The road trip for No. 8 Penn State started and ended on the same note.

The Nittany Lions (13-5, 7-0 EIVA) started their six-game road trip with impressive back-to-back victories over Ball State and IPFW.

But, the most impressive part of the trip may have been the last match where the Lions defeated No. 6 Long Beach State in four games (32-30, 30-32, 30-28, 30-24) in the finale of the ASICS/Active Ankle Beach Bash.

"It probably was the biggest win of year," Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik said. "It was important because of the way we played in the previous three matches. We played hard and had fun, individually and collectively we sustained a high level of play."

The Lions' victory over Long Beach State (12-4) came after three straight losses. The streak of losses started when Ohio State broke the Lions' 11-match winning streak. The Lions led the Buckeyes 2-1, but faltered and dropped the final two games.

"We didn't smell the kill against Ohio State," junior John Mills said. "We aren't putting teams away, we goofed around a little and didn't have the killer instinct. Each game we learn something when we lose."

No. 3 Pepperdine flexed its muscles, handing the Lions the second of their three losses on the trip, winning 3-0 (30-27, 30-24, 30-23). The Lions came out sluggish against Pepperdine something teams cannot afford to do against a top team like the Waves. Key points did not fall the Lions' way, as they could not break through with the points needed to turn the momentum back in their favor.

The Lions with no rest in between, faced off against UC-Santa Barbara, the team they are tied with for eighth place in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll. The Lions were swept for the second straight match (30-26, 30-23, and 30-22) as they failed to hit .300 for the second straight match.

"Santa Barbara we just came out and played flat," Pavlik said. "We played with no passion or enthusiasm it was disappointing."

John Mills, named the tournament MVP of the ASICS/Active Ankle Beach Bash, led the Lions to victory over Long Beach State with 17 kills and six blocks. Mills hit .652 for the match on his way to the tournament MVP. Sophomore Carlos Guerra added 18 kills and sophomore Zeljko Koljesar chipped in with 11 kills.

"I was really surprised that I got the MVP," Mills said. "I wasn't really expecting it."

Junior Jose Quinones was named to the all-tournament team. Joining Quinones was Dan Matheson and Jim Polster of Long Beach State, Brian Nordberg and David Kohl of UCSB, and Arcangel Ruiz, IPFW's lone representative.

"We don't take a backseat to any player," Pavlik said. "Our team doesn't believe in west coast supremacy."