Spikers dominate at Invitational

Harsh winter storms are not the only thing rampaging through Canada.

At the Nittany Lion Invitational this weekend, the Penn State men's volleyball team dominated four teams of the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) at Rec Hall.

The Lions defeated Windsor, McMaster, Guelph and Montreal in three games each.

In the final match Saturday night, Penn State faced Montreal, which proved to be the team's best opponent of the tournament.

The Lions breezed through the first game 15-5 and jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in the second game. But a burst of offense put Montreal back in the game with a 6-4 lead. The teams battled back and forth for the lead until the Lions pulled out a 17-15 win.

For the third game, Penn State coach Mark Pavlik pulled many of his starters and put in the younger players. The team fell behind 2-0, but with stellar performances from swing hitters Eric Houston and Scott Lapp, Penn State came back to win the match 15-8.

"Montreal was playing real well when we put the younger guys in," Pavlik said. "All of a sudden they're down 2-0, but they don't panic. They were confident with the things they can do and eventually just took control of the game."

The cool mentality of the team and its younger players gave it the upper hand against its opponents through the tournament.

In the first match on Friday, the team swept past Windsor 15-5, 15-6 and 15-11. Like he did in every match, Pavlik pulled his starters in the third game to give the younger players extra court time.

For the second match Friday night, Penn State cleaned up McMaster 15-10, 15-6 and 15-13. Opposite hitter Damian Martorana led the team with 13 kills, six digs and one ace. Setter Daniel Pollock had 59 assists in the match.

Penn State wiped out Guelph on Saturday with scores of 15-2, 15-5 and 15-9. The combined efforts of middle blocker Brad Miller and swing hitter Tony Mazzullo led the team to victory.

Although the team is pleased with its 4-0 tournament record, many of the players believe that it will be difficult to assess their skills in comparison to the teams they faced.

"There are some things that need improvement, but it's kind of hard to tell against teams like this who don't hit well and don't pass well," middle blocker Sergio Pampena said. "It's just hard to see if you're doing something wrong or if it's just the way they're playing."

Pavlik admits the Canadian teams are not much to compare his team against, but he did see some good things from his team in these four matches.

"I think we're beginning to jell well as a team," Pavlik said. "The depth that we have is going to serve us really well. I think we're just becoming quietly sound."

Although the teams of the CIAU did not give Penn State much opposition, Pampena said there was one team who gave the Lions a run for their money.

"I think our biggest opponent was ourselves," Pampena said. "The only way we could lose is if we messed up ourselves by playing to their level. I think we beat ourselves real well."