Will Price plans to be in the lineup for the first match of the season.
Since severely spraining his ankle Nov. 10 at Rec Hall's South Gym, the senior All-American for the Penn State men's volleyball team has been diligently rehabbing with the intention of playing when the team opens the season against the University of Southern California Jan. 7 at Honolulu.
"There was some worry that I could've fractured it, but it turns out it was just a pretty nasty sprain," said Price, who was second on the team last season with 343 kills.
"The good thing is that we don't really have any serious competition for another three or four weeks. So, by the time January rolls around, and we go to Hawaii for our preseason tournament, I should be back to 100 percent."
The coaches plan to bring Price to Hawaii. They expect him to play, but there's a chance they opt to hold him out.
"The big thing that we want to make sure is I think Will's got a future beyond playing here, playing overseas and perhaps playing for the national team," assistant Colin McMillan said. "We just want to make sure he takes all the time he needs to be 100 percent before he comes back."
With Price expected to play, he and his teammates said the timing of the injury was convenient.
"As weird as it is to say, if there was a good time to do something like this I pretty much did it at around the perfect time," Price said. "Granted I missed a few [exhibition] matches in Rochester. In terms of the big picture for me that wasn't a make-or-break thing for the season."
That tournament that Price missed in Rochester, N.Y., happened less than a week after his injury occurred.
That tournament that wasn't "make or break" for the proven All-American may have been pivotal for some of his younger teammates.
Prior to his injury, Price took up most of the practice time with the first team, taking away opportunities for the freshmen and sophomores to prove themselves as potential contributors.
McMillan said it was good for some the underclassmen to gain experience picking up "more of the burden."
"We definitely saw some of the guys respond in Rochester," McMillan said. "With Will, we're not concerned that he's going to be a good player.
"We know he's a good player. We know he's been in big situations before. He performed really well at last year's final four. He's not a question mark for us."
Head coach Mark Pavlik said he always tells his reserve players they are one play away from being in the lineup, and he was pleased with how they have responded in Price's absence.
Freshman Kyle Mars said he and a lot of his fellow underclassmen benefited from the extra court time and match experience, but he also stressed the importance of Price being in the lineup.
Price said he doesn't see a problem with being ready to play, but it is a long process. He plans to continue rehabbing after his mandatory rehab is complete in about a week.
Friday he demonstrated drills as part of a coaching clinic put on by assistant coach Jay Hosack.
He said at first everything felt good, but after a while he had to take himself out.
"I don't know if it was a confidence issue or weakness in my ankle," he said.
Despite the long recovery time, Price said he is excited to be back at 100 percent and play in Hawaii. Hosack said it might have even been a good thing for Price to take a break from competitive volleyball for a few weeks.
Price said he hasn't had any time off in a few years because of playing competitive volleyball during the summers.
"Even just sitting there and watching practice made me miss volleyball a lot," Price said. "On one hand, it really sucks coming down spraining my ankle. On the other hand, it did give me some time to just relax and not really do anything. From that perspective, it was a little bit of a welcome break, but in hindsight it's not a break that I would readily take again."
