UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As Penn State arrives home for the first time in 2021, the team prepares for the quick turn-around of another weekend of matches with Ohio State in Rec Hall. Head coach Mark Pavlik discusses takeaways from the first games, and what will be executed moving forward. Here are three top takeaways:
It's all in the serve
All-EIVA First Team junior Cal Fisher led the team this past weekend with four service aces. In another instance, captain Brett Wildman in one match this past weekend served a ball at 72 miles per hour and hit an Ohio State defensive specialist in the shoulder due to an inability to move out of the way fast enough. Having a serve that is consistently 60 miles per hour — such as Fisher's — makes it a challenge to receive, and in turn can make it easier to defend.
The physicality of Fisher's and Wildman's serve can help set the tone for matches and is a testament to the team's athleticism.
"In the men's game, if you can be physical with your serving, you're going to put yourself in situations where you can get easier balls to defend," Pavlik said. "It will be really interesting if the physicality level is such that just every team has big guys, strong guys, and you're going to take swings. If you let them take swings and they're getting in their groove, man it's tough to slow things down."
New faces on the block
With a roster containing a lot of veteran players, the Nittany Lions also have a lot of new faces this year. Eight freshmen have joined Penn State in what is an odd year to begin training and competing at the collegiate level.
Seven players — a mix of sophomores and freshmen — had their official debut to collegiate volleyball on Saturday and were exposed to the level of competition that is expected in the conference. Yet despite the loss in Saturday's match, Pavlik is proud of all the players who fought hard during the match.
"I really love how our new guys competed," Pavlik said. "They're trying to figure out how they play at this level. They're going up against guys on the other side who have been in this game three, four, five years and been in the weight room three, four, five years more than they have. They have seen this movie before. So how we handled games one and two with the new guys — I really, really like the way they competed."
All love in the gym
After a tumultuous year of uncertainty, being back in the gym has brought all smiles to the Nittany Lions. Despite how operations of the game are different, the team is focused on the excitement of being back doing what they love.
Pavlik mentioned how this team shrugs their shoulders and rolls with the punches very well. Now they are getting back into the groove of entering Rec Hall while leaving everything else outside, and have a moment to play in unity.
"The typical pass and serve practice that we have in the morning before, there was a lightness and joy about our guys," Pavlik said. "It was like we're finally doing what we love to do. We saw a little bit of that the very first time we got into the gym in the fall like we're finally back. It's great to be able to be with teammates."
