A little over three weeks ago, the men's volleyball team was 6-7 as it began a streak of five consecutive games in its Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Its record now stands at 11-7.

The Lions ran their league record to 5-0 this weekend as they beat nationally-ranked George Mason and Navy teams with unexpected ease.

Playing what Coach Tom Peterson said was their best volleyball of the season, the Lions swept GMU, ranked 14th, 15-10, 15-11, 15-12, on Friday and then Navy, ranked 20th, 15-2, 15-8, 15-7, on Saturday.

"It was a very comfortable ride home after that," Peterson said.

The Lions now hold a 2-0 league play record against the two teams, both of whom visited Rec Hall in late February. In those matches, however, both remained competitive throughout. This weekend saw an obviously different scenario on both sides of the net.

Navy and George Mason were each missing key players due to injuries and were unable to play at the same level as Penn State.

"They're not as deep as we are," setter Jim Schall said. "And if they have an injury they're not able to adjust as well as we would."

On Friday, George Mason was without starting outside hitter Olivier Barthelemy and the Patriots had to install a completely new rotation, Schall said. They wound up relying on their 6-foot-7-inch middle blocker Scott Metcalf.

"We knew a lot of sets were going to him so we keyed on him," Schall said. "He still had a good match but he was probably the only player for them that did."

Unlike their opponents, Penn State produced a balanced and potent net game. David Muir led the attack with 21 kills, Tom Gingrich and Ramon Hernandez added 14 apiece and Byron Schneider had 12. The team's overall hitting percentage registered an impressive .408.

"We spread out our offense pretty well," Peterson said.

Peterson said the team's ball control looked better as well and that Schneider, who replaced Ricky Roper for the weekend, was the best Lion passer. "We're not the best passing team in the country . . . but we're becoming more consistent in our transition and our passing," he said.

The momentum continued on Saturday as the Lions got their second weekend win in the Washington, D.C. area. Navy, who went the full five games with Penn State in February, was also a different team due to injuries.

"We had too much for what they could muster, that evening, anyway," Peterson said.

After a 15-2 Penn State win in the first game, Penn State's bench came in for the remainder of the match. It was the second time in three matches that Penn State used all twelve of its players.

The Lions' perfect league mark puts them on a collision course with Rutgers-Newark, who also had an umblemished EIVA record going into the weekend. The two traditional rivals have yet to play in the regular season but will meet in a crucial game at Rec Hall next Monday night.

Penn State will also host another top opponent this week when Stanford, ranked second in the country in the March 17 poll, comes to Rec Hall Thursday at 7:30 p.m.