one trip there if you find yourself in Waikiki.

Much like the Shorebird dinner tradition, my first breakfast is at the fine establishment known as Moose McGilliguddies. In earlier years they featured a $1.99 breakfast special but I can recommend the omelettes. You won’t be disappointed. The Moose and the Shorebird…even our academic advisor Jim Weaver would agree with me…two must visit places in Waikiki!

We then loaded up the vans and headed to the Stan Sherriff Center for our practice. Meeting us in the gym was Rich Sherriff, the manager of the SSC. Over the years Rich has helped us out immensely and has become a great friend. His office could be a sports museum of sorts. His new addition was a tuna which he caught this summer. The next biggest item may very well be a pair of autographed Shaquille O’Neill shoes! The Lakers train at the SSC every other year and the Big Aristotle signed his shoes for Rich!

Also at the practice was Stein Metzger. Stein was an All-American setter from UCLA, class of 1996! Stein grew up in Hawaii and since retiring from the AVP tour he is settling in back home with his wife. They are expecting their first child at the end of May. Stein was preparing for his initial color commentary responsibilities for KFVE. K5 broadcasts all the UH volleyball matches to the entire island and Stein was preparing for his debut on Friday evening. Even as a Bruin, Stein was one of my favorites. He has a magnetic personality and laughter comes so easy when you are around him. Later after practice Stein took Colin, Jay and I to the Outrigger Canoe Club. The OCC is over 100 years old. It began as a club for Hawaii businessmen who wanted someplace they could leave their surf boards and boats. It is a great club and anybody who is anybody in Hawaii volleyball grew up on the sand courts at the club. Jay could barely contain himself as he finally got a board and headed out to wide the waves. Colin followed…ya gotta talk to him about his venturing to the waves. Meanwhile, Stein’s 7 year old nephew and family were at the club and I watched as Stein played volleyball with Lucas. Stein will make a great dad in another 5 months!

Later that evening, Jack and Frances Tsui invited me to dinner at the Wailai Country Club. The Hawaii Open is being played their this week. Last year I was invited to golf with Jack on the course. It is beautiful. The mountains on one side of the course and the ocean on the other make for some gorgeous golf holes! Spending time with Jack and Frances in Hawaii is always nice since I get to see Jack when he is in State College. They are terrific people!

The hotel was recently refurbished and includes a Jimmy Buffet Beachcomber Bar and Restaurant on site. Friday evening, after our 3 hour marathon with Hawaii, I returned to my room and heard music. My 10th floor room’s balcony overlooked the bar and pool area and as I opened the door to the balcony I realized it was live music. Being played was Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville…by none other than the man himself!!! Yep, Jimmy Buffet in an unannounced appearance apparently played that night in his restaurant! Sean Byron, OSU’s assistant coach, managed to get back from the SSC early enough to catch a good bit of it. Kelly and Susan Bedsworth also caught the last several songs. Jimmy Buffet was ten floors below my room! Only in Hawaii!!

The weekend was a very good one for us! We finished 2-1 and, at times, showed flashes of being a very good team. We come out to this tournament in order to understand the standard of performance we must have in order to be at our best in April and May. Playing good, physical teams will point out our warts faster than anything and that has been a big reason for our successes later in the year.

There are so many people to which we need to thank. Firstly, new Hawaii head coach, Charlie Wade who, by all accounts this weekend, will have a great career coaching the UH men. He and his staff ran a great tournament and the men’s game will benefit from having Charlie coaching in our ranks. Director of Athletics Jim Donovan and his staff makes the event a special one for men’s volleyball. John Fink and staff of K5 put on the best production of men’s volleyball for TV on every time the whistle blows. Jim Leahey, the voice of Hawaii sports, has become a great friend and just a great person. Sitting in games one and three with him to my left gives me someone to whom I can react and he being the ultimate professional never misses a beat with his call of the match!

It also is nice to chat with the Hawaii volleyball beat reporters: Cindy Luis of the Star Bulletin and Stephen Tsai of the Advertiser. Both have been around for the majority of the Outriggers. That’s not saying they’re old, they are a big part of the weekend for us. True professionals and good friends, they are!

Finally, a big thanks goes to Outrigger CEO Dave Carey. He has been at every Outrigger in the last 16 years and has treated men’s volleyball very well. He is a wonderful man who gives of his time. His Outrigger hotels have been treating us so well over the years.

We are boarding for Philly so I will continue on the bus…

We are now headed toward State College on the bus. The guys are quiet and tired. I can only imagine the discomfort they put up with on those flights. These guys are folded into those airline seats for quite some time. Try as I might, I can’t get real comfortable wedged into those seats and I am amazed with what these guys do to have some semblance of comfort.

I was awake as we were landing at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport this morning and witnessed a beautiful moonrise. An orange lower sliver of a rising crescent moon was about five degrees above the eastern horizon. Since it was so low in the horizon it was magnified and look huge. We were still thirty minutes or so away from dawn so the stars were out and the lights of the Dallas-Fort Worth area were just starting to blink on. It was as pretty a sight as I have seen from a plane.

