According to the Volleyball Monthly 1992 NCAA Men's Collegiate Preview, the Penn State men's volleyball team is the seventh-best in the nation. But, if you ask anyone on the Lion squad, polls are meaningless.

"Polls are great for the media," Assistant Coach Mark Pavlik said. "It is nice to be thought so highly of, but, beyond that, it means nothing. You have to get out on the floor and play."

Sophomore middle blocker Ramon Hernandez agreed with Pavlik's philosophy.

"I do not think it puts any pressure on the team," Hernandez said. "The team really does not think about it. Everybody knows we have a tough schedule, but the team is working really hard."

Penn State is the highest-ranked team east of California. Similar to past polls, California teams occupy the top five places and seven of the first ten places. Penn State, Hawaii and Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne were the only non-California team's to crack the top ten.

Long Beach State (31-4), despite the loss of 6-foot-5-inch superstar Mike Hilliard, grabbed number one honors in the preseson poll. Hilliard led the NCAA in kill average (7.25) and dig average (7.55) in 1991. In last year's NCAA Final Four semifinal match against the Lions, Hilliard recorded 24 kills. Long Beach State went on to defeat Penn State in three games (15-6, 15-3, 17-16).

With five top ten teams on its 1992 schedule, Penn State will get its chance at moving up in the rankings. While meeting USC and IPFW on the road, the Lions host Cal State-Northridge (Feb. 5), Pepperdine (Feb. 13), and Stanford (Mar. 26) in Rec Hall. In addition, Penn State's schedule includes homes games against "teams to watch" Ohio State (Jan. 30), George Mason (Feb. 28) and Rutgers-Newark (Mar. 30 and Apr. 7).

Eight of the fifteen teams named in the preseason poll (UCLA, Cal State-Northridge, Pepperdine, USC, Long Beach State, San Diego State, Stanford and Hawaii) hail from the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Since the beginning of the NCAA men's volleyball championships in 1970, a WIVA member has captured the title every year.

"They (WIVA teams) play a tough match every time out," Pavlik said. "They play good teams on a regular basis while here in the East, there are really only three good teams. This year, the EIVA will be stronger than past years."

Penn State is the highest ranked member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. EIVA members George Mason and Rutgers-Newark also received consideration in the poll. Last year, Penn State defeated Navy (15-5, 15-8, 15-2) and Rutgers-Newark (15-7, 15-11, 15-9) to win the EIVA championship.

The Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association placed three teams in the poll. Ohio State, Ball State and IPFW were all mentioned in the poll.

On Friday and Saturday, Penn State hosts the Mizuno-Nittany Lion Invitational at Rec Hall. The event will feature six nationally ranked teams. The first bracket consists of Penn State, Ball State and Ohio State while the second bracket is made up of IPFW, George Mason and Rutgers-Newark.