The Penn State men's volleyball team is off to a rough start and its road does not get any easier at 8 p.m. tonight when it faces No. 1 UCLA in the Hawaiian Outrigger Invitational.

UCLA collected all 16 first-place votes in the latest USA Today/AVCA poll.

No. 12 Penn State (0-4) lost all three matches last weekend to Pepperdine and hasn't tasted victory since the Nittany Lion Invitational on Jan. 8-9.

Though the Lions struggled last weekend, they did see some bright spots -- one in particular coming from backup setter Jose Quinones. The freshman came off the bench and had back-to-back nights of more than 40 assists in each contest.

Penn State also has seen a lot of production from its middle blocker position.

Tony Mazzullo and Sergio Pampena have led the team in digs, kills and blocks.

Mazzullo had 10 kills and three blocks in last Saturday's contest against Pepperdine at Council Rock High School. Pampena chipped in with eight digs while throwing down 11 kills.

The Lions, though, know they will need production from the whole squad to beat the top-ranked Bruins.

"We need everyone to be on top of their game," said Pampena.

Last year's NCAA National Champions, the Bruins return four of their six starters from last season, and are 1-0 after beating up on UC Santa Barbara (15-2, 15-6, 15-11) last week.

In that contest, UCLA was led by outside hitters Evan Thatcher and Fred Robins, who both finished with nine kills apiece. Sophomore Matt Williams and senior Danny Farmer each added eight kills. Junior All-American setter Brandon Taliaferro tossed up 43 assists and added four blocks. All-American junior Matt Grace had a career-high five blocks.

Farmer, who also plays tight end for the Bruins' football team during the fall, played a key role in helping UCLA win the Pac-10 title on the gridiron last fall.

Penn State needs to work on some of the basics volleyball has to offer if it hopes to defeat UCLA.

"We definitely have got to work on blocking and digging," said outside hitter Eric Houston. "It is one thing to dig the ball, but it's another to do something with it."

The Lions' road does not get any easier after tonight. Tomorrow they will face both No. 2 Lewis and No. 3 Hawaii.