If senior middle hitter Keith Kowal of the Penn State men's volleyball team was a baseball player and put together a batting average anywhere near his current hitting percentage, he'd be making more money than he could count.

Unfortunately for Kowal's bank account, he's not, but the Nittany Lions are reaping the benefits of his stellar play of late. His attack percentage this past weekend was above .800 and he is currently leading the Lions on a run for the EIVA Championship with a .585 hitting percentage.

In Friday's thumping of the George Mason Patriots, Kowal recorded 17 kills, made only one error and recorded an extraordinary .800 attack percentage. As they have all season, Kowal's consistent play and the crisp, accurate passes of his teammates have been the prescription for success.

No one is more aware of this feat than Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik.

"We're doing the types of things that are making you play physical against us to slow down Keith," Pavlik said.

Practice has come a long way for the team this season. The results of the intense practices and passing drills were evident this past weekend as setter Dan O' Dell averaged 15 assists in the three games in Friday's win against the Patriots.

Without the crisp passing of O'Dell, the Lions offensive game would not be where it is currently.

"The passes were on the money all game, and when the passes are on the money, I can run the middle as much as I want," O'Dell said.

O'Dell has a new confidence in his passing game and he's fully aware that as long as he keeps his play above par each game, Kowal and Nate Meerstein will be there to get the kills and the points that the Lions need to continue with their successful season.

"When you have Keith and Nate [Meerstein] in there, they'll pretty much put the ball over the net every time, so as long as I keep passing like that, the middle will unstoppable," O'Dell said.

There was one point during the second game of Friday's match against the Patriots when it looked as if the Lions were going to take a game two defeat. But like so many times before, the Kowal-O'Dell tandem took a deep breath, composed itself, and prepared for what would be a late-game comeback to give the Lions the game two victory.

"Game point in game two, that was as good a set as Danny had given Keith all year long," Pavlik said.

"And that's as good as an approach, jump, and swing as [Dan] has had. There was no one in the country that was going to touch the ball that [Keith] hit."