Throughout the non-conference schedule, Ohio has been tested.
The Bobcats have faced a few NCAA tournament teams from a year ago, including a trip to Dayton to play the Flyers.
But none of the tests they have encountered will match the one the Bobcats will face Saturday when they travel to State College, Penn. to face No. 2 Penn State in the Penn State Classic.
Penn State is simply a volleyball school. The program has won seven NCAA national championships and has 12 Final Four appearances.
Although the Nittany Lions have had past success and are in the hunt for another national championship, the Bobcats will go into the weekend looking to improve as a team rather than worry about Penn State.
“Right now, we will get much more out of this weekend if we spend more effort improving our own team,” coach Deane Webb said.
While self improvement is a goal this week, the respect for Penn State doesn’t waver.
“They’re one of the best programs in the history of our sport,” Webb said. “And it’s a tremendous opportunity and an honor, truly, for us to be able to go compete against them.”
Penn State isn’t the only program the Bobcats will face this weekend, though.
They also have matchups with Wake Forest (7-2) and Yale (4-2). The Bobcats are 3-0 all time against Wake Forest and 1-1 all time against Yale.
But Wake Forest and Yale aren’t Penn State. They aren’t the No. 2 team in the country, they don’t compete for national champions every year. They aren’t the envy of college volleyball. That’s what Penn State is.
While the focus is hard to keep away from Penn State, the Bobcats will attempt to look past last weekend, when they didn’t hit above 300 in any of their three matches and were swept in two.
And with the two captains of the team still out with injury, one for the season, the Bobcats face the challenge of regrouping without a leader on the floor.
Webb says the coaching needs to have even more of an impact without the two leaders on the floor, particularly between points when the team comes together.
“We have to do a better job at helping the emotions of the moment be what they need to be to turn around to the next point and be successful,” Webb said.
