NEWARK, N.J. -- Fifteen minutes into Penn State's match with Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne, Mark Pavlik sees much about his team's play that he doesn't particularly like.

Trailing 20-16 in the first game, Pav calls timeout.

Interestingly, "Day Tripper" is the song playing over the public address speakers.

Assistant coach Dennis Hohenshelt is displeased by what he sees on the court, and doesn't mince words about his feelings.

"We're horrible," Hohenshelt says to the Nittany Lions as they come to the bench. He then looks at a reporter and says, "You can put that in your newspaper article -- we're horrible."

If the Lions are horrible, then IPFW is even worse, falling to No. 5 Penn State in just three games. Hohenshelt continued his rant as the match went on, exclaiming that the two teams were setting volleyball back several years. This might be an exaggeration, but the Lions were fortunate that volleyball does not award (or detract) points for presentation.

The team goes back to the locker room after the game. Without seeing it, the best way to imagine the size and feeling of this locker room is to picture a dorm-room double, add a few benches and lockers, and place three cramped showers on the side. The showers look odd; the team refers to them as time machines.

The coaches tell the players that their passing needs work, but first thing is first, and the Lions go out for dinner. The team comes back later to watch Ohio State play, as it will face the Buckeyes the following afternoon.

Volleyball road trips, especially to downtown Newark, will often consist of evenings spent in the hotel.

The players, according to co-captain Nate Meerstein, will usually play poker or Mafia.

The team has had a long day with an early bus ride and a match, and will not be able to rest again until the following evening, when it travels back to Rec Hall.

Day II

Friday was the first time this season that the Lions had to "get off the bus and play," Pav said. He believes this was a major cause for his team's sluggish start and poor passing against IPFW, but also thinks that practice is necessary before the next match.

The team arrives back at the Golden Dome around noon to get in some passing drills. This practice, by all accounts, is light.

Lunch, however, is anything but. The Lions go to a diner in Newark that makes Pav -- even two-plus hours later -- urge his team not to fall into a "food-induced coma" come game time.

The team returns to the Golden Dome to change and get taped up prior to the pre-match scouting meeting. The meeting is set for 3:45 p.m. -- the match is scheduled to start at 5 -- but some are fashionably late. The meeting takes place in a conference room with a whiteboard and a television that is connected to a laptop. Hohenshelt has written several things on the whiteboard, including two Buckeyes to whom the team should try serving. The last item on the board says, "1 more step in our goal to win out." This is one of the only times of the weekend when everyone is serious and no one smiles.

While reviewing each Buckeye starter's tendencies via video, the team looks at an abbreviated scouting report on where those players tend to go after the serve. Pav wants to make sure Penn State doesn't get off to another slow start.

"Get a good warm-up; lock in early," he tells his team at 4:10 as he ends the meeting. The Lions then head to the court.

With 30 minutes to go before the match, Hohenshelt is locked in to everything around him, including the music playing in the gym.

"What do you think, Van Halen with Sammy Hagar, or David Lee Roth?" he asks senior Keith Kowal.

With one minute remaining in warm-ups, setter Dan O'Dell saunters over to the bench with a pained look on his face. "I'm so full," the junior says, shaking his head.

Ohio State matches the Lions' level of play during the first 20 points of the match, but Penn State then begins to pull away in the first game. Even so, Kowal, who seems like he would stay calm through any situation on the court, is pissed.

"We've gotta cover tips. Some of you aren't even making an effort," he says, looking at one end of the bench.

Hohenshelt appears to be in a state of delight and surprise. He's both surprised and delighted that Kowal is getting so worked up about this, but even the surprise doesn't stop the assistant from making light of the situation just seconds later.

"Keith wants you to cover tips," he says with half a smirk. "So I guess you should do that."

Take me home tonight

The parents who made the trip to Newark speak with the players in the lobby, while freshman Luke Murray is assigned the task of wheeling out the video equipment.

The players will board the bus at 7 p.m. to travel back to Penn State, where their own beds will be waiting, and practice -- deservedly so -- will not, at least for another four days.