For three hours and four minutes they played like it. The Lions came together as a team and played with intensity. The match included everything the Lions needed to jumpstart their season -- except a victory.

Yesterday, No. 12 Penn State (0-7) returned to State College still winless, having gone 0-3 against Hawaii, UCLA and Lewis in the tournament.

Going into the match against the Lions, Hawaii was coming off a five-game marathon victory against No. 2 Lewis. The Rainbows saw strong play from Clay Stanley, who celebrated his 21st birthday with 22 kills and a career-high three service aces. Stanley also had a strong defensive display, adding five digs and five blocks to his resume.

From a marathon standpoint, the match against Penn State was no different. Neither was the result as the No. 4 Rainbows downed the Lions 15-9, 8-15, 16-14, 16-17, 15-10.

The Lions had four players register more than 20 kills apiece, led by opposite hitter Tim Hoffman, who had a career-high 23 kills and a .410 hitting percentage.

"Tim played really well," said middle blocker Sergio Pampena.

The Lions appeared to be in control of the decisive third game when they were up 14-10 and serving for the match. Then Penn State ran off a string of hitting errors -- something that has plagued its season so far -- and it cost the Lions the match.

As in previous matches, Tony Mazzullo provided the spark for the Lions, adding 20 kills, 14 digs and seven blocks.

In Friday's match against No. 2 Lewis, the Lions quickly jumped out and won the first game, 15-7. Penn State fed off the superior play of sophomore swing hitter Eric Houston. Houston, who played well throughout the tournament, led Penn State with four service aces in the first game. Sophomore middle blocker Dan Hoechst added two blocks and four kills in the game-one victory.

However, the Flyers fired right back with strong play from All-American Victor Rivera. Lewis went on to win the next three games for a final 7-15, 15-6, 15-8, 15-9 win.

Though Penn State didn't muster a victory in the islands, it showed some signs of life against Lewis and Hawaii after getting blown out by UCLA.

"It's disappointing to lose but you know you can only get better from here," said middle blocker Brad Miller, who missed some of the tournament with a stomach virus.

Throughout the tournament, Houston was one of the bright marks for the Lions, finishing with a team-high 19 kills and career-high five service aces against Lewis. Mazzullo chipped in a team-high eight digs against the Flyers.

Pampena was named to the All-Tournament team along with UCLA's Adam Naeve and Brandon Taliaferro, Hawaii's Torry Tukuafu and Lewis' Eduardo Quinones. Lewis' Rivera was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

"For me to get this award shows how well the team played," said Pampena. "I think everyone who stepped out on the court played well."

The Lions will try again for victory No. 1 this weekend when they host Rutgers-Newark at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Rec Hall.

"We played the top five teams for a reason, and it should help us," said Pampena. "When you get a beating like this it shows us where we have to go."