12 IVEDNESDAI; FEB. 3, 2010 Junior Dml Valle changes style I)el Valle doesn't dive, jump, sprint or fly as much le used to. rho junior libero on the No. 5 Penn State men's volleyball aui ,:;mie to Penn State three years ago _ , Puerto Rico with lots of energy and MEN'S nhelievable ability to get to balls des the ground. VOLLEYBALL .11. ;ne Penn State coaching staff iced Del Valle missing on some routine s because he would guess where the ball was going to :ry n1:11:e a great play. First-year assistant coach Jay 1, came in and tweaked Del Valle's style. The tinni2 I first saw when I got here was that he had a ot emotion." Hosack said. "He moved a lot. He saw • he thought were gonna happen, and he would • ~t ind a little bit on defense." k taught Del Valle to stay on the ground and react happens, not what he thinks is going to happen. T ould make spectacular plays," he said. "But the which we're trying to get constantly. he was We watched video, and we were watching some •• :titti_k a ball. Because he was up in the air and wait come down and make a move, the ball had traveled • distance already He was training himself to be Fast as he had to be." Hosack's suggestions didn't make an impact on . • Cit. because he didn't know Hosack's background and ,i••,cince needed an "assist" from Penn State women's h.lll coach Russ Rose to get through to Del Valle. )11'in:4 the men's team's preseason. Rose asked Del things were going with the new assistant coach. ~; :ail: said said Hosack was criticizing him all the time. i old Del Valle to listen to Hosack because he had a that Hosack could really help Del Valle out. -rLic! , . needed to get Del Valle's attention was cred irom someone Del Valle respects, and respect is all ims for Rose. ! on compare our coach with Coach Rose. it's so dif - type of coaching they have," Del Valle said. Hose will make you feel as bad as possible so you ..,fiat you have to fix. I really love the way he does way he talks during practice, after practice and xactice. I just like listening to him because he s what he's saying." I)el Valle lmows Hosack "knows what he's saying," , 1 the libero has bought into Hosack's style and is start titke big strides. Vale said he's never gotten much feedback from • on what to improve on because he's always been rte 6 Hosack brings in a lot of experience coaching rind Del Valle is eager to learn. injured gymnasts hope rest helps them get better By Jim Mauro COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER ',izttt Albrecht huddled his teammates together before '.• rst event, shouted, "We are!" and waited for the response. \lbrecht and a few of his older ; .3 t (- • could do Sunday was moti- MEN'S cf.(i cheer on their younger team- GYMNASTICS I!;i;iries kept seniors Allen Harris and Slialiarn. and juniors Albrecht and Warren Yang out he lineup for the No. 5 Penn State men's gymnastics win over No. 14 William & Mary. rri s n still recovering from a torn left biceps. He com rwt, d for the first time this season on Jan. 24 against No. 1 but was left off the roster for last week's meet .1-4 the Tribe. also competed against the Wolverines' but his thumb during one of his routines. Yang has yet ii to for the Nittany Lions this season. suffered a concussion during warmups at the •P ant Open when he missed on high bar and hit his [ , a the padding below. However, he still competed in Tindered Brockway adjusts to new role By Jake Kaplan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Brockway is not accustomed to focusing )1 one event. iw itm season, she has been forced to do just that. !•O:.'kwiiy. who competed on the vault, bars and the balance beam in WOMEN'S meet last season for the Penn \vomen's gymnastics team, has GYMNASTICS limited to just the uneven bars this a-on because of a lingering ankle is upsetting because I've trained every event for the • twee years, - Brockway said. "Then to let it be my sen ( I . and just have that kind of news, just kind of shat rest of the opportunities." i Ilc ;,.nior sprained her ankle in late November and a ~ ent AIRI showed some significant damage to the ankle, in State coach Steve Shephard said. Shephard and the am doctors agreed Brockway should not risk further I),niy by doing any unnecessary pounding on the ankle. Brock - way is also limited in her practice repetitions on Despite the lessened role, Brockway has been staying 1 - .11 i r. iind realizes she will be able to put all of her focus the event she was a first-team All-American on The senior from Macungie has already started ~ vorkin4 on some new skills for the event. In four meets •,(taon. Brockway has averaged a 9.719. When one door closes, another opens," she said. try to tell myself that.- Shephard has been impressed with how Brockway has handled the situation. Immediately following the injury, the team thought the senior would recover and be able to perform on beam and maybe even vault. It was frustrating for Brockway when she realized she could no longer phys ically do those events, especially beam, on which she aver aged a 9.735 as an anchor for the Nittany Lions last sea think she's handled it very well and in a very mature Shephard said. "I mean, obviously she's disappoint ,rl. but at the same time she understands she wants to be thle to have a normal life after gymnastics, and it's not y)r.th it to jeopardize the future health of her ankle and a chance at doing more." Senior Casey Rohrbaugh, one of Brockway's closest ::ends on the team, said she tries to keep the situation in f, , • c , ;pective for her teammate and keep her encouraged. Rohrbaugh gave words of encouragement to Brockway before Brockway began her bar routine during last Rlav's meet. I m just like Al, I mean you're doing one [event]. You 0 to really focus on that one and make it the best you By Eric Book COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER 'PORTS When Hosack came to the staff, he added a dimension that head coach Mark Pavlik and assistant Colin McMillan don't. It isn't Pavllk's coaching style to be overbearing on players during practice, but Hosack doesn't shy away from pointing out if a player isn't performing up to standards. "In the past I would mention certain things and he would get a little frustrated," Hosack said. "Now it's the opposite. If he doesn't make the good play or doesn't do a pass right he's immediately going, 'Dangit, I know what I gotta do,' and he changes it." What the coaching staff is looking for from Del Valle is summed up simply by Pavlik. He says he wants Del Valle to find the right spot, and let the ball hit him. ' An analogy Pavlik draws is for Del Valle to play libero