We’ll get back to State College where there is an athletic department sponsored party honoring the PSU WVB team and staff for their great run to their third consecutive NCAA championship. Our guys want to go and our staff will also stop by. From there I head to pick up Jack from a birthday party. One of Jack’s friend’s parents will take him after school and get the boys to the party. Heather and Larry are heading to Virginia to do a home visit with one of their recruits today and she won’t be home until tomorrow. So goes life in the Pavlik household: Me back from Hawaii, Heather off to Virginia and Jack heading to a birthday party!

Now we get ready for the Saint Francis Red Flash on Friday. They will be returning everyone except a setter but a very good one was on the squad last year and will be ready to step in this year. Then we welcome back our vaunted alumni on Saturday. I am really looking forward to this weekend and seeing everyone. I hope you can make it also! I’ll be back with updates on the weekend!

All the best
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #9 (1/10/10)

Greetings once again from Room 1012 of the Ohana Beachcomber!

The Nittany Lions defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes tonight 30-16, 30-27, 24-30, 30-25 to finish 2-and-1 in the 2010 Outrigger Invitational. The Hawaii Warriors defeated the USC Trojans tonight 3-1. So there was a three-way tie which was broken by set differential among the tied teams. Hawaii finished 8-4; USC was 7-4 and PSU was 6-6 so Hawaii was the 2010 Outrigger champions. Nittany Lions Joe Sunder and Max Lipsitz were named to the All-Tournament team.

What to do if your nose is bleeding.

Game one was all PSU as the Nittany Lions led 9-4 as the Buckeyes gave us a couple of points on their hitting errors and we stuffed a couple of balls, but in typical OSU fashion they kept coming back and closed to 12-10. At 16-12, Tom Comfort went back to serve and rattled off nine points. Comfort recorded three aces in that stretch which effectively snuffed out any hope of a tight game one. A Sunder/Hendries stuff ended the game at 30-16. Game one leaders were Price (Kills – 3), Lipsitz and Sunder (Blocks – 3), Comfort (Aces – 3) and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .400 while the Buckeyes hit -.118.

Game two saw OSU settle down and start to find a groove. PSU kept our level of play at a very acceptable level but like so many game twos between the teams this was shaping up to be a close one. Neither team could run away from the other. In fact, it was not until an OSU hitting error occurred at 20-18 to give us a three point lead. OSU made it close at 27-26 but PSU closed it out on a Lipsitz kill at 30-27. Game two leaders were Lipsitz (Kills – 8; Blocks – 1), Price (Blocks – 1; Aces – 1), Hendries and Comfort (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 6). PSU hit .474 and OSU hit .400.

After the ten minute break, the Nittany Lions came out and promptly fell behind 3-8. It was as if that break in the locker room reminded our guys that we were a little weary from the previous night’s match against Hawaii. For whatever reason, the spark wasn’t on the court with us and OSU made us pay. We managed to put a mid-game push together to get back to 19-22 but OSU held us off the rest of the way and after their stuff the game was theirs at 24-30. Game three leaders were Wolf (Kills – 3), Lipsitz (Blocks – 3) and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit -.031 and the Buckeyes were at .212.

Game four was going to be one where we had to scratch and claw and just flat-out compete because we clearly not at our physical best. There would be times when someone would need to step up. Much like game two, neither team could pull away from the other. After a kill by Price gave cut the Buckeye lead to 18-20, freshman Ian Hendries went behind the line to serve. Now, Ian’s serve will no doubt get better as he develops but at this time, a time when we needed something good, not necessarily great, Ian served us through five points. We had two stuffs, a couple of kills and an OSU hitting error and the lead was 23-20 for the Nittany Lions. Then freshman Tom Comfort got the back for PSU with a big blast from the rightside and he went back to serve. His first was an ace for a 25-21 lead. We added one more real point on a kill during Price’s serve and the match was wrapped up on a Sunder/Hendries stuff for a 30-25 win. Game four leaders were Sunder (Kills – 8), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2), Comfort and Goas (Aces – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .344 to OSU’s .143.

In a match which recovery was more an issue than volleyball and competitiveness was more valuable than physicality, the Nittany Lions did well. I was very pleased that two freshmen, at the key moment of the match, performed as they have been trained. Ian kept his serve on them and Tom just kept swinging. Our upperclassmen then provided their experience to keep the lead that the team acquired. It was a good match for us on several fronts. The primary benefit was knowing we could win when we didn’t have our best stuff. We won’t be playing three matches in three days at any other time during the year. Winning this way will give us something from which to draw. Match leaders were Sunder (Kills – 17), Lipsitz (Blocks – 9), Comfort (Aces – 4) and Del Valle (Digs – 18). PSU out-hit OSU .299 to .169; out-blocked them 16 to 11.5 and out-dug them 47 to 40. Both teams served 8 aces.

