West Coast road trip to test spikers

Compare it to the difficulty of a midterm exam after just five weeks. The syllabus states two of the top three teams in the nation are on the schedule after traveling over 3,000 miles to play.

Penn State is done cramming. The test is now.

"It's the level of competition that we know we need to be at," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said about the tournament field. "Any time you get on the floor with UCLA or Hawaii, the adrenaline starts pumping. There's going to be 10,000 people in the stands. It's going to be a wonderful environment. Our guys who have been there before are looking forward to it."

The Bruins hold an overall 10-4 series edge over Penn State. The two clubs last met in the 1996 Outrigger Invitational. UCLA defeated the Lions in four games, 15-5, 10-15, 15-4 and 15-12.

Coach Al Scates, in his 35th year at UCLA, has had the job of replacing superstars like Sinjin Smith and Karch Kiraly. This year will be no different. The Bruins have to replace last year's top assist man, Stein Metzger.

Metzger led UCLA with 1,792 assists and 218 digs. To remedy the situation, Scates is plugging in a true freshman to run the offense. Brandon Taliaferro, who stands 6 feet 5, was the highest touted setter coming out of high school.

"He has the technique of a collegiate senior setter," Scates said. "He came to practice in great physical shape. He is serious about winning."

Taliaferro has the luxury of two of the best hitters in the nation at his disposal. Senior opposite hitter Paul Hihipali and junior middle hitter Tom Stillwell racked up 895 kills between them. Stillwell was also the nation's top blocker, averaging better than two per game last season.

Hawaii is replacing a top player from last year with a true freshman. Yuval Katz, a native of Israel, did not graduate. He found employment doing what he does best -- playing volleyball. Katz, the co-national player of the year, left the Rainbows after his sophomore season to play professionally in Greece.

Clayton Stanley, a freshman middle blocker from Honolulu, has been asked to help pick up the slack from Katz's early departure. Rainbow coach Mike Wilton said Stanley has had a few growing pains through the early part of the season.

"He's a big kid and he's got some skills," Wilton said. "He's just learning the game, so it's kind of on-the-job training. One game he'll look great, and then he'll look like he's never touched a volleyball."

Wilton called Penn State "the quality program from the East." His team ended Penn State's season in four games at last year's national championship semifinals. Wilton has a fair amount of respect for the Lions.

"Mark Pavlik and his staff do a great job," he said. "Both teams have some veterans but have had to add some new players into the mix. It's going to be interesting here in the early going."

Pavlik said no matter who the Lions are playing, blocking is going to be the key to success. He said the team's blocking has been satisfactory up to now but will have to be in top form starting tonight.

"If we have a match where we only block three balls, it's going to be a short night," Pavlik said. "I think we'll sideout well, but we need to get points of our blocks."

Lion setter Daniel Pollock said the team is on the verge of being at the top of its game. Pollock is 6 feet 2, and both he and Pavlik said his position will be attacked regularly by hard-hitting clubs like UCLA and Hawaii.

"Teams are going to try to pick on me because I'm usually the smallest guy on the court," Pollock said. "I have to make sure and stick with the game plan."

Pollock added the Lions need to play well this weekend to have a chance for a top seed in May's NCAA tournament. He said at times the team has had "flashes of good play," but needs a total team effort to achieve its goal of three wins in this tournament.

"This will be a benchmark to see how good we are," Pollock said. "We want to prove we can play with the top West Coast teams."