While many students were traveling to Cancun or Florida for spring break, the men's volleyball team's touched down in exotic Utah to start a six-match road swing.

The West Coast trip started as expected for No. 4 Penn State. Eastern Montana posed no challenge to the Lions on the morning of March 1. Penn State swept 15-9, 15-4, 15-5.

That night, the Lions faced a familiar foe in Brigham Young. BYU is the alma mater of Coach Tom Peterson. Penn State whipped the Cougars 15-13, 15-1, 15-10 on Jan. 31 in Harrisburg. The Cougars, still searching for their first win, proved to be a greater nemesis at home. Brigham Young took the Lions to five games before losing 7-15, 15-9, 5-15, 15-2, 17-15.

The next night, the Lions faced the same pesky Brigham Young team. It was another five-game marathon. Penn State prevailed 15-6, 12-15, 11-15, 15-12, 15-8.

The Lions improved their record to 16-1, while the Cougars continued their futility and fell to 0-17.

Despite winning in two five-game matches, Penn State had the hard part of the road trip coming up. The trip went well until it crossed the California state line.

On March 4, Penn State faced No. 5 San Diego State, and fell in five: 5-15, 13-15, 15-9, 16-14, 15-11. Penn State is now 3-4 against San Diego State lifetime.

Penn State not only lost the match but also its 16-game winning streak (not counting the two exhibition losses to Manitoba).

In the match, outside hitters Charlie Bertran and Jorge Perez notched 26 kills each. Middle blockers Ramon Hernandez and David Muir added 17 and 16 kills, respectively. Outside hitter Tom Gingrich chipped in 11 kills. Hernandez led the team with six blocks.

The next night, the Lions traveled to Los Angeles to square off against No. 2 Long Beach State. Penn State failed to rebound from the previous night's disappointment and bowed to the 49ers in three, 15-11, 15-3 and 15-11. Penn State has yet to beat Long Beach State in two attempts.

Penn State managed a measly hitting percentage of .220. Perez was the only Lion in double figures in kills. He had 15. Bertran, Gingrich and Muir had eight apiece. Muir added five blocks. The team managed 23 blocks for the night.

The two losses dropped the Lions' record to 16-3. The last time Penn State tasted defeat was on Jan. 25 at the hands of the No. 1 USC Trojans.

Saturday night, the Lions took a 4-0 lifetime record into its match against No. 3 Cal State-Northridge.