After a 14-day layoff from competition, the men's volleyball team entered the weekend with two much-needed weeks of practice. And it left the weekend with two much-needed league wins.

The Lions jumped out to a quick 2-0 record in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association as they downed George Mason 15-13, 15-5, 10-15, 15-2 on Friday and then then Navy 15-7, 15-13, 12-15, 9-15, 15-11 on Saturday.

Penn State came into Friday's match with a No. 11 national ranking, one spot higher than No. 12 George Mason, but recent history was on the Patriots' side --they had already beaten Penn State at Rec Hall in a mid-January match.

However, there was a noticeably different Lion team on the court this time around. After dropping the first game, the Lions came out to play what Winfield Evens felt was a vastly improved brand of volleyball.

"I think Friday night was critical for us" the middle blocker said. "We went all out, the whole match. We didn't play real well in game one but we played hard. I think after that it was a step up for us, defintitely, against a good quality team."

The Lions' serving game turned a new leaf as Ricky Roper and Ramon Hernandez were able to consistently fire in jump serves for the first time this season. Meanwhile, setter Jim Schall continued his effective short serve. All told, Patriot passers had their hands full.

"They served in such a manner that it was hard to get to (our best hitters)," George Mason Coach Ron Shayka said. "So as good as we may be in the front row, we can't do much if our passers can't get the ball up."

George Mason found itself in a further hole with Penn State's scouting report. The Lions had viewed a rotational tape and knew what to expect when the ball was on the George Mason side.

"We have all this info which normally you just don't have," Coach Tom Peterson said. "You know that in a certain rotation, they're going to set this hitter and you know what kind of set he likes to hit."

For the match, Penn State had a team hitting percentage of .434. A fired-up David Muir led the way with 25 kills and a commanding .538 percentage while Ramon Hernandez and Tom Gingrich collected 17 and 16 kills, respectively.

Saturday saw a fired up Navy team, currently ranked 20th in the country, make a strong bid to upset the Lions.

"This is just a great, scrappy team, I can't give them enough credit," Peterson said of the Midshipmen. "They made us play bad when we were down, they took it to us. For their talent, they are the best, scrappiest team."

While blocking, serving and improved passing were the hallmarks of Friday's match, Saturday night showcased another Penn State strength -- depth.

Byron Schneider came off the bench to replace an injured Roper. He collected 16 kills in just three games en route to a .444 hitting percentage.