Parental guidance gives Kepner extra boost

Nearly all who have been associated with him on the volleyball court say they have never had a problem with him. All his coaches say he is both a great student and teacher of the game. But in his mind it has taken two people not associated with the game to take him to higher places.

"My parents are great," the senior swing hitter said. "If my parents didn't come to as many of my games as they have, I don't know if I could have done as well as I have. I think they have pushed me to perform the best I can in every match."

Jason speaks of Fred and Rose Kepner, the two who have been there for nearly every step of Jason's high school and collegiate career. The two have made a vocation of watching a skinny 15-year-old develop into 6-foot-5, 200-pound kill-producing machine.

While Jason attended Hempfield High School in Lancaster he could always look in the stands and see Fred and Rose. When the venue changed to Rec Hall, Rose was not always there, but Fred still was -- until an event last year that could have put an end to all of that.

Fred suffered a mild heart attack in mid-February 1996. Rose did not call Jason with the news until the worst was over. Jason drove to Lancaster to be with his family for a few days then drove to George Mason to join the team.

"I would always talk with him before and after games," Jason said of his father. "I would always look in the stands, but it made it rough knowing the reason he wasn't there was because he was in the hospital."

Fred has recovered from his ordeal and has not had major problems since. He has made trips to Hawaii, Massachusetts and Indiana to see the highs and lows of Jason's senior season at Penn State.

Those high points, however, have greatly outnumbered the low ones not only while in State College but also in Lancaster.

Jason's venture into organized volleyball started when he was a high school freshman after a friend encouraged him to play the sport after school. Jason was one of six players on his first team, which was a club level sport at the time. The next season, when he was a sophomore, volleyball became a varsity sport at Hempfield.

Jason's high school coach Ryan Strait saw great potential in his new player. His ability to pass the ball complemented his size and made his talents shine brighter than those of his teammates.

"You couldn't find guys who were 6 foot 4 and could pass the ball that well," Strait said. "He worked very hard in the gym on becoming a better passer."

That hard work paid off for not only Jason but also the Hempfield program. In just its second year as a varsity sport, Hempfield advanced to the Pennsylvania state championship match. Though the team lost to North Allegheny High School from Pittsburgh, Strait said with Jason coming back for a final year could mean a "dream season."

Because of many injuries -- five starters were hurt, including Jason -- the wheels came off the wagon. Jason tore ligaments in his ankle after landing on an opponent's foot at the net.

Strait thought all hopes were lost to even make it through the district playoffs, let alone win a state championship.

"When his ankle went, I could just picture our season going to pot," he said. "My head just fell into my lap. He was our go-to guy."

Though Hempfield didn't capture a state title, all was not lost for Jason. A college career at a Division I program was dawning. But a decision had to be made on where to go.

One of Jason's highest priorities in choosing a school was having a chance to go to the Final Four. He said the time he spent going to various schools did not make the choice any easier. Overall, he said, choosing a school was something he did not enjoy.

"For a while I just sat around and said, 'Well, I'll decide when the time comes.' It took me a while, nearly to the end of high school," he said. "I wanted to be at a place where my parents could see me play, and I could win a national title. Penn State offered me the best opportunity to do the things I wanted to do."

That statement was music to the ears of Lion coach Mark Pavlik. He first saw Jason at a summer volleyball camp in 1989. Pavlik learned first-hand what Jason's high school coach already knew.

Pavlik made the decision to redshirt Jason during the fall of 1992. The coach said he was impressed with the adjustments Jason had made to college and the Penn State system. He said, though, it would be best for Jason to spend a year in the weight room to improve his strength.

Little did Jason know he would also be spending that year learning a new position.

Jason was the tallest member of his high school team, so he played middle blocker. However, Pavlik said after watching Jason play, his talents would be best utilized at different position, swing hitter.

Pavlik figured out right away it was Jason's work ethic that was going to make him a great player. Whatever Pavlik told him, Jason jumped into with both feet.

"Jason has always been the type of person to listen and observe very well. He manages to put things together and figure out what's best for him," Pavlik said. "That's a mark of a great player, not just being in the gym when someone tells you to, but when you're out playing for yourself and having fun."

Jason's first season of competing, 1994, was a special one for Penn State. After years of not gaining the respect of the West Coast schools that dominated college volleyball, the Lions shocked UCLA to win the national title.

Jason was a defensive specialist for that national championship squad. He said there was something special about that team because it came through when it mattered most.

"That was a great group of guys who did whatever it took to win," he said. "I assumed I would go (to the Final Four) sometime in my career. I didn't expect it so soon."

Penn State opposite hitter Ivan Contreras and Jason have been compared and contrasted many times as the top two weapons in the Lion arsenal. Contreras has received much of the publicity, winning national Player of the Week and All-American honors three times each. Pavlik said comparing the two players can't be done. Each is vital to Penn State.

"Jason is unsung and might be one of the more underrated players in the country. Jason is also the type of guy to shrug his shoulders and say, 'I just want to win,' " Pavlik said. "That ring is going to fit Jason just as well as it fits Ivan."

Fred, Jason's father, said no matter the publicity and what type of success Jason has enjoyed, he always has told his son to enjoy himself.

"I never saw anything go to his head," Fred said. "When he plays the best is when he's having a good time."

Jason said he is not trying to stretch this season, his final as a Lion, to make it last longer. He just wants to show the West Coast schools one more time his team can stay with those who feel, as he said, "Penn State is not worthy to be on the court with them."

As he sat in the leather recliner called the "captain's chair" and looked to the locker room ceiling, Jason said if people talk about him in a few years he wants them to say he was a competitor and did everything to help win one, maybe two, national titles. He said no matter where he goes or what he does, he will never stop playing volleyball.

"(I want people to say) when he played the matches that counted he gave everything he could, jumped over chairs and stands, crashed into tables to keep that ball alive," he said. "When I leave here I want to continue playing volleyball whether it's in my backyard or wherever it may be. I don't think I'll ever walk off the court for the last time."