Fifteen minutes.

That's how long it took me to see exactly why the Penn State athletic department would not allow me to participate in a men's volleyball practice for what they cited as liability reasons.

I wanted to experience firsthand the difference between volleyball in the recreational element and the game at the Division I level.

In hindsight, my lean 6-foot frame, combined with my aversion to diving on wooden surfaces (even though senior Keith Kowal assures me it doesn't hurt if done properly) and my lack of volleyball skills made the decision to keep me on the sidelines a sound one.

If I couldn't participate, at least I would get to see the practice from the viewpoint of head coach Mark Pavlik, whom I had permission to shadow throughout the afternoon.

After an easy-going first 15 minutes of practice, in which the freshmen showed off their newly shaven heads, things heated up as four-on-two blocking drills began.

Sophomore Alex Gutor received personal instruction from Pavlik on how to position his arms when going up for the block.

Pavlik playfully and animatedly pushed the outside hitter in the chest to demonstrate his point.

When switching sides, however, Gutor needed little instruction on how to rain down on the opposition with swings of fury.

This was the first time I cautiously backed up from my spot on the court next to Pavlik. It would not be the last.

The team was then broken up into groups at different stations, the most interesting of which being the jump-serving court where the Nittany Lions had their serves judged by a radar gun.

Again, I took a cautious step back -- this time three feet directly behind Pavlik, who would take some serves off the body before this drill was finished.

Gutor is happy with his team-best 67-mph serve, but Kowal, the co-captain and All-American, is quick to point out that he had four different serves over 60 mph, a statistic that Pavlik found more pleasing.

"Keep nailing the 50-60's so you know you can control it," Pavlik advised. "That'll allow you to have the consistency later in the season when you're hitting it even harder."

An Aaron Smith serve catches me with my head down in thought, trying to come up with clever subheadings for stories. Just after "Can you dig it" pops into my mind, a 58-mph ball comes perilously close to popping into my face. A glance at Kevin Wentzel, sidelined by two concussions already, encourages me to once again take refuge.

With stations designed to make the seventh-ranked Lions work on different skills, this is common for a practice on Mondays through Wednesdays.

"The tough part is now you have to prepare them for two separate matches on the weekend," assistant coach Dennis Hohenshelt said.

The Lions take on Ball State and Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne in the Hoosier State on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

An hour later, Pavlik feels the team is in no position to prepare for even one of this weekend's opponents.

The six-on-six drills are not up to par, and the normally cool and collected Pavlik gets the team's attention, letting his players know what the problem is.

"I don't see the urgency. ... This is where you develop that killer mentality. You gotta practice it someplace; might as well start now."

The phrase "killer mentality" hits home for these Lions (1-2), who lost in the fifth game to both No. 4 Hawaii and No. 2 Brigham Young.

Making the phrase sting even more, the Lions lost to BYU after going up two games to start the match.

The team responded to Pavlik's criticism, as Ryan Walthall's intensity was a far cry from the jovial atmosphere seen a short while before, when teammates could be found joking, imitating Zorro in celebration after making a play, and one Lion could be heard facetiously referring to himself as the "Sultan of Swat" following a nice kill.

Pavlik hopes his team will respond in kind to the challenge laid before it after the close defeats to open the season. And judging from Monday's practice, the Lions will not back down.

Besides, they can leave the backing away to me.