Lack of consistency. Lack of communication. Lack of intensity. Players on the men's volleyball team often used these phrases to explain their loss to Ball State Saturday night in the finals of the Golden Dome Classic. The tournament was held Friday and Saturday at Newark, N.J.

"I think we're in a slump right now," middle-hitter Chris Chase said of the 9-15, 16-14, 10-15, 15-10, 16-18 loss. "We're not really sure why."

The inter-conference rivalry between Penn State and George Mason temporarily allowed the Lions (7-2) to escape the slump in the semi-finals Friday night, as they downed the Patriots in four games, 15-13, 15-8, 11-15 and 15-9.

"Against Mason we played really well," Guillo Silva said. "Our passing and at times our blocking were real good."

The Lions met Ball State in the finals after Ball State downed host Rutgers-Newark. Penn State, which trampled Ball State at Latrobe last weekend, was the favorite in the match. Ball State sought revenge, and with the help of All-American setter Chris Cooper, who only saw limited action last weekend due to injury, overcame the Lions in a drawn-out, exciting fifth game.

"Both teams put in a lot of energy," Assistant Coach Loren Finn said. "What won it for Ball State was their defense. They dug a lot of times. Ball State played an excellent match."

The Lions had three chances to win in the match-deciding fifth game, leading 14-13, 15-14 and 16-15.

"We had a lot of chances to put the ball away," Jorge Perez said of the game. "We just didn't take advantage of it."

"I think it was mental attitude," Chase said. "We didn't have the intensity to push it over the edge."

The Lions' blocking game also suffered because Silva remained sidelined after spraining his ankle two weeks ago.

"It was frustrating for me," Silva said, "because they were spiking a lot to my position and my height (6-5) would have helped."

"Our blocking fell apart," Chase said. "After a while it just sort of cracked."

What the Lions' defense lacked, their offense obviously didn't. Against Ball State, Chase recorded 42 kills, Pierce spiked 25 and Perez followed with 17. Against George Mason, Pierce led with 27 while Chase had 22.

Chase and Pierce were named to the all-tournament team, but games can't be won on individual performances.

"We made a lot of mental and technical mistakes" setter Scott Miller said. "We also had communication mistakes."

The Lions look to overcome these problems in practice before facing Rutgers-Newark at home Feb. 17 in an Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association showdown.