No. 6 is sprawled out on the floor after missing a ball.
Even though he probably couldn't have gotten to it, you can see he's not too happy about surrendering a point -- in the split-second after giving it up, his face has gone from white to maroon.
Lips pursed, he'll push himself up from the floor, and usually, he'll let out a few well-chosen expletives and yell at a few well-chosen people. Teammates or not, he's an equal opportunity offender.
He's the kind of person who speaks his mind and does so bluntly -- often making it near impossible to get any quotes of substance worth using from him.
Meet Ryan Walthall.
A year ago the Penn State men's volleyball captain was a bench player, a reserve.
He wasn't even high enough on coach Mark Pavlik's bench to merit a spot on Penn State's travel squad through the team's spring break West Coast swing.
Walthall, now a senior, is one of Penn State's three captains and after spending the summer in State College instead of returning home to Irvine, Calif., he knows this team better than perhaps anyone.
He's Penn State's starting libero and is performing superbly -- he's averaging 2.30 digs a game and has ranked as high as fourth nationally in the category this season.
And with the use of his now patented intensity, he's Penn State's unquestioned vocal leader.
"That personality that he has, he plays hard, and sometimes he's at a point where he's wavering on that line where I want to tell him to calm down," Pavlik said. "But he's gotten so good at that, and he balances out some of the other guys."
In Pavlik's mind, Walthall's development to where he is today stems from what could have been the breaking point of Penn State's season last year.
"We needed him to step in and play libero after we got back from spring break," Pavlik said, "and all of a sudden you saw a guy that just took his competitive level and competitive nature and really he made it fit to the team."
With Walthall inserted into the lineup, the Lions rebounded from a sub-par spring break trip and eventually made it to the national championship before finishing as the national runner-up.
"Sometimes it's really easy to go in and then say 'Here I am. Deal with me,' " Pavlik said. "And I thought last year with that group that we had on the court, Ryan came in and molded his personality to where it best fit the team."
***
Walthall and teammate Matt Anderson had just finished their Tuesday morning weight-training session two weeks ago when they were walking from the Rec Hall athlete's weight room back to the main gym and men's volleyball locker room.
"I don't like the day-to-day stuff of being an athlete," Walthall said. "I just like the games."
Anderson ducked into the training room, so Walthall followed him in for a moment.
"I don't spend a lot of time in here," Walthall said.
Was this the same Ryan Walthall that is constantly diving on to the court after the ball?
"Most of my injuries are superficial," he said while contorting himself in such a way to make a bruise on his arm more visible.
"I've learned how to dive right, where you just kind of glide down to the ground," he said. "It's more of a glide than it really is a thud, but when you get floor burn or something, sort of like this [now displaying a patch of skin on his knee rubbed raw by the floor], it kind of stings at first.
"It's kind of like when you touch a hot stove, you're like, 'OW! Why did I do that?' but it hurts mostly sitting in the shower afterwards. That's what probably stings the worst."
It must be an occupational hazard of someone who goes all-out every chance he gets.
***
"[The diving] is just kind of habit," he said. "You get used to it. It's just a reaction. I'm not really thinking whether or not I can get to it, I just kind of see it and go for it."
His habit of "seeing it and going for it" was on display during the team's April 6 win against East Stroudsburg, Senior Night, before which the three captains were recognized.
With a partially blocked ball headed out of bounds, he ran cross-court, dove out of bounds onto his back and set the ball to keep the play alive.
After making the play, his momentum kept him sliding across the floor before coming to a stop against the Rec Hall bleachers.
"After I played the ball, in the back of my head I knew it had to be getting close," Walthall said. "I thought I had a couple more feet before I hit it."
It was a startling moment considering athletes often injure themselves when making contact with walls, but as soon as he came to a stop, he was upright and running to get back into the play.
"I mean, I played it and I still hadn't hit the bleachers," Walthall said. "It hurt for a second, but that was it."
It is playing with that kind of reckless abandon that makes Walthall who he is.
