Jan. 26, 2015
By Tyler Feldman, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After four straight road matches to begin the 2015 campaign, the Penn State men's volleyball team (0-6) returned to Rec Hall this past weekend to open up a five-match homestand.
Despite dropping Friday night's match to defending national champion and No. 1 Loyola (5-0) in four sets (26-28, 26-24, 23-25, 21-25), as well as Saturday evening's contest to No. 2 Lewis (6-1) in four frames (18-25, 25-18, 22-25, 20-25), senior Aaron Russell and his family positively impacted the home opening weekend.
Russell produced standout performances in both matches, tallying 14 kills in the close contest against Loyola. Then, the senior outside hitter tallied a match-high 23 kills in the competitive bout against Lewis.
He wasn't the only Russell in attendance, however. In fact, his older brother, Peter, who was the lone graduate from last year's team, as well as the rest of his family, was in attendance to cheer on Aaron and the squad.
"It was great," said Russell when asked about having his family in the stands. "Earlier this week I was texting with Peter, and he was trying to encourage me about the matches this upcoming weekend facing number one and two in our gym. He told me that `You guys don't lose in your gym. You guys should have all the confidence in the world. You have nothing to lose.' I thought it was pretty cool to hear him say that and see him up here supporting me."
For Russell, this is not the way he envisioned the season to start, but he sees growth from his teammates each and every day.
"It's tough," said Russell. "That's something that we've been talking about every single day, every single week. We just continue to work hard to try and get that first win. I know it's frustrating to hear myself say that, but I think that we continue to get better. I think that was a different team on the court than we were last week."
Russell's parents Stewart and Marian are his two biggest fans. So much so that Stewart was the cheerleader in the stands, initiating the "We Are" chant time and time again to fire up the crowd.
According to Aaron, this comes as no surprise.
"After every match he always comes up to me and - he's been my coach since day one - so he'll always come on to the court after and just encourage me and give me some pointers," said Russell about his father. "A lot of it right now is about leadership. I'm trying to learn a lot from him."
Russell family aside, the biggest takeaway from this weekend is that Penn State's record is not reflective of the team's talent and ability. Five of its six opponents thus far are ranked nationally.
A challenging regular season slate prepares the team for postseason play. As head coach Mark Pavlik always says, "No team has ever won a championship in January."
In addition to Russell, outside hitters Nick Goodell and Spencer Sauter, as well as middle hitter Matt Callaway all displayed strong play on the court. In the two matches, Goodell totaled 36 kills, Sauter netted 18 kills and Callaway generated 19 kills. Setter Taylor Hammond added 99 assists over the two games.
"I like this team," said Pavlik. "We're not where we want to be. They haven't blown apart. There's no finger pointing. We're in this together. It's going to get better. The challenge in front of this team is to say, `How good can you get over the course of the rest of the year?' My money is on them."