Two different Penn State teams played in the volleyball team's narrow victory against Rutgers-Newark on Friday night.

The same people played on both teams, but it was far from being the same team.

One team struggled against the inferior Scarlet Knights, showing frustration on their faces, arguing among themselves, missing easy kills and blocks and getting routed by the underdogs.

The other Lion team showed poise and confidence, controlled the pace of the game, cooperated with each other and destroyed the Knights.

"We're too emotional," Coach Tom Peterson said. "We're relying on emotions too much rather than going out and doing the same things every time. We're letting our mistakes get to us."

The two faces of the volleyball team have battled for control throughout the season. The same team that won the Penn State/Mizuno tournament came in seventh of eight teams at the Excalibur tournament in the beginning of the year. The same team that walked over Ball State would find itself dropping a match to the same team the next weekend.

The reasons for the inconsistency are not easy to pinpoint and leave many of the players and the new coach baffled.

"We're making way too many mistakes and we're not exactly sure why," Peterson said. "I think it may be the transition with me with new things and maybe I'm not being patient enough but we got to hurry and learn some things before we run into somebody that's tough."

After the match, the Lions held a closed meeting in which they discussed some of the problems. Energetic co-captain Robert Pierce seemed unusually subdued after the meeting as he talked about the team's problems.

"None of the guys came out ready to play," Pierce said, speaking softly and thoughtfully. "It gets a little frustrating after awhile especially with me being a senior and not being able to get the productivity and the team cohesiveness that I want, but gradually we came around.

"It comes down to in practice you put in quality time so that you do it over and over and over again until it becomes second nature," he continued, speaking with more vigor. "What I see is a tendency for guys to come in and say, 'Okay, I'm going to put in my time but I just want to play' and that's a shitty attitude and no athlete will ever make progress that way. That's really negative, but it's true."

The Lions struggled in the first game, letting Rutgers tie at 13-13 before the Lions got the final two points for the win. In the second game miscues and errors caused the Lions to lose, 15-12.

It went downhill in the next game. The frustrated Lions became more and more agitated as ball after ball fell on their side in the 15-5 loss. Tempers flared.

"Some negative comments caused people to be upset and that brings down both people," setter Scott Miller said, "because they're both starting to think of the negative things and not volleyball.

"When things go wrong we lose that intensity. It seemed like if it wasn't a kill or a point for us it wasn't a good play. It's too negative and it rubs off on everyone."

The team started anew in the fourth game, scoring eight unanswered points to run to a 10-2 lead before putting the Knights away, 15-4. The fifth game started equally as impressive, with the Lions spiking to a 10-2 lead. But concentration and intensity faltered, and the Lions stalled at game point. The Knights scored ten more points before the Lions put them away, 15-12, after many physical and mental errors.

"We missed like four points on match point," Peterson said. "We dug a ball out of bounds, we let a ball drop, just because of miscommunication. We lost at Ball State because of that. And we just didn't start where we were supposed to on defense and a ball dropped. And that kind of stuff is going to cost us the match."

The team will have to overcome its problems to succeed in its California swing, where it will meet some of its toughest competition over spring break. The coaches, the captains and the players think they will overcome their obstacles.

"I think we'll do it," Peterson said. "I think we're good enough talentwise and mentally. I wouldn't be hammering these guys to the press at all unless I thought we could adjust."

"I think in the meeting we just had we pinpointed on some things and we got some ideas," Miller said. "Hopefully it can happen."