It feels really odd to type “Mark Pavlik” in an official capacity.
At some point, he becomes “Pav.”
I’m not sure when that moment was for me but it certainly happened in the spring of 2013, when I, a bleary-eyed freshman, got the opportunity to cover Penn State men’s volleyball for The Daily Collegian. My first real beat. My first real semester on staff.
What I can tell you is where it happened.
Pav will coach his final regular-season matches inside Rec Hall this weekend, ending a 32-year illustrious career as Penn State’s third-ever men’s volleyball head coach. Along the way, he won a national championship, he’s been to countless NCAA Tournaments and won just as many EIVA championships. In conference play, he’s lost fewer games than the number of seasons he’s coached.
He helped Max Holt, Matt Anderson and Aaron Russell become key pieces on the U.S. Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team. It is an impressive record book that he’s compiled.
But men’s volleyball isn’t particularly a sport that garners the attention of ESPN or BTN the way even some other college sports do. That’s why it’s often left to student journalists to shine a light on the sport. Unlike its female counterpart, men’s volleyball is limited to relatively few colleges, with the epicenter mostly focused in California, some thousand miles away from Pav’s office inside of Rec Hall.
That’s where Mark Pavlik became Pav to me and countless other student journalists he helped sharpen the careers of.
Every week, you’d sit down with Pav to talk about the upcoming matches – and in 2013, the power of the Russell brothers. Pav would explain the intricacies of college men’s volleyball, how the sport could grow, how the sport was and is still growing.
But eventually the conversation would shift.
“How’s school?”
“How are you?”
“What do you think the Pirates need this offseason?”
Our relationship was always professional – as professional as it can be when you’re a college kid getting paid exactly $0.
But eventually, Pav becomes Pav through his compassion and through his ability to connect with you.
It served as a reminder that in journalism, relationships are an important foundation for both parties. In fact, it felt like a part of Pav’s duty that no one asked of him. When you chatted with him as a student journalist, he wasn’t just a coach. He was also an educator, giving you hands-on experience on how to cover a team. On how to cover a coach. On how not to be afraid to ask tough questions and occasionally on how to pry for the real answer.
The conversations were always allotted as 30 minutes but very rarely lasted less than 45. Volleyball was the starting point – even when it wasn’t the first part of the conversation – and eventually the Pirates, happenings around Penn State or whatever else was going on would work their way in.
In those conversations, Pav helped me fall in love with writing, asking questions, and maybe moreover – with a little bit more perspective than a college freshman – understand the power of the Penn State community.
I’m not the only one who cut their teeth by covering Pav (Although the following names are both still in the profession and also much more talented than me). Matt Martell covers Major League Baseball for FanGraphs. Giana Han works as the Ravens beat reporter at The Baltimore Banner. Sheil Kapadia works at The Ringer. Emily Kaplan has developed into the NHL insider for ESPN.
All of them – and others – sat in Pav’s office at one point. Sure, there are many other journalists who have covered Penn State football – the real proving ground in Happy Valley that I never bothered to test because I enjoyed fandom – that have gone on to do tremendous work but they didn’t get to experience an afternoon in Pav’s office. They didn’t get the foundational conversations – for journalism and life – that we got.
And I graciously and proudly enjoy that notch on my résumé.
A few years ago, far removed from covering the team, Pav reached out to me and said to call him. He just wanted to catch up. And so we did for an hour. We had him on the podcast last summer and I’m not sure Steve and I have laughed as much as we did in an interview with him. All of it was a celebration of a bond that Penn State brought together.
Pav has been a great ambassador to the sport of men’s volleyball, particularly in this part of the country. But he’s also been a great ambassador for Penn State. For every part of it, not just athletics. And Penn State is lucky to have that from him.
After this season, I’m sure Pav will be headed to PNC Park a lot more often. I’m sure he’ll be watching his wife Heather’s Juniata College women’s volleyball team win another NCAA title sometime soon. I’m sure he’ll be back on campus for a game and a match at each end of campus. I’m sure he’ll shoot me a random message just to check in to see how I’m doing.
But what I hope – in addition to a wonderful retirement for Pav – is that Penn State’s next men’s volleyball head coach isn’t just as successful as Pav but also has the humility and pride in Penn State when the next wave of freshmen journalists sit in that office for a conversation with them.
Because that — above all — is the greatest entry into Pav’s record book.
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