"Ryan has the personality where it's either win or don't show up," fellow captain Aaron Smith said. "Basically, if you're not playing hard, if you're not leaving it all on the court, than he doesn't want to be associated with you."
***
"He doesn't always say the right things, but he definitely expresses himself through the way he plays," Smith said. "He definitely sets a great example by giving it his all on every play. Just his desire to win makes his teammates want to win."
The sentiment was echoed by his teammates and coach when asked how important Walthall is to this team.
They all talked about how motivational he is during a practice.
"Ryan is as Ryan is," Pavlik said. "He doesn't pick and choose his times. He reacts the same way in a four-on-four drill in practice as he does when something's going on in a match that he loves or doesn't like."
Smith talked of how Walthall will call out the team if it's only practicing for the sake of practicing.
The third of the Lions' three captains, Alex Gutor, noted how Walthall always has an opinion and how he's always going to share it.
If the team is playing poorly, Walthall isn't going to sugarcoat it. But, if the team is playing well, he's its biggest cheerleader.
It's what the team has come to expect from him.
"You saw that picture in the newspaper where he's jumping up like that," Gutor said while mimicking the awkward position Walthall was caught in while celebrating.
"I mean, he's the ultimate motivator out there," Gutor said.
His wrath isn't only felt by the team though.
"All the time when I go to talk to the referee on the questionable call, the first thing I hear is, 'Tell number six to calm down,' " Gutor said. "Every single time."
From a speaking standpoint, Gutor says Walthall is "the worst enemy for the other team."
"You know, he can get the whole team pumped up. He does some things in the huddle that fire me up," Gutor said "I know that everybody, we're waiting for what is Pee-Wee [Walthall's nickname on the team] going to say next."
***
"I don't know [where my on-court presence comes from]," Walthall said. "It's just sort of how I've always played. I just hate losing, so I do whatever it takes not to lose."
His personality is fitting for the libero position and Walthall's constant diving are played on instincts alone.
Saturday night, during the first game of the EIVA championship match, Penn State was playing poorly and found itself trailing second-seeded St. Francis.
Pavlik called a timeout, but it was Walthall who took command of the huddle.
"Sometimes we'll be passing really badly, and Pav will be like, 'Hey guys, you gotta get your feet to the ball. You gotta get your hands ready to play it,' " Anderson said. "[Walthall will] just be like, 'Alright Pav. How about we just take our heads out of our asses and start playing.'
"At times, he can be really annoying and you just want him to shut up, but there's this thing that has to be in every athlete, where you just don't want to lose. He pushes me to play better. I don't want him to stop."
He hasn't stopped, and now Walthall and his intense demeanor have managed to guide the Nittany Lions to their ninth consecutive NCAA tournament berth.
With Walthall's collegiate playing career set to end after this week's tournament, Pavlik reflected on his stay here.
He remembered when Walthall visited the campus with his mother and basically recruited himself to the team.
He arrived that fall with no guarantee of making the team but earned the backup setter spot Pavlik had advertised to him during the visit.
He'd go on to serve in a multitude of ways over the next two and a half seasons, before finally receiving his break.
"He's become wiser and I think that was part of his development," Pavlik said. "'How do I make people around me better? What do I have to do?' I think his credibility is pretty high with the team, because if he says something it's not just, 'Oh, there goes Ryan.' It's, 'OK, we better listen.'
"I don't know where we'd be this year if it weren't for Ryan Walthall."
***
Having already accepted a position on the University of Nebraska women's volleyball team coaching staff, Walthall is poised to remain close to the sport after he graduates.
"He's probably not going to be confused with the best [player] ever, but in terms of skill, he's certainly adequate. That's not a bad thing. I think good coaches come from that realm of player," Pavlik said. "I have no doubt in my mind, at some point he's going to be a great head coach somewhere."
Nearing the end of his playing career and the beginning of his coaching career, Walthall says his impending move to Nebraska feels a lot like how he felt when first coming to Penn State.
New people. New place.
Judging by how he reacted the last time he felt this way, the UN women's volleyball program can expect his intensity to come too, after all, he hates losing.
Besides, he doesn't know it any other way.
