Among the most difficult tasks for a young team to master is how to consistently win on the road.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Penn State Nittany Lions will have no shortage of opportunities, as they are in the midst of a road-heavy schedule to start the 2018 campaign.
With trips to the west coast and Washington, D.C. already in the book the previous two weekends, the Nittany Lions are a quarter of the way through a four-game stretch on the road to start Big Ten play.
The month-long stretch with games away from Rec Hall is the longest any player on the current roster has experienced, and can certainly come with its drawbacks at times.
"It's definitely difficult to travel all the time, obviously traveling in itself is exhausting," senior setter Bryanna Weiskircher said. "It kind of cuts into practice time a little bit and for some of the underclassmen it's going to be a huge adjustment being on the road and not always being in class."
Keeping up with classes can be a challenge for the players, as a typical Friday night match requires a Thursday departure, cutting into not only class but also valuable study time.
"It helps to talk to professors and get our work done ahead of time, and then just doing it on the road when we have time, like between film and practice," freshman outside hitter Amanda Phegley said.
"It depends on who your professor is and you have to keep a good relationship with them," freshman defensive specialist Jenna Hampton said. "Right now it's been fine because it's early in the year, but I'm not sure once we get more into the semester and into Big Ten play."
The players study anywhere and at any time they can, which is not always easy with the demanding travel schedules and being out of town every weekend.
"Last tournament, we had a classroom at the arena that we all went to in between games, and we all just kind of did our work in there," Phegley said.
"We pretty much study on all of our off time, so we're either playing volleyball, watching film, studying or sleeping when we're on the road," Weiskircher said. "When we have these stretches where we have one big travel month, it gets to be a lot, but I think that you manage it and you figure out what you do best and you get better at it."
Aspiring teacher Kristin Krause is a hot commodity on road trips, as she enjoys helping the team with homework and keeping up with their classes.
"She has not helped me yet, but I'm taking advantage of it next trip because we take the same class. She's definitely the popular one to ask," Phegley said.
Road trips do come with some huge positives as well, as they allow the team to bond as a unit off the court unlike anything they can do on campus and it gives the freshmen and upperclassmen a chance to become even stronger as a team.
"It's super fun. We all get different roommates every time, so we all listen to music together and the bus rides are really fun as well," Phegley said.
Penn State can be a hectic atmosphere at times, student-athlete or not, and the road trips provide some solace away from the hustle and bustle of typical college life.
"Hopefully it helps (the freshmen) get away from all of the chaos that is State College with football weekends and all that kind of stuff, but it obviously presents its challenges," Weiskircher said.
"The freshmen, we all already know each other because we're in the dorms together, but on the road trips with the upperclassmen we bond and play games together so we get to know each other," Hampton said.
Travel itself can be a transition for the freshmen, as the team flies charter everywhere and keeps to a very regimented schedule compared to high school. While the freshmen traveled for club volleyball in high school, it's a much more businesslike atmosphere in college. Travel isn't necessarily too different now with less schoolwork to balance, but later in Big Ten play time management becomes ever more important.
Everyone handles road trips differently, but one popular activity is listening to music together on the bus rides.
"Hip-Hop R&B and the 2000s, I feel like that's definitely our prime," Phegley said. "A lot of sing-a-longs. Allyson (Cathey) has the best voice."
Others prefer a more dialed back experience.
"A lot of us sleep," Weiskircher said.
For coach Russ Rose, it's business as usual on road trips, as he's mastered the art of preparing for a road trip and how to best manage a team's time and workload throughout his 40 years at the helm.
"He still has his little quirks and things on the road, but he does the same routine whether we're on the road or at home," Weiskircher said.
The Nittany Lions play at Ohio State Sunday, Sept. 23 before a pair of matches up north against Michigan and Michigan State Sept. 28 and 30. The conference home opener is Oct. 5 against Maryland.
