It has been a team without a home for over a week now. At first, this was somewhat of a curse, toiling in the cornfields of Nebraska. Then it became a vacation on the sunny beaches of the United States' most western paradise, Honolulu.
But wherever it may have been for the No. 5 Penn State women's volleyball team, all of the shifting time zones required a lot of coffee just to stay awake. Consider the six-hour time difference between State College and Hawaii.
"I've been to [Starbucks] everyday since I've been here," senior Sam Tortorello said.
And as the Nittany Lions finished up the Hawaiian Airlines Classic, they needed an extra kick. Like the AVCA/NACWAA College Volleyball Showcase in Omaha, Neb., a week earlier, Penn State would finish the tournament against No. 4 Hawaii. But unlike last Saturday, or the day before against Western Michigan, this wouldn't be an easy 3-0 sweep for the Lions.
The match actually started out a lot more like the Lions' only loss of the season to No. 3 Stanford, with the Penn State squad sinking into a two-game deficit. But unlike the match vs. the Cardinals, Penn State (4-1) outlasted the Rainbow Wahine (1-3) in the fifth game to win 22-30, 17-30, 30-27, 30-18, 15-11 early Saturday, EST.
"This was two different matches before and after the break [between games two and three]," head coach Russ Rose said in a press release. "The players were fired up not to let what happened with Stanford last week happen again."
In the fourth and fifth games, Penn State felt a jolt of energy while Hawaii slumped into what could be compared to a post-caffeine low. Penn State hit a zone in the final half of the match, connecting at a .305 percentage in the last two games, while Hawaii hit a funk with a .054 percentage, including a .000 percent for the fourth game.
And in a match that was the battle of two 2004 All-America setters -- Penn State's Tortorello and Hawaii junior Kanoe Kamana'o -- it was surprising to see less consistency from both teams. Tortorello dished out 63 assists, while the Rainbow Wahine's Kamana'o contributed 61. Still, both teams ended up below baseball's Mendoza-line, with the Lions finishing at a .202 hitting percentage and the Rainbow Wahine averaging .190 for the match.
But in the fifth game, Penn State broke away with some youthful energy. With the game and match knotted at 2-2, freshman outside hitter Nicole Fawcett contributed three straight points, two kills and a block to put the Lions up 5-3. Fawcett finished her fifth collegiate match with a team-high 26 kills.
Penn State traded 12 straight points with Hawaii to leave the Lions with a 12-11 lead. Out of a Rainbow Wahine timeout, a block from junior Cassy Salyer and freshman Christa Harmotto gave Penn State a 13-11 cushion. Then a kill from sophomore Kate Price pushed Hawaii to the brink, where after another Rainbow Wahine timeout, Price ended the match with another kill to win the game for the Lions, 15-11.
This finished off Penn State's second defeat of Hawaii in less than a week, not to mention Tortorello's second victory over a good friend, Hawaii junior Cayley Thurlby. Thurlby, Tortorello's high school teammate and back-up setter for the Rainbow Wahine, was a friendly rival that gave Tortorello personal motivation.
"I congratulate her after the game, but you don't want to lose to each other," Tortorello said.
Luckily, the Lions were able to save Tortorello some grief from Thurlby on their way off the island. At home until Thursday, they can all sleep long and easy now.
Then they will travel back to the familiar confines of the Quest Center in Omaha, Neb.
And further jet-lag might force them all back to the cappuccino.
