Spikers find solace in cyberspace

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Internet is becoming more powerful and popular every day. Some members of the Penn State men's volleyball team used it Saturday as motivation to defend their EIVA championship against Princeton.

The Tigers have a site on the Internet that contained some comments about the Nittany Lions, especially All-American opposite hitter Ivan Contreras.

"I looked at their web page, and all they did is talk trash about every team they played," Lion swing hitter Jason Kepner said. "After reading the things saying, 'Ivan is the only guy. Everyone else, if they play OK and Ivan plays well, Penn State will do well.' It's a frustrating thing where they seem to be talking trash when they've never seen us."

Contreras did post 51 kills in the championship match for a new career-high. But had it not been for the performances of the other players, Penn State might not have held off Princeton to earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Final Four.

Swing hitter Tony Mazzullo had 12 of his career-high 20 kills in the first game. Mazzullo added a jump serve to his volleyball arsenal, which previously was the style of just Contreras or Kepner.

Most of the blocks this season have come from middle blockers Brad Miller and Sergio Pampena. While Pampena had his share of blocks in the match with 10, Mazzullo paced the Lions with 11. Princeton's outside hitters had their way through the first game and a half, but Mazzullo neutralized that attack.

"Tony Mazzullo kept us in this match," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. "He had a great day. He had some great digs and took some big swings."

Kepner broke out of a mini offensive slump with his 32 kills. Since the Spring Fling Invitation March 21-22 at Indiana-Purdue-Ft. Wayne, Kepner had not posted more than 17 in any match.

The adversity Kepner dealt with during the title match Saturday added to the value of his contributions. He broke a bone in his right pinkie finger during practice last week and had it heavily wrapped. Kepner said he did what he could to deaden the pain.

"I took some drugs. Drugs are good," he joked. "As the match wore on, I didn't feel it as much."

After the match the reaction was still mixed on the Princeton side. Some of the Tigers gave credit to the entire Penn State team, while others felt Contreras was the only reason the Lions sport a 29-1 record.

"Penn State is a great team," Princeton middle hitter Dan Eggers said. "We in no way out-powered them."

"I think the biggest problem with Penn State is Ivan Contreras," Tiger opposite hitter Scott Birdwell said. "When they need him he can come up huge. And they can give it to him every time if they want to and win games for them."

Whether the competition at the Final Four will be talking trash about Penn State on the Internet remains to be seen, but the Lions will be ready. They now have been down that information superhighway before.