Lions Over BYU

[PSU Fan]

Conrats to the Lions...they're awesome.

They beat #3? Y...

Penn 27 30 30 30 15
BYU 30 24 32 27 11

The MPSF is really strong, is it? ;D

[VBCrusin]

Hey PSU Fan...

Congratulations to Penn State for beating my BYU at their house! That is a major accomplishment to say the least.

I'd like to hear from someone who attended the match...looking at the close scores (going 5 games), it must have been a thriller.

The MPSF is a strong division, but it seems the Penn State has a little power themselves. We'll try NOT to overlook you again. Later, Dude.

[the future]

Here is a letter sent out from Coach Pavlik,

Looks like is was a nasty match and BYU suffered a major setback in loosing their middle blocker to a broken hand.

PSU stepped up big and legitimized it claim for a shot again this year....Very intersting.




Hi from Provo!

It seems as though "splits" is the term for the weekend...in more ways than one.

The Nittany Lions prevailed in a five-game thriller over the BYU Cougars tonight 27-30, 30-24, 30-32, 30-27, 15-11. It was a long match and one that gives the team a "split" of the two game weekend.

The match of "splits" started in warm-ups when freshman Matt Proper "split" hitting assistant coaches with his jump serve. First he nailed BYU volunteer assistant coach Bobby Haddaway in the head and then he really clocked PSU assistant coach Hohenshelt in the left eye with another well-placed but poorly controlled jumper. Dennis claims that was the hardest he had ever been hit and will probably have a royal shiner tomorrow. Then, still warming up, Ricky Mattei takes a shot in the nose from teammate Richard Schneider. The blood flows...almost as if he "split" his nose. During the match Ricky goes into the stands and almost does a "split". Let's just say he talked in a high voice for the rest of the game. Then at the end of game three Keith Kowal collides with Dan O'Dell sending him into the net and causing his upper lip to bleed. At the end of the match, the "split" lip was taken care of with two stitches. Also during the match, emotional Norm Keil was exhorting his teammates and developed a "splitting" headache from all his yelling...that's what he told us and our trainer! And on top of all of this, in yesterday's match BYU middle blocker Chris Gorney broke his left hand! It was a brutal weekend for all of us!

Game one had BYU establish a 1-4 lead and hold that three point advantage to 18-21 but a BYU error, Keil/Slenker stuff and another BYU error tied the game at 21. PSU gained a 23-22 lead with a Guerra kill but the game was tied at 23 through 26 when two BYU kills and an ace gave BYU game point at 26-29. Then a PSU attack error at 27-29 ended game one 227-30. PSU leaders were Guerra (Kills - 6; Blocks - 1), Slenker, Keil and Kowal (Blocks - 1) and Mattei (Digs - 4). PSU hit .400 to BYU's .361.

Game two had PSU up 3-1 but BYU tied at 7 and gain an 7-10 lead, but kills by Koljesar and Guerra and a Guerra block tied it at 10. AT 13-all a BYU error and Slenker kill made it 15-13. PSU stretched that lead from 19-16 to 23-16 with a kill by Koljesar, an ace by him, a BYU hitting error and a Kowal kill. A BYU attack error ended the game at 30-24 for the Lions. They were led by Kowal (Kills - 3; Digs - 4; Blocks - 2), Koljesar (Kills - 3; Aces - 2), Guerra and Slenker (Kills - 3) and O'Dell (Blocks - 2). PSU hit .267 to BYU's .143.

Game three had BYU up 7-10 but a Slenker block tied it at 11. At 15-15, kills by Kowal and two from Keil gave PSU the 18-15 lead but BYU tied at 20. The score was then tied from 24 to 29 before a Guerra kill gave PSU game point 30-29; however, BYU answered with two kills of their own and the aforementioned Kowal/O'Dell collision wrapped up game three for the Cougars 30-32. The Nittany Lions were led by Keil (Kills - 8), Guerra (Blocks - 1; Digs - 2) and Koljesar, Kowal and Mattei (Digs - 2). PSU hit .343 to BYU's .354. We needed to come out strong in game four.

Game four had PSU up 3-0 but the Cougars tied at 8. The score was tied at 13 through 20 with the teams trading sideouts. Then at 20-20 a Koljesar solo block and two BYU attack errors gave PSU a 23-20 lead which we kept and when a Cougar serve sailed long we were in our second fifth game match of the year with a 30-27 win. Game four leaders for the Nittany Lions were Slenker (Kills - 5) and O'Dell (Blocks - 2; Digs - 4). PSU hit .452 to BYU's .514.