Back to the nose bleed issue. Prior to the start of the match, Will Price took an errant ricochet off the schnozz and his nose was bleeding a little. Athletic Trainer extraordinaire, Kelly Saxton, attended to him as I was bringing the team together for the last instruction before we took the floor. In the middle of our huddle, Kelly told Will to sit on the floor. She then picked up his right foot and hit his right sole two or three times. The guys and me watched in curious silence as she did the same thing to his left sole! Will was still on the floor, Kelly said nothing and then started to stretch Max Lipsitz’s arm. One of the guys then asked as she was working on Max’s arm with Will looking up at her, if working on Max’s arm would stop Will’s nose bleed. She just told Will to stand up…the nose was not bleeding! It was at that point that I wondered if Kelly earned her degree from a mountaintop monastery in a hidden Eastern Asia jungle. I wondered if she knew Po, you know, the Kung Fu Panda! The things I learn these days!

We take off today at 6 PM and fly to Dallas (where we are scheduled to arrive at 5:30 AM tomorrow) then to Philly. We then bus back to Rec Hall. Friday we take on EIVA foe Saint Francis in Rec Hall and Saturday we have the best day of the year: the annual Alumni match and banquet! It’ll be a special one! I’ll be back to you all soon!

All the best
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions

 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #8 (1/9/10)

Greetings from Room 1012 of the Ohana Beachcomber!

The second night of the 2010 Outrigger Invitational saw the Nittany Lions defeat the Hawaii Warriors 26-30, 30-26, 30-23, 28-30, 15-9 in a 2 hour 54 minute match!

The Tooth Implant

OK, that was more like what Nittany Lions are supposed to do and how we are supposed to compete! Coming off of last night’s loss to USC the team wasn’t happy…yeah, they needed their milk and cookies but the mood was very determined in the afternoon’s pass and serve practice. The staff liked where this team was mentally.

Game one had PSU off to a slow start down 9-15 but we never backed off. Early on, freshman MB Nick Turko went down tweaking an ankle. Fellow freshman MB Ian Hendries was thrown into the hot kitchen. WE try to tell the guys who aren’t starting that they are one play away from being counted on to keep our standard of expectations high. Ian went in and never looked back. We kept creeping closer and closer finally getting to 26-27 where we had a dig but hit the ball out of bounds. We followed that by another hitting error in our first swing then UH served an ace and game one was over 26-30. This was eerily similar to last night’s first game where we self-destructed late. Is insanity doing the same thing over and over expecting the same results?? I sure hoped we would, as Coach Hosack said, get tired of getting kicked around and finally stand up for ourselves. Game one leaders were Price (Kills – 5: Aces – 1), Sunder (Blocks – 1; Aces – 1), Lipsitz (Blocks – 1), Goas (Blocks – 1) and Del Valle (Digs – 5). PSU hit .310 to UH’s .410.

Game two was tight as neither team could separate from the other by more than two points. UH finally got an 18-21 lead but a Sunder ace tied it at 23 and a Price kill preceded another Sunder ace for a 25-23 lead. The teams traded sideouts to 28-26 when a Sunder kill preceded a Price ace for a 30-26 win. Good things were starting to happen. Our offense was starting to jell and our block was starting to slow down the Warriors and we were converting. Game two leaders were Price (Kills – 7; Blocks – 1; Aces – 2; Digs - 4), Goas and Lipsitz (Blocks – 1) and Sunder (Aces – 2). PSU hit .382 while UH hit .480.

Game three had PSU controlling it from the get-go. We managed to gain an 11-7 lead and not look back as our offense, block and defense and serving were giving us scoring opportunities that we were converting. In fact, the only loss during that game was a personal one…more on that later. Game three leaders were Price (Kills – 7; Digs – 4), Comfort and Lipsitz (Blocks – 1) and Sunder (Aces – 1). PSU hit .528 to UH’s .333.

Game four was a close game that was fun to coach in and fun to watch. The Hawaii crowd was really behind their team and it seemed to fuel the Warriors. Neither team backed off and in the end a three point run took the Warriors from 25-25 to 25-28. PSU came back to close it to 28-29 but a Warrior kill ended the game 28-30. I was very proud of the effort and competitiveness we were exhibiting. We forced UH to play well and they did it a little bit better than we did at the end but in the history of the PSU – UH series an Outrigger wouldn’t be the same without a “belt-yourselves-in-and get-ready-for-a-wild-ride” five game match! We had it coming. Game four leaders were Sunder (Kills – 4; Blocks – 3), Price (Kills – 4; Aces – 1) and Comfort and Del Valle (Digs – 4). PSU hit .312 to UH’s .289.

It seemed as if the Warriors were tiring but the Kirk Adams-conditioned Nittany Lions were showing no sign of weariness. After a Price/Lipsitz stuff gave the Nittany Lions a 5-2 lead, UH called a timeout. Now these TO’s are about 2 minutes long due to TV and during the timeout I had planned to mention to freshman Tom Comfort to just keep doing what he had been doing. Tom was phenomenal in his first start. At that point he had 18 kills and was hitting around .500. He was a freshman though and in his first major five gamer in front of a loud crowd. I wanted to keep him focused so I looked for him on the bench. There he was, at the end of the bench, water cup in hand. No one was around him and he was just looking around singing! Yep, I thought, I don’t need to screw that up now! He was as cool as a cucumber…a singing one…like Larry from Veggie Tales. (Hey, if you have young kids you get the reference!) Any way we go back out and get to 13-9 on Larry the Cucumber…er…Comfort’s 21st kill. Two PSU stuffs followed and the match was ours. So win #1 of the 2010 season is in the books. Game five leaders were Comfort (Kills – 5), Lipsitz and Price (Blocks – 4) and Del Valle (Digs – 3). The Nittany Lions hit .583 in the game while holding UH to a .000 hitting percentage!

