When the No. 6 men's volleyball team takes on Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne at 7:30 p.m. today in Rec Hall, senior outside hitter Ed Josefoski will be reminded of an incident he does not like to talk about.

It was last April at the Ball State Tournament. After reeling off 14 straight wins, the Nittany Lions had just lost to Ball State the night before and were on the verge of being swept by then-No. 9 IPFW.

Josefoski and Volleydon middle hitter Felipe Ralat had been trash-talking during most of the second and third games and Josefoski's frustration mounted through a series of match points.

"I was set for three or four straight match points," Josefoski recalled. "On the fifth, I got blocked by someone (to end the game) and Ralat said something and I took offense to that."

Josefoski took a swing at Ralat and both benches cleared. The Lions would not lose another match the rest of the season.

"We haven't really spoken since then," Josefoski said of Ralat, "but I don't think it's a big deal now."

Ralat and the Volleydons (3-1) will be one of five teams -- No. 13 George Mason, No. 14 Ohio State, Juniata, George Mason and Wisconsin-Milwaukee are the others -- invading Rec Hall this weekend in the Mizuno Nittany Lion Invitational.

Ralat, like Josefoski, is the Volleydons' emotional leader on the court and often "wears his emotions on his sleeves," IPFW Coach Arnie Ball said.

"Felipe is a real dynamic player -- both emotionally and physically -- and a pretty good blocker," Ball said. "As far as last year is concerned, it's something that just happened in the heat of the moment."

Although Ralat will be a familiar face on the court, Ball's squad features a much different lineup than the one that made it to the Final Four last year as an at-large team.

Ball lost his 1994 All-American son Lloy, who is a setter for the U.S. National Team, and 1994 All-American Norman Almodovar (training for Puerto Rico's Olympic team).

He will know have to rely on 6-foot-6-inch Ralat and 6-foot-5-inch opposite Craig Collins to lead his unranked squad.

After IPFW, the Lions will take on against Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the south gym and end the tournament at 7:30 p.m. against Big Ten-rival Ohio State in the main gym of Rec Hall.

The Buckeyes (3-3) return four of six starters from a team that finished 20-13 overall last year and reached the semifinals of the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Championship.

Ohio State will rely on a strong trio of outside hitters -- seniors Matt Wilson and MIVA first team All-Conference selection Steve Potter and sophomore Jos Bengoa, a Volleyball Monthly Freshman All-American last year.