The No. 4 men's volleyball team will take on an old nemesis tonight.

The University of Manitoba, a traditional Canadian power and a frequent Penn State foe, will visit Rec Hall's South Gym at 7:30 for the first of three consecutive matches between the teams. The matches will not count officially in the Lions' record.

"We kind of know each other since we've been around a few years," setter Scott Miller said.

And they like each other.

"They are really good guys, we've talked to them off the court a lot," Miller added. "They came to (my) house last year after we played them."

Manitoba defeated the Lions in a tournament last fall, 15-9, 15-10, 13-15, 15-8, but setter Scott Miller feels that the Lions (9-1) have improved greatly since then.

"I just see us doing things more comfortably right now," assistant coach Mark Pavlik added.

Manitoba, unde Coach Garth Pischke, now in his 13th year, boasts a lineup with no player under 6'1". Miller had high praise for his counterpart at setter, 6'6" senior Dale Iwanoczko.

"Their setter (has) just perfect technique," he said.

Manitoba displays a style similar to UCLA, which the Lions beat twice last weekend, Miller said.

"They are tall just like UCLA," he said. "We have to do the same thing that we did against UCLA."

"They say 'The ball is up in the air,' " Pavlik added. "If they go up higher than us they are going to win."

Senior outside hitter Charlie Bertran, who played against UCLA on Saturday night despite a painful shoulder injury, should be ready for tonight's match.

"Charlie was in yesterday . . . he said he's feeling OK," Pavlik said.

The Lions jumped four spots in this week's Tachikara/USVBA poll after last weekend's victories. USC remained No. 1 and Long Beach St. No. 2. Last week's No. 3, UCLA, dropped to No. 7.

Other ranked Penn State opponents include No. 3 Cal-State Northridge, No. 5 San Diego State, No. 10 Ball State, No. 14 George Mason, No. 16 Rutgers-Newark, No. 17 Navy and Brigham Young, which clung to the No. 20 spot despite an 0-11 record.