Captains have a lot of responsibility on Mark Pavlik's team.
He gives each member of the Penn State men's volleyball team a two-page, extremely detailed document entitled "Captain Job Description," and the Lions vote on who they think will best lead the team.
This year, the Lions elected seniors Max Lipsitz and Will Price and junior Jesse Wagner, but it doesn't look like anyone has claimed this team as his own.
Wagner does have the energetic personality, but the problem is that he doesn't get much court time behind All-American libero Dennis Del Valle.
For this team to be successful, Price needs to focus on his volleyball. His statistical contributions are too vital for the Lions to have him learning how to lead a team.
So while the Lions have a wealth of talent and are capable of winning a national championship, Lipsitz needs to be the one who leads them there.
Lipsitz was a captain last season, and he had the opportunity to be the junior captain who led by example. He wasn't expected to claim the team, because it wasn't his team yet.
Now it is.
Lipsitz admits he doesn't have the leadership style of worrying about his teammates during the match. He leads with his volleyball.
Pavlik agrees it's not necessarily Lipsitz's personality to be the kind of leader that takes responsibility for his teammates on the court, but he says that doesn't mean he can't do it.
"I think it goes back to the sacrifice part," Pavlik said. "Maybe it's not part of someone's DNA to sit on the bench either. You keep reinforcing that there's an expectation that this team is theirs. They, of all people, cannot be indifferent when something is happening that isn't in the direction they know or want the program to go."
The DNA comment from Pavlik is in reference to the captains' duty to handle complaints about playing time. It's their job to preach team sacrifice, and Pavlik expects sacrifice from them, too.
It's pretty obvious this team will make it to the NCAA tournament, but without leadership the Lions won't be as prepared as their competition in the Final Four. Those are the cards they're dealt with their EIVA schedule. The most-likely two teams from the MPSF that make the Final Four will be favored to play in the final.
Penn State has the ability to not make it an all-California final, as it showed just two years ago.
Lipsitz just needs to take the Lions there.
Lipsitz will be there with his kills and blocks. He brings those every night. But there's more he can do.
Whatever it takes, Lipsitz needs to sacrifice and claim his team. He has the capability. He has the respect of his teammates. He has the experience. He has a team that could win a national championship and call him their leader.
Now he just needs to be one.
