When it comes to choosing team captains, players generally elect their star players for their experience, leadership and skill.

Penn State co-captain Travis Foltz is not one of those star players.

The men's volleyball setter has only four starts under his belt, yet on a team loaded with talent and experience, the players selected the emotional senior as one of their captains in the fall. He'll again roam the sidelines at Rec Hall for Senior Day tomorrow against Ball State.

"It's kind of weird to know my career here is coming to an end," Foltz said. "But with the year we're having here, I'm not really too disappointed."

Foltz sees the most playing time at the end of games when coach Mark Pavlik needs an accurate server to secure Penn State's possession of the ball. Pavlik calls Foltz his "closer" and said he uses the senior as a change of pace from his usual starting lineup.

While Foltz's most effective tool might be his serving, his greatest contribution to the team is his energy from the bench. Any powerful kill by Matt Anderson, every jaw-dropped save by Dennis Del Valle and each cross-court assist by Luke Murray is immediately followed by Foltz jumping up and down the sideline, making sure everyone wearing a Penn State uniform is as excited as he is.

"I've always thrived on emotion, whether I'm playing or not," Foltz said. "If the guys seem dead on the court, I feel it's my job to get the guys out there and on the bench going."

Before this season, few Penn State fans would have guessed Foltz would become a staple on the team's sidelines. Coming out of high school in California, even Foltz didn't see himself playing in Rec Hall.

And until March of last year, Foltz's role on the team seemed only to be supplementary. Playing in just 11 matches his first two years at Penn State, the setter from Westlake, Calif., found it difficult to stand out among the talent surrounding him.

"The first few years, I was just trying to stay afloat," Foltz said. "I was nervous beyond belief. I didn't know any of the guys, and they all came from the same area. I felt, at first, like an outcast."

For a few months at the end of his high school career, Foltz wasn't sure he was going to play collegiate volleyball, even though he came from an award-laced career at Westlake High School, in which he led his team to its first-ever state title match.

But from the moment he enrolled at Penn State and walked onto the volleyball team, he began taking in everything about the sport he could. Through his career, he became the sideline voice of soft-spoken starter Luke Murray.

"He's seen so many matches. ... He understands the role the team as a whole needs to play," Pavlik said. "I told him I want him in my ear and talking with me during matches, telling me which guys I should take out or if I should keep them together."

The bond of the two senior setters becomes apparent when Murray comes off the court during timeouts and searches for Foltz to give him feedback. Foltz said he gives him tips on what the other team does away from the net where it's harder for the setter on the court to see.

When Murray suffered an ankle injury last March and Foltz got a chance to lead the team for four matches, Foltz said Murray helped relax him and ease him into the starter's role.

"I didn't have much experience with [the starters] in practice, but Luke pulled me aside and helped me out with a lot of advice," Foltz said.

In his first collegiate start, Foltz dished out 33 assists and led the team with seven digs in a losing effort to Cal Baptist. The Lions took the next match against No. 10 Long Beach State to five games, and Foltz impressed the coaches and players once again, putting up 56 assists and seven digs. Some would deem such a performance from the second-string setter impressive, but Foltz to this day wishes he could have done more to get the win.

"The games out west were a blast, but it was hard because we lost some big games out there," Foltz said. "The team competed well, but maybe if I had a little more experience, maybe we could've pulled through."

When Murray returned, Pavlik continued to substituting Foltz in more frequently. Foltz finished the 2007 season with 283 assists and a .944 serving percentage, setting himself up for a more integrated role in his senior year. As his senior year winds down, he hopes his journey gives hope to future freshmen who don't see much time early in their careers at Penn State.

"It's not the end of the world," Foltz said. "All the guys out there have a big role in practice, and that's to get the starters better. From there, who knows?"