Team: Penn State

Nickname: Nittany Lions

Coach: Tom Peterson

Record: 14-12

National Rank: 11th

Tournament Seed: 2nd

How they got here: First and second round byes.

Strengths: The Nittany Lions' strength lies in their balance. With injuries to rightside hitter David Muir and outside hitter Ricky Roper, Peterson has been forced to juggle his lineup at times. But whatever six take the floor, Penn State's depth gives opponents nightmares.

Statistically, Muir and Ramon Hernandez anchor the Lion offense. Muir leads the team in kills (463) while Hernandez is second (410). Senior setter Jim Schall has paced the offense with 1,635 assists -- the most by any Lion in the last four years.

An intregal part of the team's passing, Tom Gingrich, plays a part in both the two-and-three-man passing systems. In addition, the senior has collected 251 kills.

Aaron Zoerner, Winfield Evens, Brian Miller and Byron Schneider have all contributed off the bench.

Another strength has been the Lions' competitve Top 20 schedule. Playing such teams as Stanford, Pepperdine and Cal State-Northridge, Penn State's 14-12 ledger is not totally indicative of the Lions' season.

"I would be disappointed if we went 30 and 0," Peterson said. "That would mean that we didn't get the competition that we wanted. The competition brings experience."

Weaknesses: Since opening day, passing and ball control has been the Lions' nemesis. Unfortunately, a successful offense begins with solid passing. Without it, the hitters' options are limited and therefore their plays become very predictable.

However, compared to opening day, Penn State's passing is much-improved, and in the semifinals, the coaches believe ball control will be the key to victory. To retain the EIVA title they captured last year, ball control is a must for the Lions.