It was ugly.

In a match which will never be mistaken for a work of art, the No. 5 men's volleyball team (23-4, 7-0 EIVA) swept East Stroudsburg (10-11) in Rec Hall last night, 15-8, 15-11, 15-11.

"We just pretty much died as far as our enthusiasm and I thought that set the tone," Coach Tom Peterson said.

Everyone saw action as Peterson cleared the bench for the second and third games. Sophomore outside hitter Byron Schneider led the Lions with 16 kills, and freshman outside hitter Ed Josefoski added nine. Sophomore outside hitters Ricky Roper and Marcus Neumann added eight and five kills, respectively. Josefoski led the Lions with five digs, and junior setter Jim Schall contributed 37 assists and four blocks.

For the Warriors, sophomore outside hitter Aaron Zolbrod had 12 kills and a match-high 11 digs.

Sluggishness was seemingly the theme of the night, from the Lions' pre-game antics (when the reserves announced did not step forward and other players were acknowledged in their place) to the final East Stroudsburg hitting error.

"I thought we were clowning around a little bit at first and that kind of set the tone," Peterson said.

In the first set, the Lions' starters jumped to an 8-3 lead, and cruised to a 15-8 victory behind senior setter Scott Miller's nine assists. A block by junior outside hitter Tom Gingrich ended the game.

In the second set, the subs flooded the court for the Lions. Schall was joined by junior middle blocker Winfield Evens, Schneider, Roper, Josefoski, and sophomore outside hitter Aaron Zoerner. The Lions took a 5-2 lead before the Warriors evened the match at eight. Penn State then scored five in a row and cruised to a 15-11 victory.

In the third set, the final players off the bench, freshman middle blocker Luke Patsey and sophomore outside hitter Marcus Neumann, saw action for Penn State. The Lions fell behind 10-7 before regaining their bearings and clinching a 15-11 win and the match.

"We let them into the match and didn't take it to them," Peterson said. "That's what happened in the last game, anyway. It just took so long nobody was willing to take charge."

"I just sense that we were out there saying 'Well, let's just get this over with,"' assistant coach Mark Pavlik added.

One area of the match which surprised the coaches was the poor service percentage. Penn State had 12 service errors in the match.

"We are getting a lot of serving practice right now," Peterson said. "We just let it get away from us a little bit."

Penn State continued to utilize its man-to-man blocking schemes effectively, Peterson said.

"I was pleased because I thought that a lot of guys who have not done it in a match (did it)," he said.

Notes: The Lions maintained their No. 5 ranking in the Tachikara Coaches poll this week. EIVA foes George Mason, Ball State, Rutgers-Newark, and Navy held the 14th through 17th spots, respectively. East Stroudsburg remained unranked.