The Daily Collegian
Injured roster returns to
By Greg Garcia
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
It took only two minutes for the
No. 11 Penn State leers to realize
what may be in store for the
remainder of the === _ ==5
season.
Moments after ICcRS
the referee
dropped the puck
to start the game against No. 4
Delaware last Friday, sophomore
forward George Saad raced down
a puck before making a nifty pass
from behind the net to teammate
Taylor Cera. Cera, a senior for
ward, came streaking down the
middle of the ice receiving Saad's
pass before putting it home for the
first goal of the contest.
After suffering injuries earlier
in the season, Cera and Saad both
returned to the lineup joining a
few of their teammates, who also
Men’s volleyball
By Steven Petrella
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
Three high school seniors have
signed on the dotted line and com
mitted to play volleyball for Penn
State.
Taylor Hammond, Aaron
Russell and
Matthew Seifert
all will join the MEN'S
Nittany Lions’ VOLLEYBALL
roster for the
2011-12 season.
Russell, a 6-foot-8 middle block
er from Ellicott City, Md., will join
his older brother, Peter, currently
a freshman outside hitter, on the
court next fall.
Their father, Stewart, walked on
to the Penn State men's volleyball
Time for Lions to step up intensity in
By Emily Kaplan
Maybe there's a method to their
lethargy. Or maybe it's just this
college journalist's humble
opinion
Penn State is not playing
championship-caliber vol
leyball right now.
Not even close.
But then again, the
Nittany Lions haven’t
exactly been pressed
either. Their NCAA region
al bracket is essentially
fluff.
"It's a joke," ESPN.com
college volleyball colum
nist Mechelle Voepel said in a telephone
interview Sunday evening. "Some of the
pairings this year.. .1 really don't know
what the selection committee was think
ing."
There's the ultra-competitive Seattle
region, where the 16 teams have combined
for 24 Final Four appearances.
Then. 2,600 miles away, there's Penn
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were making their comebacks
against the Blue Hens. Junior for
ward Nick Seravalli and junior
defenseman Dan Loucks also
were slated back for the marquee
matchup before eventually set
tling for a series split over the
weekend.
Now, for the first time all sea
son, the leers (12-4-0) are finally
healthy.
Coach Scott Balboni described
Saad as the catalyst for his squad
and was excited to finally have
everyone available. Saad’s pres
ence was felt during the weekend,
after scoring his sixth and seventh
goals of the season in as many
games.
“It felt great to lace the skates
up again,” said Saad, who was suf
fering from a deep thigh bruise.
'Tve been working my butt off in
practice to get to back to where I
am."
team in 1983 and was eventually
named a captain
in 1986
Aaron Russell
was the only play
er from the East
Coast to be select
ed to the U.S.
Boys Youth
National Team
this spring. He Pavlik
competes for
MVP Red, Maryland Volleyball
Program s top team.
MVP Red coach Aldis Berzins
said Aaron has all the skills to step
onto the court right away and have
an impact.
"He's gifted athletically for a big
guy," Berzins said.
"He's been playing volleyball for
State's region, the region of enormous dis
parity.
Only two other teams besides the Lions
have ever made it to a Final Four. Both of
those squads LSU and Arizona were
eliminated in the first two rounds.
So forgive Penn State which just
clinched its eighth consecutive Big Ten
title if it didn't quite play with full inten
sity against its first two opponents.
Niagara has just two players on its ros
ter standing taller than 6-foot while
Virginia Tech was playing in the program's
first-ever NCAA tournament.
"Penn State definitely didn't play as well
as well Penn State could play in the first
two matches, because, you know what?
They didn't really need to," Voepel said.
•'But now it's time to up the ante."
Because in this year's tournament
perhaps more than the past few seasons,
where the Lions' dominance was a virtual
guarantee there are no givens moving
forward.
The first weekend alone featured the
tournament's No. 1 overall seed (Florida)
surviving a five-set scare and the two
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SPO R T S
Cera felt he was close to 100
percent before taking the ice
after recovering from a mild con
cussion.
The senior was able to rest
longer due to the extended break
over Thanksgiving.
“Coming back and facing
Delaware was all I could think
about during break, - ’ Cera said.
"I feel fine now, obviously we're a
little sore and banged up, but
we’ll be all right.”
After producing a career-high
20 goals in his sophomore sea
son, Seravalli returned after hav
ing reconstructive groin surgery
on both legs. The 5-foot-8 forward
is still easing his way back onto
the ice, but will help improve the
team's offense and add depth to
Balboni's lines.
The main factor going forward
will be chemistry, Cera said. Now
healthy, the leers will need to get a
signs three new reci
a long time and he's from a volley
ball family. He has a lot of game
sense."
Berzins said he thinks having
Aaron's older brother with him
will help make the transition easi
er.
/■St
"He'll show him the ropes and
give him the inside scoop on how
to excel at the collegiate level."
Berzins said. "The kinds of things
[Peter] will know as a sopho
more."
While the elder Russell brother
will likely help his younger brother
adjust to collegiate life and volley
ball, junior setters Edgardo Goas
and Tor Covello should aid
Hammond in his first season.
The 6-foot-3 setter led Santa
Margarita Catholic High School
•y* S
George Saad (right) scores for the leers a
feel for each other on the ice. while showed
continuing to learn to play togetlv oi. We is.
er. lirst c< an
"We need to keep building oil
what we have," Cera said It
(Calif.) to a 19-t; record as a rap
tain in 2010 and two eonseculivi
Trinity League championships a
2009 and 2010.
The Eagles ended tire srasm
ranked 11th nationallv.
Santa Margarita coach Biyan
Cottriel said Hammond should
have no trouble transitioning to
the college level and has ali the
attributes to excel.
"He's an extremely driven nuii
vidual and he's also a area'
leader." Cottriel said
"The level we play at and ii.
plays at in club is similar to tin
college level, so he should have in
trouble adjusting "
Cottriel said a Long Beach
State assistant coach described
Hammond as the best setter in the
biggest upsets in NCAA first-round histoiy
Before this season, seeded teams were
160-0 in the first round. On Friday night.
Missouri and Tulsa, both unheralded,
pulled off huge upsets against No r>
Northern lowa and No. 13 LSU. respec
tively.
Hey, the Lions know what it feels like to
be upset. Midseason, they dropped back
to-back matches against middle-of-the
pack Big Ten squads Purdue and Indiana
And they don't want that feeling of disap
pointment and unfulfillment to happen
again especially in the postseason,
which in collegiate women's volleyball
means win, or start your holiday break a
few days early.
"The thing about Penn State is that own
though their personnel is a little different,
it doesn't quite matter," Voepel said
"They know the feeling, this time of year,
of winning. This is what they're used to
doing."
In the first two rounds of play in the la>i
three championship seasons, the Lions
averaged a .464 hitting percentage
In the opening weekend of play this sea
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Emily Kaplan
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