The automatic lights in the Penn State men's volleyball offices coincidentally turned off.
It happened as coach Mark Pavlik was in the process of explaining his team can't get content with its recent success and think it can simply "flip a switch" and play well.
The Nittany Lions just returned home from going 2-1 on a spring break trip to California, where they faced three ranked opponents. Riding that momentum, the Lions feel they are playing the best volleyball of the season.
Gauging the Lions' level of play can be difficult against over-matched EIVA teams, against which the Lions dropped just one set the last two seasons. So Pavlik went into the road trip looking to use the games as a measuring stick.
The Lions play in California resulted in a promising feeling looking forward.
In the first match, the Lions grinded out a five-set victory over defending national champion UC Irvine in a match the Lions weren't playing as well as they wanted.
In the second match of the trip, they didn't give up when solid play against No. 4 BYU wasn't resulting in leads on the scoreboard.
Pavlik said the Lions had everything going against them against No. 6 Long Beach State -- their third match in four days -- in the final match of the Active Ankle Classic. And, the 49ers rested their starters against St. Francis the night before facing the Lions.
But Penn State didn't let the surrounding on-paper negatives get in the way. The Lions swept the 49ers on their court in a competitive match where saw each set come was within three points.
Pavlik said the Lions gained knowledge of playing well for a long period of time from their 2,500-mile trip to Irvine and Long Beach.
The Lions knew they could outplay teams in less competitive matches, but now they know they can win big points in big matches.
"California volleyball is completely different than EIVA volleyball," sophomore Ryan Wolf said. "It's more physical, and now we know we can compete with some of the best teams out there."
Now, Pavlik's concern is his confident team will fall into the trap of knowing it doesn't take its best effort to defeat some of its conference opponents.
Wolf said the Lions have momentum and are ready to compete against whoever is on the other side of the net.
