Spikers to oppose upstart Concordia

This past weekend, the Penn State men's volleyball team (7-1) had to scrape out two victories against teams that planned on upsetting the No. 4 Nittany Lions.

"I'll be happy if we score five points a game against Penn State," Concordia coach Ivan Marquez said.

Don't let Marquez's meager goal fool you. His sights are set very high for not only his team, but East Coast volleyball in general. He is hopeful teams on the Atlantic Coast will upgrade their level of play and become more of a force nationally.

"We need to make the East Coast more competitive to help teams like Penn State," Marquez said. "We're not really helping Penn State if we can't give them tough matches in the East."

It has often been said Penn State volleyball's biggest problem is it doesn't face consistently tough teams like programs in the West.

Marquez is one of many coaches in the East looking to change that. He's doing his part by starting with his own team.

"We have opened up the wallet," Marquez said. "We're trying to bring in some talent from Puerto Rico."

The talent from Puerto Rico should come in droves if Marquez's plans work. He is a native of Puerto Rico and feels he'll be able to relate better with players from that country.

"Let's not kid ourselves here," Marquez said. "The Spanish guys eventually want to go to a guy that understands them."

"Although I expect to lose a lot this year," Marquez said, "as long as we're competitive and improve a little each time, I'll consider that a major accomplishment."

Concordia is coming off a solid performance in a four-game loss to George Mason over the weekend. To improve on that, it'll have to stick with its game plan against the Lions.

Concordia uses an aggressive serving game, in which it aims its jump serves at the corners. Marquez hopes that strategy will throw Penn State off-balance.

"I think we can challenge them with our serves," he said. "By serving to the corners and splitting the passers, we can take teams out of their 'showtime' offense."

The Lions should have no problems winning, but it will have to be seen how efficiently they do it. The Lions struggled at times against Juniata and Rutgers-Newark over the weekend, and they're hoping to get back on track.

Penn State coach Mark Pavlik is looking for his team to execute its game plan while continuing to recover from recent, difficult matches.

"We're just concerned about what we are going to do on our side of the net," Pavlik said.

For the Lions to stay focused, they'll have to ignore the possible gawking of Concordia's players. Marquez's biggest concern tonight is that his players will be in awe of Penn State.

"They are going to be so nervous," Marquez said. "They've been looking forward to playing against Penn State their whole lives, and now it is a reality."