Spikers looking for experience, not wins against foreign talent in weekend tournament

The rules have changed. The experience of facing a formidable opponent is now the most important item on the list. Winning is secondary -- at least for now.

The Penn State men's volleyball team reorganized its priority list in preparation for the Nittany Lion Invitational this weekend at Rec Hall. The team is scheduled to play Montreal at 3 p.m. and Windsor at 7:30 p.m. today and Guelph tomorrow at 3 p.m. and McMaster at 7 p.m in the South Gym.

Although winning is always an issue, the team is focusing on self-improvement for the tough schedule ahead.

"We're taking these games as a practice for next week against Long Beach," setter Daniel Pollock said. "We don't really expect a big crowd so we're looking at our match next week as our home opener."

The team's season opener two weeks ago at the Outrigger Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii, did not go as planned. The Nittany Lions came away with a 1-2 record, but they do not see this as a setback.

"I don't think it was a slow start," coach Mark Pavlik said. "I would have loved to have had a win, but I was pleased that we played hard from beginning to end."

The team will have to keep up the intensity every second of the four matches. This tournament usually brings out some of the better East Coast teams.

But this year's tournament has an added flair. The Lions will face four unfamiliar Canadian teams.

"A lot of Canadian teams tend to be kind of scrappy, but they're good teams mentally and they're good on defense," swing hitter David Gealey said. "We're like that, too. We're not too big but we can play good defense and we try not to make many errors."

The Lions will have to play almost error-free until they catch on to their opponent's playing style. After that, Pavlik said that they are keeping the game plan simple.

"We want to keep siding out until we see what the other side can do," Pavlik said. "We'll try to get our best hitter on their worst blocker and keep our best blocker on their best hitter -- nothing fancy."

Another key ingredient in these games will be stamina. Four matches in two days can wear a team down. So aside from the main scorers, Penn State may call upon some younger players to take up the slack.

"We want to get the younger guys in for some experience," Pollock said. "Eventually we're going to need them, so hopefully we can work them in this weekend."

Pavlik will feel more confident relying on some of the younger players with the support of the home crowd.

"It's a situation where you're glad to be playing at home, especially if we wind up with a win," Pavlik said. "If we win it will be a yard marker for the rest of the season. But wins and losses at this time of the year don't mean much."

But they are always a good incentive.