Like an animal pushed into a corner, the men's volleyball team roared out of that corner and thwarted Graceland's upset bid last night at Rec Hall. Penn State won in four games, 12-15, 16-14, 15-11, 15-3.

The Yellowjackets stung the Lions in the first game, 15-12, and lost narrowly in the second game, 16-14. Coach Tom Peterson said he did not know why the first two games were so close.

"We were real sluggish (in the first two games)," Peterson said. "It was nice and crisp in practice and we just came out and forgot how to play in front of the home crowd."

"We were in the first two games pretty good," Graceland Coach Rod Schall said. "We should have won the second game. We just lacked a little intensity at the end."

The Yellowjackets rushed out to a 6-0 lead in the first game, but the Lions charged back and took the advantage, 8-6. After falling behind 10-9, the Lions tied it up on one of Chris Chase's 30 kills. The Lions, however, could not stay close and lost 15-12.

The second game opened with a bang as it had players from both teams diving on the floor and in the stands. The Lions won the point and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. The Yellowjackets raced back for a 7-3 lead, but relinquished the lead and fell behind 11-12.

Robert Pierce, who came back to the team and school this week from alcohol rehabilitation, entered the game and immediately sparked the team. A block and two kills later, the score stood at 14-12. The Yellowjackets fought back to tie it, but the Lions held on for the win.

"I didn't expect to play," Pierce said. "I expected to get in a little bit to get in shape. The advantage I had was that I wasn't overlooking this team, and I just wanted to get in."

After winning the second game, a Jorge Perez kill put the Lions ahead in game three, 5-2. The Yellowjackets tied the score on a kill and went into the lead. The Lions, however, fought out of another corner and took the third game, 15-11.

The Lions had no problem in the final game as they won the first five points, gave up a point and whipped off seven more. After two points by the Yellowjackets, Pierce finished off the scoring as the server and won, 15-3.

Schall thought his NAIA team stayed in it well with the Lions.

"I think our performance was good for our school," Schall said. "We executed well. There whole team is just so much bigger than us. I thought we did quite well against that caliber of a team."