Spikers look to spark up play in matchup at NJIT

Emotion can bring life to a team. Emotion can keep a team going. Emotion can win games. Emotion is what the Penn State men's volleyball team is lacking.

The No. 11 Nittany Lions need to find a spark of enthusiasm to fire them up before they travel to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) for a match at 7:30 tonight at Entwisle Gym.

The Lions dominated the Highlanders in the matchup last year with a quick, three-game win at Rec Hall. NJIT could prove to be a much better opponent this year.

"I think the team as a whole has to be downright angry," swing hitter Steve Aird said. "They can't hold a team like us down without us breaking out."

Another thing that can help Penn State get back on track is the return of swing hitter David Gealey, who was out of the lineup with mononucleosis but returned last week.

Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said Gealey brings a unique game sense to the court, one that has helped the team to victory in the past.

"David runs misdirection and going-against-the-flow kind of attacks real well," Pavlik said.

Offensive attacks have not been the team's weakest point. The team's defense, however, has a bit of a gap.

Last week against Rutgers-Newark, Penn State's defense didn't pick up its game until Rutgers was up 2-0 in the match. This dull display of defense has cost Penn State big games.

As opportunities pass by, opponents are less intimidated by the Lions. The team is looking to rebuild its status as an Eastern powerhouse starting tonight.

"Other teams know we lost to teams we should have beaten," Aird said. "Right now they're thinking that Penn State is beatable. We need to send a message that maybe we're not."

In order to send that message, the Lions need to get back on the winning side. Pavlik said it will take someone to step up to get the team back where it wants to be.

"It's got to be somebody within the team that says, 'We've got to get better at everything we've been talking about doing,' " Pavlik said after the Rutgers match.

The team agrees it needs to improve its total work ethic before heading onto the court again.

"The team has to stand up as a whole and say, 'That's enough,' " Aird said. "We have to show people that we're for real. I guess we need to pull up our socks and just get down to business."