“It Takes Everybody:” How Penn State Men’s Volleyball Reloaded for the 2024 Season

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – When the Penn State Nittany Lions men’s volleyball team lost nine players over the offseason, head coach Mark Pavlik knew that the returning members of his squad needed to step up and pick up the slack.

If the Nittany Lions had dropped both games to the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Thursday and Sunday, respectively, it’s hard to imagine that many would have been critical. After all, it is only January, where a lot of teams – including the Nittany Lions – are still trying to figure out what they have and what they need to position themselves for a postseason run.

But in the team’s first matchup against the Buckeyes after back-to-back losses to then-No. 8 Stanford and then-No. 1 UCLA the weekend prior, it was almost as if a proverbial light switch turned on for the blue and white.

Penn State put together its most complete performance of the season in the Covelli Center, as four players finished with double-digit kills en route to a four-set road upset of the top team in the land.

And then on Sunday in Rec Hall, the Nittany Lions may have outdone themselves. After falling behind in the match 2-0, Penn State roared back to a thrilling, reverse-sweep victory in the “Wear White” game.

The successful weekend for the Nittany Lions was anchored by a few of those aforementioned players who came into the season with big shoes to fill.

Senior outside hitter Michael Valenzi helped lead the charge for the Nittany Lions, particularly down the stretch of both games.

Valenzi – a former EIVA Freshman of the Year who only played in 13 matches a season ago – stepped up huge in each match when it mattered most. Valenzi had seven kills in just the fourth set alone in the victory in Columbus. He then followed that up by posting six kills in the fifth set of Sunday’s comeback win in Rec Hall.

But Valenzi wasn’t the only senior thrust into the spotlight in Sunday afternoon’s contest.

When veteran opposite hitter John Kerr and freshman setter Michael Schwob showed signs of struggling throughout the course of the match, Pavlik went to his bench midway through the third set to create a spark and inserted two seniors into the lineup in Will Kuhns and Luke Snyder.

Entering this season, Kuhns had played in 24 career matches but only tallied 18 total kills. After Kuhns came in against UCLA and racked up a career-high nine terminations, the hitter sprung into action once again Sunday and collected four kills along with five digs and a block.

“Will’s voted a captain by these guys for a reason,” coach Pavlik said after Sunday’s win. “There’s an energy about Will that he comes into the game… and you want to play with guys like that.”

And as for Snyder – who had only played in one career match in three years prior to this season – all he did was rack up 23 assists to go with three digs, three blocks and an ace. And he did so on his birthday, no less.

“It just goes to show that every day these guys walk into practice and whether you see them on the court or not, they’re a very, very big component of what we’re trying to do,” Pavlik said.

While Penn State is still trying to work out the little kinks in the endless pursuit for perfection, one thing at least seems certain. Even without the contributions of past All-Americans like Cole Bogner or Cal Fisher, the Nittany Lions’ present – and future – seems to be just fine.

“It takes everybody, and you just never know when your number’s gonna be called,” Pavlik said. “But I like this group of guys. I feel like they’re starting to figure out what they can do together.”

Kasey Kreider is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email kmk6865@psu.edu.