Spikers use momentum to crush 3

By SCOTT GLASSMAN
Collegian Sports Writer

Unlike the men's volleyball team's last weekend road trip, when the bus rolled into Happy Valley late last evening, the No. 7 Lions (14-3) realized that finally, they are playing at the top of their game.

Turning a painfully long weekend into a monstrous three-win road trip, Lion Coach Mark Pavlik excitedly praised his players' weekend effort.

"I'm very proud of the team," Pavlik said. "The players did not get rattled and they handled adversity like a good team should."

The weekend began with the Lions -- playing in the Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne Invitational --sweeping the home team in front of a hostile crowd.

Although Penn State was not particularly sharp, the team ground out the victories while containing Volleydons' two offensive weapons, Felipe Ralat and Craig Collins.

"We didn't think that their middles could control our middles," said Pavlik, commenting on the strategy that enabled senior middle blocker, Kevin Hourican, to scorch the Volleydons with a .688 hitting percentage.

Next up for the Lions was the much anticipated rematch with No. 10 Ball State (15-8), which upset Penn State on March 4. The series was knotted at 1-1, so the possible higher seeding in the upcoming NCAA Championships would be on the line if Penn State and Ball State went on to win the EIVA and the MIVA, respectively.

The match appeared to be going the Cardinals' way after winning game one and leading 9-3 in the second game.

"It stayed at 9-3 for half an hour and we looked around and said we're playing a great team which is playing hard but they can't score on us," Hourican said. "As a blocker, sometimes it takes a while to heat up. Once you start to see what they're doing, you can begin to take that strength away."

At that point, the Lion offense woke up and reversed the momentum, as they picked apart the Cardinals -- behind very strong blocking -- in four games (11-15, 15-12, 15-4, 15-10). Senior outside hitter Ed Josefoski led the team in kills with a match-high 27, while sophomore middle blocker Ivan Contreras was a close second with 24.

With the tournament and two wins behind them, the Lions had one more match remaining against Ohio State. But what was expected to be a tough test for the weary and sore players turned out to be a boost to their spirits for the bus ride home.

Led by Contreras' outstanding .765 hitting percentage, Penn State swept the Buckeyes for the second time this year (15-7, 15-8, 15-9).

"To win 7-8-9 in St. Johns Arena, Oh my," Pavlik said, trying to put his astonishment into words. "We jumped out to a 5-0 lead solely on our blocking and clearly outsized them."

With two upcoming EIVA matches this week, Pavlik is basking in his team's current status and enjoying its success.

"This has got to be a fun time of the year to be a player," Pavlik said. "The team is playing where they should be. With the upcoming EIVA schedule and tournament and the NCAA Championship, this is when it's fun to watch the team."