After the No. 9 Penn State men's volleyball team's first EIVA loss in two years, one might expect this to be the time when players start pointing fingers.
Rapid accusations can materialize, as everyone looks at everyone else when directing blame.
And when a sophomore is replacing an injured EIVA first-team senior in the starting lineup, one might also expect most of those fingers would be aimed at him.
Luke Murray is that sophomore, replacing injured Dan O'Dell. On this team, though, he in no way has to shoulder blame.
"All in all, we don't lose a ton with Luke," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said. "As far as running an offense, as far as putting the ball up in hittable positions, as far as getting after balls that may not be perfect passes, that's some of Luke's strengths. He's working harder at those than ever before."
Although he's had what the coaching staff calls "ups and downs," his play has still been pretty effective.
He had 60 assists and five blocks for the Nittany Lions (13-7, 9-1 EIVA) in their thumping of the Buckeyes last week. In the loss to the Patriots, he still managed to chip in 47 assists.
Considering his short stature (just 6-foot), it would be expected that one of his weaknesses would be in the blocking game.
The coaching staff has gone to great lengths to put Murray in positions to be successful. One strategy that has worked well thus far is moving him to the middle to take on middle hitters one-on-one, while the opposing team's outside hitters are forced to take on Penn State's middle blockers.
Thus far, the strategy has paid off.
Murray tallied a career-high seven blocks, including five solo, against Ohio State. He chipped in three solo blocks against George Mason.
Still, a 6-foot setter blocking middle hitters six to eight inches taller than he is pretty impressive.
"I think it has a lot to do with working on it so much in practice," Murray said.
Running the Lions offense in the absence of one of its all-time premier setters may make many young players uncomfortable.
So what's Murray's comfort level right now in that situation?
"One-hundred percent," Murray said after the Ohio State game. "I've been practicing with [the starters] the last three weeks or so. I can step in at any time."