The guys trusted and showed their competitiveness. Dennis had some key digs late in the match. Ryan Wolf came in as a serving sub and scored four points for us through the match. Ian Hendries acquitted himself very well in his first collegiate action and our upper classmen rebounded nicely from last night’s match. I think we may have glimpsed something that with a little work could shine quite brightly for us as the season wears on. Match leaders were Price (Kills – 23; Aces – 4), Lipsitz (Blocks – 9), Sunder (Aces – 4) and Del Valle (Digs – 17). PSU out-hit UH .406 to .321; out blocked them 16 to 10; out-dug them 51 to 34 and out-aced them 10-7.

Now five game matches can cause great anguish to coaches. Hair loss, shaking and shallow breathing may be a few of the side effects experienced through the match. I can add one other thing: loss of an implant…a tooth implant! Yep, game three a timeout was called by UH. I had been chewing gum during the match. I stood up to meet our guys at the bench and the next thing I new my implant was out of my jaw in my mouth. It is best described as a small screw to which a crown is attached. I have yet to have the crown attached so through chewing I am sure the screw in my head…er…jaw became loose. It resembles a small stud to an earring. The best part was when I asked our trainer Kelly Saxton to hold on to it for me. She looked at it and told me she never would have guessed that I had a piercing! The coolness factor, even misguided, was waaay high for Kelly to even consider that for quick moment! So in the 16 years of Outrigger history I may be the first coach to lose an implant from my head, er jaw.

Tomorrow we face the Ohio State Buckeyes in our “Big Ten Season” opener. OSU lost in four to USC tonight but they, like us, played better today and I fully expect them to be even better tomorrow for us. We’ll see if we can recover as well from success tomorrow as we did from a loss today! I’ll be back to you later!


All the best
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions

P.S. 82 degrees today!
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #7 (1/8/10)

Greetings from Room 1012 of the Ohana Beachcomber!

The Nittany Lions were defeated in the opening night of the 2010 Outrigger Invitational by the USC Trojans 28-30, 24-30, 24-30.

Milk and cookies.

When I was younger I soon came to realize that no matter how bad things seemed or how upset I was over anything, the world was a better place during and after having milk and cookies…preferably Baba or Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies! Now there was the cure all for what ailed me: a cold glass of milk and those cookies. I am sure they strengthened and improved my immediate outlook on life like HGH and steroid cocktail to an early-2000’s clean-up hitter. The sun became brighter, cutting grass was a lot less boring and my sisters were downright more enjoyable!

I am sitting here having myself a cold glass of milk and cookies…no lie! Maybe my assistants are enjoying a more adult beverage but for me, tonight, it milk with cookies.

We began tonight expecting the Trojans to put the same line-up on the court as they had last year at the NCAA’s. We felt we had a good game plan against them but we also knew that the volleyball…on both sides of the net…would be early January volleyball. It would be streaky and if we could hang in there with them to 20-20 and let our competitiveness lead our volleyball we would be in a great position to win some games. Game one began with the Trojans playing the team game a bit better than us for a 3-8 lead…and that was to be expected as they only replaced their libero from last year, but the Nittany Lions closed the gap to 11-12 with three aces and a couple of kills and a USC error here and there. USC streaks to a 14-18 lead…excuse me as I get another cookie. We tie at 19! We are tied at 26! We are just where we want to be: tied late in a game and making plays. We have a chance at that point when we make a dig and our bail-out set is set waaay outside the antenna and we don’t get a swing…26-27 USC. Time for another cookie and swig of milk! We then have a swing blocked up in the air and it falls between our middle hitter, outside hitter and libero for 26-28. The next swing of ours sends the ball out of bounds…anybody want a cookie? 26-29! We get back to 28-29 but miss the serve for the 28-30 loss. Where’s the cookie?! Leaders for the Nittany Lions in that game were Sunder (Kills - 5), Goas (Blocks - 1; Digs - 3), Turko (Blocks – 1; Aces - 1), Price (Aces – 1; Digs - 3) and Mars (Aces – 1; Digs - 3). PSU hit .143 to USC’s .312.

Game two had PSU up 10-5! Our offense started to settle in and we were converting our opportunities, but USC went up 13-11 when PSU couldn’t put a ball away. Cookie, anyone? We eventually got back to 18-19, but then allowed USC to sprint to a 24-30 game two win as the Nittany Lions made four unforced hitter errors in that stretch. COOKIE? MILK? ANYBODY??! Game two Nittany Lion leaders were Lipsitz (Kills – 3; Blocks - 1), Price (Blocks – 1; Digs - 2), Goas (Aces - 1), Turko (Aces - 1) and Del Valle (Digs - 2). PSU hit .162 to USC’s .464.

