Volleyball: Men's

Throughout the entire month of January, coach Mark Pavlik’s catch phrase was “January volleyball” for describing his No. 9 Penn State squad. His team always has to work out the kinks early on.

When the calendar flipped a page to February, the coach changed the term to “February volleyball.” In the second month of the season, the team is steadily progressing, according to Pavlik.

So before the calendar turns a page and Pavlik starts using March volleyball, it’s time to reflect on how the Nittany Lions have developed.

Progression

- Penn State went 6-2 and 5-1 in conference play in the month of February. Penn State was also 5-1 at home.
- The Lions won four matches in sweeps in February.
- Penn State averaged more kills per set this month (13.76). Last month, the Lions averaged 13.04 kills per set.
- The Lions’ hitting percentage also went up this month, hitting .287, .030 more than last month.
- Penn State was also blocked 7.81 per match this month, down from last month’s total of 9.43.

Regression

- The Lions did go 1-1 two straight weekends in the month, including a loss to Harvard. It was the first loss in conference play in 61 matches with a conference foe.
- Penn State averaged 5.57 aces per match in the first month of the year. In the second month, Penn State only averaged 4.75 aces per match.
- In February, Penn State sided-out 65 percent of the time. In January, Penn State sided-out 68 percent of the time.
- Opponents also hit .244 in February. In January, opponents only hit .188 against Penn State