Spikers’ west coast swing produces swing in confidence

In one week, the Penn State men's volleyball team peeled the Fighting Banana Slugs, cut down the Cardinal, tamed the Tigers and bullied the Matadors.

The Nittany Lions spent their spring break in California battling these powerhouses. After encountering these West Coast foes on their road trip, the Lions returned to Happy Valley with just one loss. The Pepperdine Waves drowned the Lions in three games (15-7, 15-10, 15-9).

The East met the West and the East won -- four out of five times.

Defeating UC-Santa Cruz (15-7, 15-11, 15-11) was an easy warm-up for the Lions. The three-game defeat of this Div. III team, however, did not compare with Penn State's next battle versus Stanford.

Coming out strong in the first game, the Lions surprised their opponents with a 15-8 win. Reality set in for the Cardinal, but the subsequent effort was still not enough. Although the second game went to 16, Penn State remained the victor. The Lions lost the third (13-15) but pushed ahead and won the fourth game (14-16) for the match.

"The entire team contributed to that win," said outside hitter Eric Houston. "Even the guys who came off the bench, everyone was at their top level that match."

The surprising defeat of the sixth-ranked Cardinal by the unranked Lions was the unexpected highlight of Penn State's road trip.

"After losing to them two times in the fall, I wasn't too sure how confident the guys would play against them," said Penn State assistant coach Dennis Hohenshelt. "Our guys just played every point. It built our confidence. Anytime they got close, we got better."

The confidence level of the Lions was a central issue going into this road trip. Before going to California, the team suffered from difficult losses to opponents it should have defeated. Also, when Penn State faced tougher competition, it appeared to crumble under the pressure and was unable to remain strong throughout the entire match.

Outside hitter David Gealey said most of these problems have been solved during their trip to the West Coast.

"We were kinda in a slump," Gealey said. "To go out to California and win was a big confidence booster. Now, I think that we know we can play really good volleyball consistently."

Regardless of the Stanford victory, the most difficult win for the Lions was their five-game defeat of Pacific. Penn State won the first game (15-9) yet struggled and lost in the next two (9-15, 11-15). Boosted by its newfound confidence from the previous two matches, Penn State was able to pull it together and win the last two games (15-11, 15-10).

Three days later, Pepperdine burst the Penn State bubble. But the team finished its road trip on a positive note. Amongst noisy and confrontational Matador fans, Penn State won a decisive three game victory over Cal State-Northridge (15-10, 16-14, 16-14).

Despite a successful journey, Penn State's California road trip was not an easy task. The Lions played five games in seven days. Remaining strong throughout the entire week displayed the true tenacity of Penn State. Although they had difficulty in the past, the Lions now know the extent of their strength.

"I think we were drained, but we worked through it," Houston said. "It showed us that we have what it takes to win. If we can work through that, we can work through anything."