Game five...the second one this week. The BYU crowd is notorious for spurring their beloved Cougars on and we needed to keep them quiet. With the score tied at 2 a BYU service error and an unhittable set gave PSU a 4-2 lead. At 6-4 a Guerra ace and Kowal kill moved the score to 8-4. The teams traded sideouts until a Guerra stuff made it 13-9. BYU sided out, PSU sided out and BYU answered with their last sideout. At 14-11 a BYU serving error closed the match out for a 15-11 win. Game five leaders were Guerra (Kills - 3; Aces - 1; Blocks - 1) and Mattei (Digs - 1). Both BYU and PSU hit ..636 for the game.

The match had us passing and serving better than the Cougars did. We had challenged each and every player this morning in practice to compete hard and eliminate mental errors. They responded well and we took advantage of some Cougar breakdowns to take tonight's match. The match leaders were Guerra (Kills - 18), Kowal and O'Dell (Blocks - 4), Koljesar (Aces - 2) and Mattei (Digs - 10). PSU hit .387 for the match to BYU's .378. THe Nittany Lions out-aced the Cougars 4 to 2 and out-dug them 40 to 30. The Cougars out-blocked the Lions 13.5 to 10.

It was very nice spending time with Cougar head coach Tom Peterson. His team is doing well and is getting ready to make a run at the MPSF championship and automatic berth to the NCAA Championships in May at Long Beach! The Cougars were great hosts and we thank Tom and his staff for the hospitality. We wish them the best of luck with the remainder of their season. A personal note here: as the National Anthem was being played before yesterday's match I realized that the last time Tom and I were in the same gym together it was a rainy spring day in Ft. Wayne, IN in 1994. The outcome of that match was something that he and I both will treasure for a lifetime!

So, in keeping with the spirit of the weekend I need to pack because we are "splitting" from Provo and heading down to Long Beach, CA tomorrow for next weekend's Long Beach Invitational where we will take on the USC Trojans and Long Beach 49'ers. We are looking forward to spending time with good friends and Long Beach coaches Alan Knipe and Andy Read...and eating at Claimjumpers!!!

I'll fill you in a little later this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

All the best,
Pav, Dennis & the "Splitting" Lions

[007]

There is only one reason why a school like Penn State comes out West and wins(occasionally). That reason is unfamiliarity! The MPSF schools don't see the other schools from those parts of the Country too often and that unfamiliarity allows them to come out here and "steal" a match or two during the season. IF they were members ofthe MPSF, they would be regularly getting their butts kicked......and they know it! There are no BAD teams in the MPSF, and there are plenty of BAD teams back East. They don't have the overall depth and talent levels to compete day in and day out! OUCH! I know that this hurts but it's the TRUTH!

[Midwestfan]

Clearly, the level of volleyball played out west is superior to the East or Midwest. However, I think that the top MIVA and EIVA schools (Lewis, Penn State, etc.) have consistently shown that they can compete. Nobody says that they would win the MPSF, but they would likely finish in the middle of the pack.

Winning on the road in the MPSF is difficult for any team, let alone for teams that play mediocre competition all year and then fit four matches into a spring break trip.

[the future]

Ah my myopic friend.....so much hate in your tongue. You have failed to consider some very important factors.

When you travel up and down the 405 it certainly doesn't have the effect that travelling 5 or 10 hours has on the body.....let alone sleeping in a hotel for a couple on days.

Look at the teams that travelled East this year....whether it be in the preseason or season....PEPP, USC in the preseason....were and in the case of USC (still) horrible. Even BYU and Hawaii split when they came East this or last year.

UCSB split with struggling IPFW in Jan when it came to the Midwest.

Look what has happened to those teams who have travelled to Hawaii from your division....and on the converse look what has happened to Hawaii when it came to California.
SPliiiiiittttttssssville.

No one can deny that the MPSF is by far the deepest division as it should be.....but on any given night, with some time for adjustment......there are 10 to 15 teams that can knock off any team, icluding teams outside of your beloved MPSF. Simply playing good to great teams all the time forces tyou to be on top of your game.....which in turns translates into consistent play. PSU can and will have a successful West Coast swing.....the question is what can they do to maintain that level of focus from April to May.
Hawaii and Pepp are clearly playing a mature and focused level of volleyball but they have their weaknesses.