like Martin Brodeur plays goalie. He said when watching Brodeur play he doesn't move much at all. He finds his spot and lets the puck hit him. Last Saturday against Springfield, Del Valle matched a career-high with 18 digs in what Pavlik called one of the best matches of his career. Hosack said that Del Valle stayed steady against the Pride. "He kept us in points," Hosack said. "There were a cou ple of plays that were directly a result of him working hard to keep us in those points. He's just in the right spots and he's doing the right things. That's where unfortunately some people overlook it because the average crowd does n't necessarily know what a really good dig is. They react to the diving, behind the head save." Del Valle said it has been a tough transition from his old style of play, but he likes where he's at now I used to run all over the court like crazy trying to get digs and stuff." Del Valle said. "When Jay came here he told me to stay in your spot and where you're supposed to be, and those balls are gonna come right to you. For me, it was hard to believe sometimes." Del Valle said the new style has its ups and downs. There are some balls that he feels he could get to in the past that he can't dig. But, he said, getting all of the easier balls def initely makes up for the few he can't get anymore. Last Tuesday against Juniata. only one of Del Valle's team-high 10 digs had him leave the ground. On nine of them. he found his spot and let the ball hit him. For the other dig he still had enough time to react to make the more challenging play. Still. there was one routine play that Del Valle would like to have back. It came in the third set, with the match all but wrapped up by the Lions and Del Valle playing with reserve players. He hit a ball softly over the net, which appeared on its way to just being a free ball for Juniata to set up its offense. The Eagles never hit that free ball as it soared all the way past the end line for an Eagle point. Del Valle put his blue jersey over his head in embarrass- the meet, winning the individual title on parallel bars. 'At first, it didn't feel like anything," Albrecht said. "Then, the next couple days, the symptoms increased, and that's when I started to take the time off." All his symptoms have cleared up, and he started doing basics again last week, Albrecht said. Because it is mandatory for every team in the NCAA to have a day free of gymnastics activities during the week, Penn State coach Randy Jepson gave his team off Monday. He is uncertain how the injured gymnasts are progressing because he has yet to see them this week. But the *mmasts are optimistic, and the two weeks of rest could be just what they need to get back in action. The Lions' next meet is not until Feb. 20. "That's going to be good to get healthy, get prepared and back in shape and get all those little things ready and pre pared," Shaham said. However, getting in shape in practice and being in meet shape are two totally different things. Albrecht knows it will not be easy, but he is confident the early season training will help the injured Lions overcome the time they missed. "Randy prepared us really well in the preseason," Albrecht said. "I think it will be hard the first couple days ellEnfl Abby Drey/Collegian Penn State senior Alexandra Brockway performs on the uneven bars at Rec Hall on Jan. 30. "It's upsetting because I've trained every event for the last three years." Alexandra Brockway senior gymnast can, since that's the only one you're doing,' " Rohrbaugh said she has been telling her teammate since the injury 'And she's doing good with it now, but I definitely have to keep her encouraged because she gets down on herself!' Senior co-captain Rosie Smith knows what it's like to be unable to compete because of an injury. Smith went down with a season-ending foot injury on Feb. 21 of last season and was forced to become a vocal leader. Though Brockway is only competing on one event, Smith thinks she can still help the team on the other three events. "You can make a huge impact with your words, encour agement, motivation, stuff like that," Smith said. "I found that out last year when I couldn't do any routines. I was more of a verbal impact, so that's what I want her to understand. She can still make a great impact and better the team this year." To e-mail reporter: bksl42@psu.edu / 01,-* „ Penn State junior libero Dennis Del Valle gets ready to receive the ball during a practice earlier this season. ment as teammate Thomas Pereira came over to jokingly console him with a hug. All jokes and mistakes aside. the Lions are pleased with Del Valle's revised game. "My expectation of Dennis is not to be the load carrier because that's not his position, but he can keep us in sys tem," Hosack said. "He can keep us under control. He has that ability to turn chaotic plays into system plays. I think from a coach's perspective that's all you can ask." because my body will be sore, but we had a good base corn ing into the season. So I don't think it'll be too hard once I get back in the swing of things." And the Lions are going to need their experienced *-m -nasts to be ready in the upcoming weeks as they face stiff competition. Two talented Big Ten squads No. 2 Illinois and No. 6 Ohio State await Penn State in its next two meets. Practice this week will both help the gymnasts heal and improve their routines so they are ready to compete in two weeks. "This week we are not going to do a lot of volume, which will be easier on their bodies." Jepson said. - We're trying to define and make some upraises in some places." Why Buy New Cartridges? All You Need Is New nk. ONO SAVE BIG-GO GREEN oral ' ,, ato 24t East Lice date Coll-qt, 11 8.141 861-7654 Call or stop by today. . _CnOrd e World Collegian Presents The Collegian Chronicles Hundreds of pages of fun. sports, history and photos of Penn State. Looking for a truly unique gift? Check out The Collegian Chronicles! The Chronicles is a lively look back at the history of Penn State as seen through the pages of The Daily Collegian from 1887 on. We cover national championships, the Heisman Trophy, panty raids, campus unrest and everything in between. Come along for the ride and help support Collegian scholarships! Find The Collegian Chronicles at Old State Clothing Co. Only $19.99 All proceeds go to the Collegian Alumni Interest Group Scholarship Fund. OLDSTATE.COM OLD STATE CLOTHING CO 101 E. Beaver Ave. 814-234-1415 THE DAILY COLLEGIAN To e-mail reporter: ejb262@psu.edu To e-mail reporter: jbmsosB@psu.edu 1'i1f.... L',ol:l.li,kl;i:VN
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