Men's volleyball to host weekend doubleheader

"Every game we play we look to get better," said Penn State coach Mark Pavlik. "No matter who is at the other side of the net we want to control what we do. We need to keep our execution level up and worry about our side of the net."

Penn State will most likely have the services of sophomore Carlos Guerra this weekend. Guerra, second on the team in kills per game, missed the Lions previous two matches.

The Lions biggest concern may just be keeping their focus as they have only lost one game in their last three matches.

"Rutgers-Newark, historically is a great rival," Pavlik said. "They are going to come in here and play real hard and we can't overlook that. I think the players realize that also. New Jersey Tech just two years ago played in the championship match of the EIVA so we know from their past history they are capable."

The representatives from New Jersey know what it's like to lose to the Lions. Last year Penn State beat them a combined five times, including a victory over NJIT in the EIVA Tournament Semifinals.

NJIT returns four starters, but they lost their all-time assists leader Pedro Trevino and first-team all EIVA Josh Zuidema. Their key returnee from last year is senior Fernando Fuentes, who was named second team all EIVA.

Rutgers-Newark features a team that returns seven letter winners from last year, and has no seniors. The team is struggling this year, but is undefeated in the EIVA, though; they have played just one match.

The team has won just seven games in eight matches this year. Their lone bright spot is junior Danko Iordanov, who was named to the All-Golden Dome Classic team.

The action starts at 7:30 p.m. both nights as the Lions take on Rutgers tonight and NJIT tomorrow night.