Game three seemed to have PSU’s offense clicking as we were up 12-5! Again, we were playing well and converting our chances and blocking well. USC tied it at 19 as our passing started to falter…but, hey, we were tied at 20! WHERE ARE THOSE COOKIES? GONE! EXCUSE ME; THE ABC STORE IS RIGHT BELOW ON THE STREET I AM GOING TO GET SOME COOKIES!!! I’m back…where was I…oh, yeah…Once again, where we wanted to be, but from that point on we could only register 3 kills the rest of the way and USC made us pay with a 24-30 win for the match. MILK! Game three leaders were Sunder (Kills – 3; Blocks – 1), Turko and Lipsitz (Blocks – 1) and Goas (Digs – 3). PSU hit .324 while the Trojans hit .414.

The match hinged…or unhinged…on our final third of each game. Our volleyball is not where it will be in a week, month or months. We will be much better in the near future and not play January volleyball for long, but we have to believe in our competitiveness and be willing to grind out rallies and keep going after people. I certainly believe in our ability to compete but when we need to be at our best in crucial times of matches the guys need to believe and to rely on it. Drink? Cookie, anyone! Match leaders were Sunder (Kills – 14), Turko (Blocks – 2; Aces – 2), Lipsitz (Blocks – 2) and Goas (Digs – 6). PSU hit .208 to USC’s .393; had 4 blocks to their 8.5; 23 digs to their 32 and 5 aces to their 3.

All-in-all, USC played a much better game than did we when the games were up in the air for any team’s taking. They were a little more consistent at that time and, generally, played better as a team. The beauty of returning all players (minus a libero) showed for them. They are better than we are right now. This was the first 0-3 match loss we have suffered since April 14, 2007 at Loyola! However, after my milk and cookies I can’t help but to believe that this group of Nittany Lions will recover and pull themselves together and get after it. Our returning vets will no doubt respond and pick up their play. The new on-court guys will continue to compete hard and learn and meet the standard which is expected. We get that chance tomorrow night against host Hawaii! They defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes tonight 30-20, 30-20, 30-26. It’ll be a fun match and could go a long ways to molding this team’s competitive personality. I’ll be back to you tomorrow night! Now, I gotta go clean up the crumbs!

All the best
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #6 (1/5/10)

Happy New Year!

2010 is upon us and we have kicked the year off by getting back into south gym on January 2nd in preparation for this year’s Outrigger Invitational! In fact, the time is 2:45 AM on January 5th and I am in the office getting everything ready for our 4 AM bus ride down to Philadelphia where we will fly to Dallas/Ft. Worth then on to Honolulu. We are scheduled to arrive there at 5:50 PM local time – which is 10:50 PM our time. If you figure another hour for luggage, getting the vans and getting checked into the hotel our total travel time will be about 20 hours! I can hear the groans of disgust coming from many of you out there…especially the ones living in Central PA where the temperatures have been hovering around the single digits…about the weather to which we will have to acclimate in Hawaii!

We have been fortunate in the invitations to this and to past Outriggers. The University of Hawaii men’s volleyball will have a different look this year as long-time coach and friend Mike Wilton retired after last season. Former Wahine assistant Charlie Wade returns to the island to coach the men. No doubt Charlie will have the Warriors ready to go in this opening weekend.

Before we get to the Warriors we pick up where we last left off with the USC Trojans! The Trojans return all their starters except libero Luke Morris from last year’s NCAA runner-up team which we battled in the NCAA semifinals last year. Given their physicality I suspect that Thursday evening’s match with them will be a slugfest. It should be a great one to start the season and get the guys focused on the year!

Then we wrap up the tournament on Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes. It’ll be great to see Pete Hanson, Tim Embaugh and Sean Byron and to begin our 2010 Big Ten Season…of three matches…with them! They’ll have a little bit more experience in some positions and should be a strong contender for the MIVA championship!

So here we are, poised for another year of PSU men’s volleyball. For me it is hard to believe that we are at the starting line already. I am excited about the guys and the staff. We’ll be a different kind of team than in the past but even that may change as the season wears on and the guys improve and we figure out who we are and what we need to be in May!

The great thing is that we will have all of you with us for this journey! I can’t say enough how much we appreciate everything you do and all the support you’ve given PSU MVB over the years! Let’s get ready for a great ride this year!

All the best,
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #5 (11/16/09)

Greetings from Route 219 South!

Just passing through Sonyea, NY and heading for home! The Nittany Lions closed out the 2009 Preview to the Final Four Tournament with a 30-27, 30-28, 30-24 win over the Loyola Ramblers at Nazareth College. We stayed with the same philosophy as yesterday with three different lineups being played in the three games. We expected Loyola’s outside hitters to be very physical and also knew that they could get on some runs behind the serving line. We would have to make sure we sided out whenever we passed their jump serves well.

