The No. 10 Penn State men's volleyball team avenged last year's heartbreaking five-game loss to Loyola (Ill.) with a 3-0 (30-27, 30-18, 30-26) stomping led by sophomore Carlos Guerra's match-high 23 kills.

Guerra hit .667 on the evening with just one error. The 6-foot-5 outside hitter had everything going his way. Guerra tracked down a ball on the other side of the court in game one and dropped it right over the net for an unexpected kill.

"I thought I hit the setter with the ball," Guerra said. "It went the other way, that's just the way it went tonight, we had some lucky balls."

Game one saw the Nittany Lions lead most of the way, but their lead would get no larger than five. The Ramblers closed to one at 26-25, but shot themselves in the foot with two service errors late in the game.

The Lions scored points in game one in a variety of ways. Sophomore Kevin Hodge had an ace bounce on top of the net a few times before rolling over the net for the point. Sophomore Zach Slenker had a kill late in the game on a rally that saw a scramble for the ball on the Lions' side.

"We had 17 points directly off serve," Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik said. "They helped us tonight by playing some balls that were out. I think tonight we served as hard as we have served all year with the exception of the Long Beach State match."

Game two, which was the Lions' most impressive of the night, was a prime example of team cooperation in action. It featured 19 kills for the Lions, along with only three errors. Penn State had a hitting percentage of .516 in game two while holding the Ramblers to just .152.

"We made only three hit errors and two service mistakes," Pavlik said. "I don't think we could have played much better that second game. We were just on a roll and got emotional. Our servers got hot and that carried over into our blocking and hitting."

The Ramblers' main offensive weapon, sophomore Justin Schnor, was held to ten kills and hit just .185. Teammate junior Brad Stoub led the team in kills and hitting percentage with 16 and .538, respectively.

Game three appeared as if it would end easily as the Lions had a late 28-20 lead. The Ramblers made a late run with five straight points, ending on an ace by Stoub.

After a Lion timeout, Guerra fittingly scored two of the next three points and punctuated the evening with a kill to win 30-26.

Junior Jose Quinones facilitated the Lions offense with 52 assists and four kills. Quinones also helped out defensively with four digs and four total blocks.

"They're not as disciplined a blocking team as we've faced," Quinones said. "They guess a lot with the middle. We sided out well tonight and had good passing."

The team benefited from having a healthy Slenker in the lineup. Slenker was second on the team with 12 kills and also served well with two aces.

"I feel real good," Slenker said. "In California I felt back to normal, but the more I play the better I feel."

The team returns to EIVA action this weekend with matches in New Jersey against Rutgers-Newark and NJIT.