Spikers attempt to avoid letdown in matches with EIVA opponents

By SCOTT GLASSMAN
Collegian Sports Writer

The Penn State men's volleyball team will kick off a weekend of Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association competition when it hosts New Jersey Tech (18-10, 1-3 EIVA) at 7:30 p.m. today in Rec Hall

The No. 7 Lions (15-3, 2-0) then travel to Eastern Mennonite, where they will first play St. Francis (Pa.) (20-6, 3-2) at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow in Harrisonburg, Va., followed by EMU (6-14, 0-4) at 7:00 p.m.

With almost a complete EIVA schedule remaining, Lion Coach Mark Pavlik knows the upcoming competition will not be near the level of the non-conference matches. But he insists this is a crucial stretch for his team.

"We don't worry about wins and losses anymore," Pavlik said.

Pavlik is worried that any drop in the Lions' play will allow UCLA and the other top-five teams to move even further ahead of the Lions in terms of improvement since those teams face stiffer competition.

"We talk in terms of execution, concentration and goals," Pavlik said. "How do we get out of this match getting better?"

N.J. Tech Coach Dave Denure understands the position his team will be in tonight, but said he still has faith in his squad.

"We're definitely one of the teams they're not worried about," Denure said. "But we've played well against George Mason and other good teams, and we know we can play at that level. We have to convince ourselves that Penn State might be disinterested in the match, then maybe we can steal a game. If we do that, then we can try to steal the match."

What N.J. Tech will have going for it is senior middle blocker Tarik Rodgers. At 6-foot-3, he will be supremely undersized in his match up against 6-foot-7 Kevin Hourican. But Denure praises the outstanding leaping ability of his senior.

"It will be really interesting to see how he does against Kevin Hourican," Denure said. "(Rodgers is) just a real physical player and a great leaper. We set him a lot of balls, and he leads the team in hitting percentage and kills."

To help out in the middle, N.J. Tech will also utilize 6-foot-4 Craig DeMott, who was a top-50 recruit this year. But Penn State will still hold a distinct size advantage in the match.

After facing St. Francis, a team the Lions already defeated earlier this year, Penn State should feel like a team of Goliaths once again when they tackle EMU, a team with no player taller than 6-foot-3.

But when the team makes the trip down to Virginia, it won't be playing a native team. With nine Pennsylvania players on the roster, Lion outside hitter Jason Kepner will get to see his former Hempfield High School teammates -- Daryl Bert and Jason Hartenstine.