Serving and passing errors haunted the No. 8 men's volleyball team in its Friday night loss to No. 6 Pepperdine before 2,466 people at Rec Hall.

The Lions (6-4) had difficulty setting up their offense against the taller Waves (4-1). Penn State committed 14 serving errors in the 8-15, 10-15, 15-12, 5-15 loss.

"I thought we did a real poor job," Coach Tom Peterson said. "I don't want to hammer any individuals, I'm just stating facts. I don't think we served very well . . . It's OK to miss some serves, as long as you're serving tough and hard, but I don't think we were doing that."

Early in the match it looked like the Lions played on the emotion generated by the large crowd.

In the first game, two Guillo Silva kills built a 5-2 lead for Penn State, but two close net violations cost it the lead. Pepperdine then ran off seven straight points and never looked back as it coasted to victory.

"We were kind of timid at the beginning at the match," outside hitter Charlie Bertran said. "Our passing wasn't right there and we were kind of slow with our offense."

In game two, Pepperdine jumped to an 9-0 lead. The Lions had difficulty handling the jump serve of the Waves' Tom Sorenson, who had two aces. Down 14-5, the Lions rallied to make it close but the deficit was to much to make up.

Penn State used that late second-game rally to take game three. Middle blocker Kevin Mosbacher came off the bench to give the Lions a lift.

"I was really happy I got a chance to play and contribute," Mosbacher said. "Maybe I brought the team up emotionally."

Game four was tied 3-3 when the Waves took control. Pepperdine's front line, of which the smallest player is 6'5", had 30 blocks to Penn State's 16.

"We started siding out better," outside hitter Geoff Martin said. "We went through a bad stage (in game three) when we weren't siding out. As soon as we keep getting in a side-out rhythm we can start getting a few stuff blocks on them and that's how we make points."

Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy agreed.

"I think we got a few stuffed blocks -- key stuffs -- at crucial times and probably just played better on our side," he said. "Our errors-to-blocks ratio was much better, we stopped hitting the ball out of bounds and I think we served OK too."

Silva led the Lions with 26 kills, 11 digs and four blocks.

In the rematch Saturday night at Conestoga Valley High School, Peterson shuffled his line up as reserves Larry Perry and John Wasielewski saw playing time.

Penn State reduced its errors but the result was the same as the Waves took match two, 15-5, 15-13, 13-15, 15-11.

Wasielewski had nine of the Lions' 15 serving aces against 13 errors. Silva had 24 kills, Scott Miller had eight digs and Mosbacher chipped in with six blocks.

"The guys gelled together real well and we played with a lot of heart," assistant coach Mark Pavlik said. "We just played at a very even keel tonight. I feel much better tonight than I did last night."

Next weekend the Lions will be at the Golden Dome Classic in Newark, N.J.