For the first time in about a month, the mens volleyball team faced a challenging opponent. Friday night's 3-0 victory over Ohio State was the Lions' first tough test since their Feb. 26, 3-1 win at George Mason.

"These past couple of weeks, we played teams that are not as good as us and going in, we knew we would beat them," senior Byron Schneider said. "This was the first match that we knew that if we didn't play well, we could lose the match, so we came out and played hard."

The No. 2 Lions improved their record to 14-1 overall, while Ohio State fell to 14-9. The 15-7, 15-7, 15-8 win brought the Lions their 13th straight of the season.

Leading the way for Penn State was outside hitter Ramon Hernandez with 19 kills. Middle blocker Ivan Contreras and outside hitters Ed Josefoski and Schneider also added 11 kills apiece. Josefoski notched 10 digs.

Steve Potter of Ohio State paced his team with 21 kills, a .425 hitting percentage and nine digs.

"We knew before the match that he was gonna get his kills, so we keyed on him," Schneider said. "When he got his kills, we just moved on to the next play."

The first game showcased an even match until Penn State broke away from its 10-7 lead to win the next five points and the game.

The Lions ran off six consecutive points to jump out to an early lead in game two. The Buckeyes fought back, only to fall again 15-7.

In the third game, Penn State started out strong with an 8-0 lead. But Ohio State mounted a comeback, bringing the score to 7-9, but eventually the Buckeyes faltered and fell to the superior Lions.

Because of this weekend's Big Ten Gymnastics Championships, the volleyball match was moved to the South Gym of Rec Hall. The crowd in the bleachers was packed in like sardines, as well as several rows of people who had to sit on the floor behind the serving area or stand behind the players' bench. That proved to be an advantage for Penn State.

"I like that atmosphere, where the crowd is near," Peterson said. "I think it's a lot better to have one less seat for the crowd than to have a bunch of empty seats."