Flying into Provo and beating a very good BYU team might be in your book a "steal".......but I have seen a quite a bit of this "stealing" going on this year and I predict we have not seen the last of it.

Free your mind!

[Will Rogers Beach]

Very well said! I'm from California. Please don't think that all MPSF people are as arrogant and myopic as that bitter and hateful poster.

I want volleyball to flourish. We would never achieve that if we keep on spreading hate and bitterness. I enjoy watching the teams from the East and Midwest. It shows that men's volleyball is alive in other parts of the county. It's great that programs like Lewis, Loyola and Penn State come to the West and Hawai'i. It shows that those programs want to compete with other good teams in the MPSF. Let us encourage this for the sake of the sport!

Arrogance and stupidity will not get us anywhere. So, please stop with the hateful and negative comments! Let's keep it constructive.

Cheers!

[VBCrusin]

Amen to what Will Rogers Beach says... it's nice to have team loyalty, AND MPSF pride, BUT I say that the sport of volleyball is awesome wherever it is played.

It cracks me up when fans (from all sports) parade around in winning team's jerseys, flags, etc. EVERYONE wants to be a winner...and if they can't, they want to associate with a winner. The pride for being (or cheering for) a # 1 team.

Since there is NO volleyball television, I haven't followed the EIVA or MIVA teams to enjoy their play...if I could, I would. Even though Penn State beat my beloved BYU, my ONLY regret is that I wasn't at the match. I bet it was an exciting one to witness...win or lose.

A TRUE volleyball FAN appreciates these fantastic athletes no matter what team they're on...Will Rogers Beach hit the nail on the head by saying that the majority of MPSF fans DO NOT snub the EIVA or MIVA divisions. How can anyone say that they are the BEST in the Nation unless you play everyone in it? I applaud the wins in every division and look forward to watching the unfamiliar EIVA & MIVA teams. I'll be there at Long Beach to watch some great volleyball...on BOTH sides of the court. Later.

[Psychopotamus]

Guest-007 said:

There is only one reason why a school like Penn State comes out West and wins(occasionally). That reason is unfamiliarity! The MPSF schools don't see the other schools from those parts of the Country too often and that unfamiliarity allows them to come out here and "steal" a match or two during the season.

It gives both teams the opportunity to "steal" a match. What it comes down to is coaching. Whichever coach and team can adjust better has the advantage in an unfamiliar situation. Who cares if you think that Penn State would win 1 in a million matches, they still split with BYU this weekend, whatever the reason is.

[Anonymous Beachman]

Dear "The Future", enjoy our incredible weather ,our superior facility, and have a great time in So. Cal, cause there ain't no better place to live(except maybe Hawaii for the weather only)! But be nice, and don't Steal any wins from the Beach! I can promise you that besides the weather, which will treat you right, you will find out that our folks are super people and treat our opponents right, 99% of the time, contray to what some Wahine supporters think!

[Barefoot In Kailua]

Guest-Anonymous said:

Dear "The Future", enjoy our incredible weather ,our superior facility, and have a great time in So. Cal, cause there ain't no better place to live(except maybe Hawaii for the weather only)!

Let's not forget Two other reasons Hawai'i is a better place to live, Waves and Women.

I guess that one percent where you don't treat your opponents right = Hawai'i ... LOL. Turnabout is fair play AB.

Congrats to the Lions, but it's one win guys, Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It will be nice for the Warriors to have the support of Penn St. fans when they battle Pepperdine for the title .

[Anonymous Beachman]

Hey Barefoot, sorry to disagree with you but I'll put our women up with yours anyday. Come to the Long Beach Grand Prix in April and check out the women pal. Yes, yours are georgeous, but by sheer numbers, WE GOT A LOT MORE OF EM!

[VBDOG]

Besides ,get away from the beaches in Hawaii you find the Samoans.

[halesvb11]

LOL
i cant believe dick broke their libero's nose. thats the funniest thing i've ever heard. va beach to the fullest on that one

[Well]

Guest-Anonymous said:

Yes, yours are georgeous, but by sheer numbers, WE GOT A LOT MORE OF EM!

Now wouldn't this be according to ones personal preference? I know several guys that would rather see and date asian mixed females like in Hawaii than caucasians or blacks in Long Beach area.