Earlier this season, junior outside hitter Matt Anderson jumped well above the Lewis University blockers at the net and made contact with a volleyball for the first time in almost a week.

The ball was struck with enormous power and when it finally landed, it was nowhere near where he intended it to land. The ball nearly landed in the first row of the bleachers at Rec Hall, but there was more than Anderson's hand that went behind this particular kill attempt.

Anderson had just experienced the loss of his grandmother after the Penn State men's volleyball team won its first ever Outrigger Invitational title in Hawaii, and he was determined to take the court less than a week later against Lewis and move on.

"I just wanted to put it behind me," Anderson said. "It was a really tough thing to do, but I feel like when I'm determined enough to do something I can do it. So I kind of used that Lewis match to blow off some steam."

Anderson has recovered since. Heading into last weekend's matches, he was second in the nation in kills (263), kills per game (5.60) and points per game (6.44), but that week in early January presented Anderson with a lot to deal with.

In Hawaii, Anderson led the Lions to a sweep of then-No. 3 UCLA -- the first time the Lions beat the Bruins since 1991 -- then to a sweep of Ball State to secure the Outrigger title. Anderson was named the invitational's most outstanding player after averaging more than six kills a game.

However, for Anderson, the celebration was short-lived.

"I went out with my family that night and we celebrated," Anderson said. "Sunday morning I woke up and I was at the beach and in the water when I got a phone call from my dad. I got out of the water and listened to the message of my dad saying 'Matt give me a call,' and I figured he just wanted to say hi."

When Anderson returned the phone call his mother answered the phone crying. She tried to talk, but could not get a word out. When his father took over on the phone he told Matt what had happened. His mother's mother, his grandmother, had taken a turn for the worse.

Matt flew with the team to Cincinnati before leaving his teammates to fly home to Buffalo. Although he had a huge impact on the Lions' first title in Hawaii, when he returned home he could not prevent the inevitable, and his grandmother died shortly after.

"It was a big up-and-down week," Anderson said. "We were on the biggest high of our life at the time with volleyball, being able to win our first invitational, me being named outstanding player of the tournament and a couple of our other guys making the all-tournament team. It was awesome, but then it got tough."

While his team was still feeling what it was like to leave Hawaii undefeated for the first time, Anderson's feelings and emotions were mixed with the high of a title in Hawaii, and the low of losing another grandparent. For Anderson, dealing with the loss wasn't easy.

"It sucked. Anybody who's lost a grandparent knows it sucks," Anderson said. "I was actually the last person to talk to both my grandparents on my mom's side so it was tough to take care of. I had some problems with stress and trying to sleep when I got back because it just all happened so quick in that time frame."

After attending the ceremony and the banquet with his family, Anderson wanted to put his grandmother's death behind him. Meanwhile, the rest of the Lions were back in State College preparing for the home opener against Lewis later that week.

Despite his loss, Anderson had still planned on playing against Lewis at the end of the week. A very stressed Anderson got in the car with his brother and left for State College to rejoin his team.

"I wanted to start playing again and volleyball has been a great reliever of stress for me," Anderson said. "My grandma was a huge supporter of everything any of [my family] did. She wouldn't have wanted me to miss a match, so I just drove down with my brother and said, 'Throw me in whenever.' "

Anderson arrived at Rec Hall for the beginning of Game 2. Penn State coach Mark Pavlik asked him if he wanted to practice before he went in, but Anderson was subbed in halfway through the game after not practicing since leaving Hawaii.

Anderson almost sent his first attempted kill into the stands and he again failed to get his second attempt to land inbounds and quickly notched two hitting errors. However, Anderson fought off the stress he dealt with in the past week and recovered to tally 13 kills, four digs, four blocks and two aces to help the Lions improve to 4-0.

On Feb. 11, Anderson was named the AVCA national player of the week after leading his team to three more wins against Juniata, Loyola-Chicago and IPFW. The No. 2 Lions were finally rolling.

Last week, Anderson was named EIVA player of the week after leading the Lions to two more wins and to the top spot in the AVCA poll for the first time since 2002.

And Anderson is continuing to let his work on the volleyball court relieve him from stress.

That week in early January will stick in his mind for a long time, for various reasons, but his coach said the experience is something a college student learns to deal with.

"Most kids in college are a little more resilient than they think they are," Pavlik said.

"You just have to learn to roll with the punches."