Concentrate, examine, analyze, react -- the mental attitude of an athlete is one of the most important aspects involved with sports. It is also one of the hardest to master.

The men's volleyball team knows all about the importance of a strong mental attitude. It practices constantly to improve its on-court performance and overall mental demeanor. But sometimes, as in last weekend, the team's practices fail to completely prepare it for the matches.

"The mental part of the game is very big," said freshman middle blocker Adam Fernsler. "We were not playing as focused as we should have been."

Last weekend, the Lions traveled to Muncie, Ind., to compete against two ranked Midwestern teams in the Asics VolleyCard Classic. The No. 2 Lions were not as mentally ready as they wanted to be, and they paid for it by falling to No. 11 Ball State in five games and being swept by No. 9 Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne.

"I know that we were not ready to play at all this weekend," senior Ramon Hernandez said. "If you are an athlete, you have to do some long-term preparation for the matches -- sometimes hours, sometimes days. I think the team has to really practice this."

The team has been practicing a lot lately in order to prepare for its biggest matches of the season this Friday against Brigham Young. On Friday, the Lions will travel to Warminster to take on the Cougars, who vaulted over Penn State in the most recent poll.

"It doesn't seem like we are burned out or we're fatigued physically," Coach Tom Peterson said. "It is just that we are not used to playing these teams. A sign of a good team is taking adversity and using it for you, instead of against you."

Because the Lions had to travel to their matches last weekend, all the problems of playing away from home added to the team's mental meltdown. Having to get off the road and right onto the court is not easy for anybody, much less for a team that is struggling.

"When we get off the bus, we have to be ready to go hard right away," Assistant Coach Mark Pavlik said. "A lot of it has to do with playing the game right now in a very hostile, pressure-packed situation like we have been."