Game one had Lipsitz and Holt in the middle, Kyle Mars and Sunder at the outsides, Alan Mars at opposite and Goas and Del Valle at setter and libero. We managed to open up a three point lead early and kept the lead through the game. It seemed we were frustrating Loyola because we weren’t giving up easy points and they really tried to apply pressure from behind the endline but had trouble controlling their serves. In fact, our last three points were scored by three consecutive service errors for the 30-27 win.

Game two saw Hendries and Shipp in the middle, Pereira and Wolf on the outside, Sunder at opposite with Goas and Wagner at setter and libero. This game was interesting in that we kept giving up two to three point runs and finding ourselves down only to come right back and tie it up, but we would give the points right back. We managed to tie at 20 and go on a mini-run ourselves to go up 24-21 but couldn’t quite shake the Ramblers. We missed a serve at 29-26 and then overpassed their serve to make it 29-28 but then a Sunder kill gave us game two at 30-28.

Game three was to be the tenth different lineup we used this weekend with Lipsitz and Turko in the middle, Kyle Mars and Sunder at outside, Comfort at opposite and Covello and Del Valle setting and at libero. We were down by one or two until we took the lead at 16-15 and really never looked back. The Ramblers outside hitters started to spray the ball a bit and our block finally started to slow them down and stuff them. Our transition game was working well as it seemed like every ball we dug we were getting great swings on and putting them away. There were some great rallies with both teams making outstanding defensive plays and tracking down balls that looked unreachable. The last half of the game we stayed pretty consistent and never let Loyola have any runs of points.

For the match our leaders were Kyle Mars (Kills – 11; Aces – 1), Turko (Blocks – 2), Pereira (Aces- 1) and Goas and Del Valle (Digs – 3). The team hit 39% with seven blocks, two aces and twenty-two digs.

So as we wrap up the fall we saw some steady progress from not only our youngsters but also all of our returners. I believe this team will continue their hard work and we’ll see a continuation of the improvement through the spring. The best description of this team’s performance this weekend would be very “Blue collar”. We are not a flashy team by any stretch of the imagination but we could be that pesky team that can find ways to stay in games and refuses to let a ball hit the floor. We will be fun to watch and will need contributions from our entire roster this year. I can speak for our staff in saying we are truly looking forward to this year. I hope we can see you in Rec Hall at some point during this upcoming season!

One other note: today is the birthday of former Nittany Lion assistant Craig Dyer. He of his boyish looks certainly doesn’t look any older than 29! Considering that his wife, Jen Armson-Dyer, keeps him looking young! Have a Happy One Craig!

All the best,
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #4 (11/15/09)

Greetings from the eastbound lane of I-90!

We are somewhere between Buffalo and Rochester on the way back to the hotel after defeating the IFPW Mastodons 30-20, 30-18, 26-30, 30-24. It was a long day and it was also IPFW’s third match in 24 hours. Arnie stuck with his guys who didn’t play a ton and we managed to rest Max, Joe and Edgardo after turning them loose in game one.

Now, since I am more winter away from the big 5-0, I find these types of days long and tiring. Sometime doing nothing in between matches takes its toll on me more than being in the office or at home. The guys handled it like champs! They relaxed on the bus watching the football games and just hanging out and enjoying the food which was prepared for the players. The guys on the floor for us were Lipsitz and Turko in the middle, Sunder and Wolf on the outside, Mars at opposite with Goas setting and Del Valle at libero. I was a little worried about a “sluggish factor” in game one but we came out swinging and really established a very good sideout rhythm and continued to improve with our transition game. We controlled the game from the outset.

Game two starters were Turko and Hendries in the middle, Pereira and Kyle Mars outside, Comfort at opposite with Covello and Wagner at setter and libero respectively. There was very little drop off from the momentum and execution level of game one to this one. Our offense continued to flow and defensively we were covering the floor well. Again, we controlled the game from the beginning.

Game three saw Turko and Hendries in the middle; Ambrose and Wolf at the outsides; Alan Mars at opposite with Tor and Dennis rounding out the starters. IFPW started to hit there serves a little better and caused us some early trouble. We were down 10-6 and could not get closer than three points. However, we started to play a little better toward the end of the game but it was too little too late.

Game four had Hendries and Shipp in the middle; Pereira and Kyle Mars at the outsides; Comfort at opposite and Covello and Wagner starting. We managed to gain about a three point lead at 18-15 and we held on to it. We were making plays and our transition game returned to form as we were putting digs away. We stretched the lead at the end and won a game that was closer than the 30-24 score would indicate.

The match leaders for the Nittany Lions were Comfort (Kills – 10), Lipsitz and Alan Mars (Blocks – 2), Del Valle (Digs – 10) and Lipsitz, Turko, Shipp and Sunder with an ace each.

So tomorrow we face the Loyola Ramblers at noon at Nazareth College. It should be a good test for all of our guys and a good way to wrap up the preseason. I’ll fill you in on the way back to State College…in the meantime I am getting some sleep!

Game
All the best,
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #3 (11/14/09)

Greetings from the Buffalo Niagara Center Courts!

