Moving mindset a notch higher

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- "Don't worry about the crowds, the size of the school, their fancy uniforms."
Those words, spoken by Gene Hackman in the movie "Hoosiers," echoed throughout the bus carrying the Youngstown State volleyball team Tuesday during a showing on the video monitor.
Hackman played the role of a small-town coach trying to motivate fictional Hickory High in its bid to upset a powerful opponent for the Indiana state basketball title.
The meaning behind Hackman's words couldn't have been more appropriate for Youngstown State.
The Penguins were en route to State College, Pa., to face Penn State, the country's 11th-ranked team.
Large crowds. Big school. Fancy uniforms.
This was more than just another match.
Culture shock: This was one against a team that averages 3,000 fans at Rec Hall. In contrast, the Penguins' largest crowd at Beeghly Center this season was 245 against Cleveland State.
This was at a venue in which the Nittany Lions entered having won 69 of their last 70 non-conference matches. It had been 69 straight before Stanford ended the streak Sept. 4.
This was a match against the 1999 NCAA national champion, against a team that had lost eight times between the 1998-2000 seasons.
"If you go in thinking, 'Oh my gosh, this is Penn State, these girls are going to block me.' Then, you are going to get blocked," senior Kristen Meech said. "You just have to go out there and try your best."
Even if there is a large disparity in level of play.
"You look at their roster, where they get their kids from," Youngstown State coach Joe Conroy said. "They search out four corners of the United States. My roster is basically set in Ohio."
Because students were just returning from fall break, Tuesday's match lacked the usual attendance and electricity of a Penn State match.
Still, it was impressive -- the cheerleaders, the band, the participation from fans.
It was an environment in which the Penguins aren't accustomed to playing on a consistent basis.
Because of that, their program will be rewarded in ways that won't be evident right away.
"It's more beneficial for them to come and play us," Penn State coach Russ Rose said of the Penguins. "I'm sure when they go to Loyola [this weekend], it's not going to be as much of a culture shock."
Conroy, who has worked with Rose in off-season camps, is hoping the Penn State coach brings his team to Youngstown for a match at Beeghly Center.
"He says that if we start playing teams like his, our program will start to grow," Conroy said.
Youngstown State players already are developing that mindset.
"You can go into the next match saying, 'We played a Big Ten team,' " senior Rebecca Sylak said. "Now, we're going to play people in our conference where we know we're head-to-head with them.
"We can take some of that energy and confidence to the next match."
Sky's the limit: Penn State needed three games to win the 1 hour, 21-minute match Tuesday. Soon thereafter, Youngstown State players were looking ahead to the rest of 2001.
"Toward the end, we'll surprise some people," said senior Melissa Lyczkowski, who led the Penguins with 31 assists and eight digs. "We just need to keep improving, learn that we can do it and not get down on ourselves.
"We're the underdogs already," she said, "so we have no pressure."
Hackman's Hickory team thought the same. It defied the odds and won a state title.
It never stopped believing.
XBrian Richesson is a sports writer for The Vindicator. Write him at richesson@vindy.com.