The men's volleyball team is looking to rebound from three straight West Coast losses suffered last weekend when it plays EIVA-rival East Stroudsburg tonight.

The No. 5 Lions (16-4, 2-0 EIVA) travel to East Stroudsburg after two days in the gym. Tonight's trip comes after the Lions spent some quality time in Utah and some not-so-quality time in California over spring break. Penn State returned from the trip with a 3-3 record. The Lions defeated Brigham Young twice and Eastern Montana once, but fell to San Diego State, Long Beach State and Cal-State Northridge.

Tonight's match against East Stroudsburg was moved forward from an earlier scheduled date of March 30.

The move gives the team Easter Saturday off as well as a chance to regroup.

"It is an opportunity for us to get back to business," assistant coach Mark Pavlik said.

East Stroudsburg has defeated No. 18 Navy this season, but has also lost to schools like Eastern Mennonite (Va.), Pavlik said. Lifetime, the Lions sport a 29-5 advantage since the series between the two schools began in 1977.

It is essential for the Lions to put the recent losses behind them to prepare for tonight's EIVA clash in Koehler Fieldhouse.

"Some of the guys were concerned with why we didn't win two five-game matches (San Diego St. and Cal-State Northridge)," Pavlik said. "What is important is what we are currently involved with."

East Stroudsburg is the only member of the EIVA Big Five division which is unranked. Penn State, however, can't look beyond tonight's match to the weekend tournament in which it is paired against No. 13 Ball State in the semifinals.

"(East Stroudsburg) on paper should not beat us," Pavlik said. "They could at some point give us a run. We must play at the level that we are capable of playing, not the level that is just going to let us slide through."

Penn State's last EIVA match was a five-game thriller against Navy. Penn State won 12-15, 5-15, 15-8, 15-3 and 15-11. Setter Scott Miller hinted earlier in the season that the Lions have a tendency to play down to their competition. This factor must be eliminated if Penn State is to win decisively.

A driving factor for East Stroudsburg, among other schools, is the desire to knock off Penn State, Pavlik said. That won't happen tonight if Penn State plays the way it is capable of playing, he added.

Notes: Penn State has dropped one spot to No. 5 in the Tachikara Coaches Volleyball Poll released Tuesday. The Lions are tied with UCLA (8-5) in the polls.

Penn State's four losses this season have come against the top four teams in the country: No. 1 USC (16-0), No. 2 Long Beach State (19-2), No. 3 San Diego St. (11-3) and No. 4 Cal-State Northridge (11-4).

Other Penn State opponents making the poll are No. 13 Ball State (10-12), No. 14 Ohio State (10-5), No. 15 George Mason (12-7), No. 16 Rutgers-Newark (8-13) and No. 18 Navy (17-7).