Matt Proper made a visit to a Massachusetts hospital last Friday evening after a Penn State victory against 3-0 Springfield. The junior opposite from Guys Mills wasn't in that emergency room because of his thumb injury, which had recently stopped bothering him.

He wasn't there for any volleyball-related injury at all, really. Proper, accompanied by his parents, was there because of a throat ailment.

Proper received medication and slept in on Saturday, awakening several hours before the Nittany Lions were scheduled to face Brigham Young in the championship match of the Hall of Fame Classic. Proper awoke, all right. He awoke to the tune of a team-high 18 kills, seven digs and two blocks as Penn State came back from an 0-2 deficit to beat the Cougars.

Less than 24 hours after visiting the hospital, Proper was named the tournament's most valuable player.

Between the two matches on the weekend, he averaged a 0.370 hitting percentage, 1.12 blocks per game and 3.25 kills per game.

"He can only get better," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. "Through Matt's career you just knew that sooner or later he was gonna start putting things together. He's a relative baby in terms of volleyball experience. He's such a fast learner that you just knew it was a matter of time before he understood what his body had to do to use the gifts it had been given."

The MVP award came five days after Proper was named EIVA Player of the Week for his performances against Rutgers-Newark and Ohio State. Against the Scarlet Raiders, the 6-foot-7 opposite posted a career-high 22 kills. Against the Buckeyes the following night, Proper duplicated his career high en route to a Penn State (7-2, 2-0 EIVA Tait) victory.

Then yesterday the American Volleyball Coaches Association decided Proper was deserving of National Player of the Week honors, making him only the seventh Lion to garner such recognition.

Proper credited a healthy thumb and a good setter when explaining the sudden outburst of on-court dominance.

"My thumb's feeling great finally, and I've been getting good sets, so I attribute a lot of it to Dan [O'Dell]," Proper said.

Pavlik agreed that O'Dell is running the fourth-ranked Lions' offense in a way that will make those around him better.

"Danny has become better and better at going behind [Matt] with the ball," Pavlik said.

Proper says he can, and must, improve his blocking, and that despite his current hot streak, he continues to find flaws in his game.

"Even now when I'm watching game tapes I get mad at myself because I see stuff that I do, and it just bothers me."

His coach points out that Proper has a tremendous work ethic, and that his future, much like that of the always-improving Lions, is bright.

"Right now there's no ceiling in sight for Matt," Pavlik said.