Never let it be said that the men's volleyball team schedules creampuffs to open the season.

Tonight the No. 8 Lions start their regular season against No. 1 USC in the semifinals of the Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne tournament. The other semifinal pits No. 10 IPFW against Ohio State. The championship and consolation matches will be held tomorrow.

The Lions sport a 2-11 record against the defending national champion Trojans since their first meeting in 1980, including last year's 4-15, 8-15, 15-12, 13-15 setback on Jan. 27. The Lions have lost nine of their last 10 meetings against the Trojans, and have lost to USC in the finals of the IPFW tournament the past two years.

Everybody returns for the Trojans this year, including Bryan Ivie, who led the nation in kill average last year. The Trojans as a team also led the nation in hitting percentage last year.

"We can give them a really good match if we don't get intimidated by their No. 1 ranking," outside hitter Jorge Perez said. "I don't want to say that they are taking us lightly, but they probably aren't expecting that much from us."

This week in practice, the Lions have been working hard on blocking and defense to counter USC's effective passing game, assistant coach Mark Pavlik said. Penn State must also control the ball-control tendencies of the Trojans.

"We are expecting every ball we hit to come back," Pavlik said. "We have to stay in the rallies mentally."

The Lions will be trying to key on Ivie, USC's top backrow hitter, and adjust to his tendencies.

Pavlik said the starting lineup has yet to be set, and different player combinations will be attempted. Rightside hitter Ed Josefoski hinted however that hitters Perez, Charlie Bertran and Tom Gingrich and middle blockers David Muir and Ramon Hernandez will take the floor for the Lions. Jim Schall and Scott Miller will alternate at setter.

"Our starting lineup is intended to mirror USC's lineup," Josefoski said. "Muir and Hernandez can control their middle."

Pavlik confirmed that Penn State might be able to exploit the middle.

"We must put ourselves in the position to let our athletic ability take over," Pavlik said. "We have some bigger, stronger people in the middle, but that is not something that will turn the tide of the match."

Good passing is also essential for Penn State to run its offense. Perfect passing is essential to set up the middle, Josefoski said.

"If we can start running our offense effectively, we will surprise them," Perez said. "We have as much firepower offensively as they do."

Pavlik expects the match to go four or five long sets. He does not expect a sweep by either team.

"USC is not going to give us any easy points," Pavlik said. "The team that makes the least amount of errors will win. USC doesn't make many errors."