After taking its lumps the past two weekends, the men's volleyball team will try to end its slide at the Golden Dome Classic in Newark, N.J.

The Lions (6-4), ranked No. 11 in the AVCA Tachikara Poll, have lost three in a row to Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association teams. This weekend, Penn State will go after three Top 20 Eastern teams.

No. 13 Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne (6-7) will be the Lions' opponent when the tournament begins tonight. No. 16 Rutgers-Newark (7-8) and No. 17 Ohio State (3-7) will meet in the other opening match.

Consolation and championship matches are slated for tomorrow at 6 and 8 p.m. respectively.

When the Lions look across the net tonight, the view should be familiar.

Penn State and IPFW have already met twice this season and the Lions have come out on top both times.

"IPFW has tried twice, once here once at home, against us," assistant coach Mark Pavlik said. "If we just play at a pretty stable level, without a whole lot of ups and downs, and never let IPFW think that they can beat us it's going to put the pressure on them."

This match could be a confidence builder for Penn State after the losses to Southern Cal and Pepperdine.

"We're just looking to get out there and play as a team," setter Scott Miller said. "That's been our problem lately. We play on emotion and we're looking to play more consistent."

Miller himself is brimming with confidence. After battling mononucleosis last semester he has recaptured his starting job from Jim Schall.

"Starting wasn't as important for me as just feeling comfortable on the court," Miller said. "When I played against IPFW (at the Nittany Lion/Mizuno Invitational) I didn't feel comfortable out there. The key was Friday night when I came in off the bench (against Pepperdine) I really felt comfortable and I was confident with the way I played."

This weekend the Lions will be the team to beat, adding to the pressure of trying to snap a losing streak.

"We have to maintain that psychological edge that we expect to win," Pavlik said. "They know we expect to win and they have to try not to lose."

Outside hitter Jorge Perez agreed.

"It is very important that we play good this weekend and that we come out on top," he said. "If we lose to any of these teams we're definitely going to drop in the rankings. We just have to go out and say we're not going to lose one game and beat both of them 3-0 -- just re-establish ourselves and let people know we're the team to beat in the East."