This weekend the No.9 Penn State men's volleyball team hosts a pair of matches in the south gym of Rec Hall.
The key for Penn State may be their health. They are missing sophomore Zach Slenker to a stress fracture, and will most likely start junior Josh Briggs. Close to half the team is under the weather with the most severe case being freshman Rhonee Rojas suffering from bronchitis.
Tonight the Nittany Lions (2-2, EIVA Tait 1-0) take on league rival Juniata at 8:00 p.m. Juniata (1-4, 0-2 EIVA Tait) has struggled this season and starts just one senior. Last year Penn State defeated Juniata twice.
Freshman Javier Garcia leads Juniata in kills, but has just .204 hitting percentage. Juniata has already had three games this year in which they hit .000 or lower.
Three of four Juniata's match losses have been sweeps including losses to Ohio State and George Mason. Penn State this year has already handled both teams.
The Lions should expect more from IPFW. The Lions took on IPFW (1-1, MIVA 0-0) three times last year and only came away with one victory.
IPFW is a traditionally good team, who last year came up one match short of reaching the NCAA Championships. The Mastodons are a young team this year. They have no seniors and have to deal with the loss of their three top players from last year. They lost their setter in Chris Gisslen, and top two hitters in Hector Soto and Scott Lane.
"The experience level of the two teams has switched," said Penn State coach Mark Pavlik.
"We are more experienced now, we have our starters back and they lost three fine players. They are in the process of trying to find their personality and the lineup that fits them best."
IPFW will rely on junior hitter Jeff Ptak, who will receive the majority of the sets. The Mastodons other main hitters will be junior Josh Sanders and sophomore Arcangel Ruiz.
Penn State is coming off a win against George Mason, but the Lions' performance was less than spectacular.
"I think we need to come out better and better every time we take the court," said Pavlik.
"South gym should be packed and there should be some energy in the gym which should carry over to the team."
