How often does a guy who played just one year of high school volleyball, not even for his own school, become a key contributor for a major NCAA Division I program in his first year?
It would be difficult to find any college athlete whose journey leading up to the NCAA mirrors that of Penn State's Cal Fisher. A true freshman right side hitter for the Nittany Lions, Fisher graduated from Riverview High School, which does not have a boys' volleyball program.
His lone year of high school volleyball was during his junior year at Riverview when he played for Penn Hills High School as part of a co-op agreement. He went on to be voted first-team all-WPIAL Class 3A and the PVCA Class 3A all-state team.
"I played club four years prior to that and we originally tried to do a cooperative agreement with Fox Chapel, the neighboring school, but that didn't work out, so then we talked to Penn Hills and we knew their athletic director and he was all about it, so we went for it. I enjoyed everything about it, the team was a lot of fun, but I thought after that it would be best to just continue playing club," Fisher said.
Prior to his season at Penn Hills, Fisher had played four years with the prestigious Pittsburgh Volleyball Club, alongside fellow Penn State freshman Canyon Tuman. Through his play on the club circuit, Fisher was offered scholarships from Juniata and Penn State EIVA foe, St. Francis. However, Fisher always had his sights set on playing for the Nittany Lions, even though Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik could not offer him a scholarship.
Fisher's coach for the Pittsburgh Volleyball Club was Dan Shaw, a former Penn State men's volleyball captain. Pavlik already had his eyes on Tuman, but Shaw recommended he take a look at Fisher too.
With Fisher being listed at only 6-foot-3, Shaw was unsure if Fisher was big enough to play at Penn State, but he knew that his athleticism and ball control skills, combined with being a left-handed hitter, were more than sufficient. From there Pavlik began to pursue both Tuman and Fisher, who are now rooming together at Penn State.
Fisher listed Penn State's academic reputation along with its volleyball pedigree as the biggest factor in deciding to forgo his other two scholarship offers and play for the Nittany Lions. Although Pavlik did not offer Fisher a scholarship during his recruitment, his staff saw tremendous upside with Fisher and a scholarship could still be very much in play down the road.
"His early play has been more than we've bargained for," Pavlik said. "He understands that competition is a little bit better here than what he left in terms of how his physicality has to adapt to it. He has not changed. His explosiveness, his quickness — he's figuring out ways to make that work for him. Obviously, he's not the biggest guy, but he's somebody that plays well in the atmosphere that we need him to be in."
Despite missing Penn State's games against Harvard and Sacred Heart last weekend, Fisher is fourth on the team in kills and tied for third in service aces this season. What is more impressive is how productive Fisher has been in place of the injured Cal Mende, who has been out with a shoulder injury since the end of January. Mende was a First-Team All-EIVA selection the past two seasons, so Pavlik originally planned to use Fisher as primarily a serving specialist, but he will now face the challenge of determining how to integrate both players into the lineup as Mende works his way back.
"The good thing is we know what (Fisher's) strengths are and what he can do," Pavlik said. "We also know when Mende gets back what some of his unique strengths. I think the question that I have to ask is how can we take advantage of both of their strengths. I think everything boils down to how they score points."
Fisher said that he expects to go back to his original role of being a serving specialist once Mende returns to the lineup, but that he'll be ready for any role asked of him. Pavlik added that with Fisher's athleticism and ball control skills, the team can really use him at any position on the court.
If Pavlik can find a way to use both Mende and Fisher in the lineup, then Penn State will suddenly have a dynamic one-two punch on the right side. A 6-foot-11 lefty, Mende provides a dangerous blocking presence against opposing hitters, in addition to his powerful hitting arm. Fisher, on the other hand, will make Penn State a bit more dynamic defensively combined with his added serving prowess.
The fact that Penn State also played six ranked teams during its non-conference schedule helped accelerate Fisher's development. Even though Penn State did not win any of those games, Fisher and the rest of Penn State's exposure to top competition early in the season will give the youthful Nittany Lions a big boost in EIVA play.
"I think it prepares us very well. It lets us see what our weaknesses are and lets us build from there, so I think that's always good, especially since we have a pretty young team this year," Fisher said. "You get to see what players at the top level are doing and I can work off that and learn from them and develop my own game."
Through the first weekend of league play, the taxing non-conference schedule seemed to prepare the Nittany Lions very well after convincing sweeps of both Harvard and Sacred Heart.
However Pavlik chooses to use his two lefties once Mende returns to the lineup, Penn State now has the luxury of having two viable options on the right side thanks to the pleasant surprise Fisher has brought to the lineup so far this season.