The 2009-2010 season has seen our first competition against people in other uniforms! The Nittany Lions defeated Nazareth College 30-15, 30-23, 30-16. Nazareth is a relatively young DIII program coached by Cal Wickens. He is the very same Cal Wickens who runs the PACE Bootlegger Club program in Rochester. They did some nice things but we managed to stay pretty clean on our side of the net and transitioned pretty well for this early in the year. We are going into this weekend with the idea of getting everyone some quality playing time and going with a different lineup every game.

Game one saw Lipsitz and Turko in the middle, Periera and Sunder on the outside and Comfort at opposite. Goas and Del Valle were the setter and libero. We started to creep ahead by adding a point or two every service term and were up 18-12 when Sunder went behind the line and served us to 25. We eventually closed it out with a Comfort kill 30-15.

Game two had Lipsitz and Hendries in the middle, Kyle Mars and Wolf at outside, Sunder opposite and Goas and Wagner rounding out the unit. Nazareth started to serve a little tougher and seemed to get used to these hitters a little more quickly but they had no answer for Sunder and Lipsitz. We didn’t get a big serving run this game but still stayed three to four points better than Nazareth until the end of the game where we were scoring two points before they sideout for a 30-23 win.

Game three saw Turko and Shipp in the middle, Ambrose and Periera outside with Alan Mars at opposite. Covello was setting with Del Valle at libero. Our transition game remained pretty sharp even with the wholesale changes and we were leading 14-9 when Alan Mars served us to 20-9. We stayed pretty sharp and closed out Nazareth 30-16.

All-in-all, it was a good start for this team this weekend. Currently, Loyola is taking on IFPW. We will be playing IFPW at 7 PM later tonight. I’ll bring you up to date with that match on the trip back to Rochester tonight.

All the best,
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #2 (11/14/09)

Greetings from I-490 somewhere just west of Rochester, NY!

It is Saturday morning and we are on our way to the Buffalo Niagara Center Courts complex for the annual Preview to the Final Four tournament put together by Cal Wickens and PSU MVB alum Robert Pierce. We will face Nazareth College, an up-and-coming DIII team from the Rochester area at 1 PM then we’ll be back on the court at 7 PM to face Arnie Ball’s IPFW Mastodons. The tournament started last evening in Buffalo with Nazareth defeating IPFW in five games.

The semester has gone well for PSU MVB. At the beginning of our fall practices the team elected their captains: Max Lipsitz, Will Price and Jesse Wagner. They will count on these three to keep the team moving in the right direction and provide the leadership necessary to navigate the long year in front of them. They will be the ones who need to continually communicate with the staff and ensure that we are all on the same page. Their choices are good ones.

The new guys have seemed to fit in seamlessly. We have added two middle blockers in Nick Turko (Harrisburg, PA) and Ian Hendries (San Diego, CA); two outside hitters in Kyle Mars (Rochester, NY) and Scott Kegerreis (Honeybrook, PA) and opposite Tom Comfort (Buffalo, NY). Yes, for those of you noticed, Kyle is the younger brother of current PSU MVB opposite Alan Mars. The name Kegerreis should also be familiar to long-time PSU MVB fans. Scott is the son of former PSU All-American middle blocker Chuck Kegerreis! As a side note, Scott’s addition to PSU MVB makes me feel old. Chuck and I roomed together our senior year…that would have been 1982! At least I am not as old as Chuck! But I digress.

These new five along with the rest of PSU MVB have spent the last four weeks making the most out of the 7 AM practices in South Gym! We battled through four Blue-White scrimmages during this time and they have been working diligently with Kirk Adams down in the weight room. It has been a pretty good fall to this point. The only negative was a sprained ankle to Will Price this past week which is keeping him out of action this weekend.

With the losses to graduation of some pretty good volleyball players, Colin, Jay and I are very interested to see what kind of personality this team develops. We were able to serve well enough in past years to gain easy points off of aces, over passes or just free balls. I don’t sense that we will have that type of luxury this year, at least not yet, so we will have to be willing to get our noses in there and be prepared to win some rallies. With what we have seen thus far, the guys seem to have bought into our defensive scheme and have become disciplined with what we need to do. This weekend should give us a better gauge of our defensive and blocking capabilities.

Offensively, with four returning All-Americans, we know what we have; however, the key will be the other middle and opposite spot. We will need to get adequate offense from them. This will no doubt improve as the year wears on, but Will, Edgardo and Max will be counted on to continue to improve as will Joe Sunder. Dennis Del Valle and Jesse Wagner will be needed to make quality and quantity of the first contacts to start our offense. I truly believe our offense will grow and improve throughout the season.

In the gym the guys have worked very hard. The staff has been pleased with their effort and improvement. We are far from a finished product at this point but we like the stubborn competitiveness of this group. To this point they have all been looking ahead at what they can become not what they thought they have been.

