Cardinals, Mastadons latest spiker victims

Travel is usually associated with vacations, rest and relaxation. The Penn State men's volleyball team has done more than its share recently, but rest and relaxation have been at a premium.

"I don't care who you are," Nittany Lion coach Mark Pavlik said, "it's tough to travel and win on the road."

Penn State continued its torrid run through the regular season by spoiling the weekend for Indiana-Purdue-Ft. Wayne and Ball State at IPFW's Spring Fling Invitational. The Lions took care of IPFW, 9-15, 15-13, 15-11, 15-8, on Friday then the Cardinals, 15-10, 16-14, 15-4, on Saturday.

The No. 2 Lions (22-1) arrived in Ft. Wayne, Ind., late Thursday night and had an early practice the next morning. Pavlik said he wanted the time to get used to a foreign gym, but the short amount of rest cost the Lions the first game against a fired-up IPFW team.

"We did a nice job of weather the storm against IPFW," Pavlik said. "We played sluggish then took control."

Mastadon freshman Hector Soto put away 29 kills in a losing effort. Ivan Contreras had his usual day in the office, a match-high 34 kills and a dozen digs. Brad Miller chipped in 16 kills and a career-high 12 digs.

Miller said the match against IPFW (11-6) was a bit long, which gave him the opportunity to collect more digs. Pavlik frequently substitutes defensive specialists Dan Schall or Jake Yanchar for the sophomore middle blocker.

"I guess I was in the right place at the right time," Miller said. "I was in the backrow more just because the game was so long."

Pavlik has nothing but praise for Miller's improvement throughout the season. He said his contributions have been to lighten the load of top guns, Contreras and Jason Kepner.

"I kid him that he's learned to play defense through osmosis since he rooms with Dan Schall," Pavlik said. "He's quietly having a very consistent, effective season."

Penn State's match against Ball State was the shortest of the team's three get-togethers this season. Each of the first two needed a rally scored fifth game to determine a winner, but the Lions swept Ball State this time. The sweep was Penn State's 12th of the season.

Both Miller and Pavlik wondered how the Cardinals (18-6) would play after an emotional win over No. 5 Pepperdine the previous night.

"That match was a battle of travel weary teams. It just seemed Ball State didn't have the pop they did in the other two matches," Pavlik said. "We didn't play an outstanding brand of volleyball. We just got the ball to Ivan (Contreras) in key situations."

Contreras led the Lions with 21 kills, while Jason Fehr managed only 12 against Penn State.

The Lions hit the road against this weekend for the Flyer Festival at Lewis University. Miller said no matter the amount of travel or adversity, his team just keeps on winning.

"We are playing real well. We came out and did what we had to do," he said. "No matter what happens this team finds a way to win. Someone always steps up."