Penn State men’s volleyball returned to State College at 2:30 a.m. Friday morning fresh off of an upset over the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

The trip home Friday morning was brighter than the trek back from Austin, Texas, the week prior where the Nittany Lions suffered three-set losses to Stanford and UCLA at the First Point Collegiate Challenge. Just like they had to forget the losses the week before, the blue and white had to put the victory behind them and prepare for a rematch with the Buckeyes inside Rec Hall two days later.

Sunday’s match at Rec Hall was Penn State’s third consecutive matchup against the top-ranked team in the nation and its fourth straight against teams ranked inside the top 20. One of the toughest stretches of the calendar came in the opening month of the season.

Amplifying the challenge, Penn State lost nine players over the offseason including large contributors in Cal Fisher, Cole Bogner, and Brett Wildman.

The talent loss was palpable, but head coach Mark Pavlik believed the real challenge was assessing the identity of his new team.

“I think we’re still trying to find out who we are and what we have,” Pavlik said. “I think it speaks volumes to these guys that they don’t have to be looking over their shoulder for some knight on a white horse to come in and turn points and serve aces. They’re very capable of doing that.”

Even though they’re not done yet, the Nittany Lions learned a lot about themselves in the week between the First Point Collegiate Challenge and their doubleheader with Ohio State. After not winning a single set in Texas, they had to go back on the road and face another top team.

The Nittany Lions took the day off on Monday and then went through its regular week of walkthroughs, workouts, and practices before heading to Columbus. Pavlik said there weren’t any fiery speeches or impassioned calls to action during the week — just consistency.

“If I ask these guys to trust the process and trust in the training, I got to believe in that, too,” Pavlik said.

The week of preparation came to a head on Sunday in Rec Hall after the Nittany Lions dropped the first two sets of the match and needed someone to provide a spark.

Penn State got the spark but not from any one person. Michal Kowal broke out with four kills in the third set as Luke Snyder entered the game at setter and helped start a 4-0 Nittany Lion run that resulted in a 25-21 set win.

After the offensive explosion with 14 combined kills in the third set, Penn State’s defense took shape. Owen Rose led the team with three assisted blocks in the fourth set as the team held Ohio State to a .077 hitting percentage and tied the match up with a 25-18 set victory.

The fifth set was taken over by Michael Valenzi, who tied the game up four times with four kills as Penn State battled to get set point at 14-13. Ohio State managed to extend the game twice, but the accuracy issues that plagued the Buckeyes all afternoon came back, and two straight attacking errors gave Penn State its second win in four days.

Penn State’s bounce-back weekend was proof of more than just the talent this year’s roster possesses. It was proof the team could battle and pick up gritty wins in the process. Sunday’s comeback victory showed that any player on the roster can get hot, and when they all get hot at the same time, it might not end well for the other side of the court.

“It’s about how you respond. When you figure out how you respond in these situations, it gives you a context,” Pavlik said. “The next time you’re in that situation, it’s, ‘Been there. Done that. Let’s go.'”