PSU MVB coverage for all of you away from Rec Hall out there can be found on the web at www.goPSUsports.com. New SID Susan Bedsworth has been pretty good with early season information. Also, the new MVB beat writers at the Daily Collegian, Eric Book and Emily Kaplan have been in to watch several of our 7 AM practices and have a couple of stories going. You can follow their coverage of the team at www.collegian.psu.edu and their “Above the Net” MVB Blog at www.collegian.psu.edu/blogs/mvolleyball/. The blog has several new entries for this year already. Of course, the Centre Daily Times’ outstanding volleyball writer Gordon Brunskill will provide his take throughout the year on PSU MVB doings at www.centredaily.com/. Facebook is also an option as I try to update through my Mark Pavlik Facebook page. Finally, if you care to follow PSU MVB via Twitter please go to http://twitter.com/MarkPavlik and click on the follow button. I’ll send out “tweets” on various and sundry items throughout the weeks.

I’ll be back to you with updates throughout this weekend! If you are around the Buffalo or Rochester areas it would be great to see you in the gym! And so it begins again….

All the best,
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions
 

PSU MVB Vol. 13 Issue #1 (8/13/09)

Greetings from Rec Hall!

In less than two weeks the students will descend upon Happy Valley and the 2009-2010 school year will begin chugging along. Where did the summer go? It just seems to pass more quickly every year. Everyone here with PSU MVB hopes your summer was a good one. Ours certainly was.

First, the big news to report is that Jay Hosack has joined our staff and Colin and I couldn’t be happier with Jay’s addition. Jay comes to off fresh off of coaching stints with Irvine Valley CC where he worked with good friend Tom Pestolesi, the UC Irvine women and for the past three years the USA Men’s program with Hugh and Ron and the guys! He and his fiancée, Stephanie, arrived in town on Saturday evening and have been settling in since. PSU MVB welcomes them both to Happy Valley. Jay’s addition should provide us with another great staff as we get ready for another great year!

Our graduated seniors have moved on to their next challenges. Both Jon Sherrick and Jay Stauffer and working down the Washington, D.C. area using their business degrees. Jon worked our camp and then moved down to DC while Jay moved down there in early June. They are close enough that I am sure we will see them regularly.

Max Holt travelled to Mexico City with the USA team for the Pan Am Cup tournament which USA won! Max was one of the starting middles with the other being PSU MVB alum, Nate Meerstein! But those two Nittany Lions weren’t alone on that trip. PSU MVB manager extraordinaire Chris Birch served as the team’s DataVolley stat guy! Birch accompanied the team and provided the same high level support for them as he does for us and from his account; Max and Meers had very good tournaments! Since then, Max has remained in Anaheim and is training with the USA National team. He has also signed a three-year contract with Marami Lanza Verona of the Italian A1 League. We wish him well as he begins his journey into professional volleyball.

Ryan Sweitzer worked our camps this summer and informed us the he has signed a contract with team in Cypress and his setter will be Luke Murray. Luke and Sweitz will be together once again! We’ll be sure to follow their team as the year goes on. When we get a website we’ll forward it to all of you.

Matty Anderson came off a pretty good rookie year in Korea and joined the USA National team for the World League this spring. Matty quickly worked his way into the starting lineup and was instrumental in the USA’s 5-1 start, but then he was hit with pneumonia which put him on the sidelines for the remainder of World League play where the US made it into the playoffs but fell to Serbia and Russia to finish 6th. Matty will be heading back to Korea for his second year with the Hyundai Capital Skywalkers.

But it wasn’t all about our graduates this summer! Joe Sunder was a member of the US Junior National team which finished eighth at the World Junior Championships in Pune, India. Joe was the starting opposite for the team and enjoyed some success at the championships. No doubt Joe will take what he learned this summer and apply it to his time in the gym this year.

Also attending the Pan Am Cup in Mexico City with the Puerto Rican National Team were Edgardo Goas and Dennis Del Valle. Puerto Rico finished fourth at the competition and Dennis and Edgardo gained additional international experience!

Max Lipsitz and Will Price travelled out to Anaheim and trained with that USA Pan Am team prior to it leaving for Mexico. Both benefitted from some solid training under UC Santa Barbara head coach Rick McLaughlin and former Pepperdine assistant coach Scott Wong. By all accounts they took advantage of a great training opportunity.

Other news is that Colin has purchased a condo and in this “cool” summer he moved this past week when the weather was at its hottest! He is currently wrapping up the moving today!

Camps once again went well! Many thanks are due to Dick Bartolomea and his Sports Camp staff. They make it so easy for us to give the campers a great experience with their administration of the entire camp structure. We continue to have simply outstanding coaches who work with the campers and have a great time doing it. It is always easier saying good things about camp when it is over than when I am gearing up for it but I think it is a very good camp for boys’ volleyball players! Thanks again to all of you who are involved with it. We couldn’t do it without your help!

Finally, if you care to follow PSU MVB via Twitter please go to http://twitter.com/MarkPavlik and click on the follow button. I’ll send out “tweets” on various and sundry items throughout the weeks.

So now as I sit looking ahead to the start of another year I am excited about the potential of this team coming back. My next update will introduce you to the newcomers on the team and what lies in store for us this year. I think it will be an exciting mix of new and returning guys and a new staff. I hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are!

We’ll be back to you again soon! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

All the best,
Pav, Colin, Jay and the Nittany Lions