It's been more of a struggle than the Penn State women's volleyball team thought it would be.

Yet, the Nittany Lions are 6-1 coming off a weekend in which they won three matches despite the absence of two key cogs.

Mishka Levy and Hilary Sexton will likely be sidelined for the fourth straight match tonight when Youngstown State comes to Rec Hall at 7.

Coach Russ Rose said that there hasn't been any diagnosis on either Levy or Sexton and that both are still out indefinitely. Details of the injuries are being kept close to the program.

The squad overcame the loss of their two outside hitters this weekend when it swept the Penn State Classic on the strength of solid performances by Shannon Bortner, Jess Hayden and Amanda Rome.

Bortner was forced to move from setter to the outside, with Hayden taking her spot. Rome saw time outside and played well in the back row, which made several spectacular and aggressive plays over the weekend. What is most impressive about the play of the Lions is that they did it after just one day of practice. On Thursday the team prepared like they would be without Levy and Sexton and on Friday night they went straight into match play.

"We got better toward the end, and that's promising," said outside hitter Katie Schumacher, who was named MVP of the classic. "But there are things we need to work on come Monday, and then we need to concentrate on Tuesday when Youngstown gets here."

The Nittany Lions have retained hope throughout their early season struggles, which include several health problems and an early home loss to Stanford. There is a feeling that this team hasn't reached its full potential yet.

"Because of the injuries and everything we're dealing with, I don't think I have an accurate barometer for the prognosis of this team," Rose said. "When things are going bad, they come in droves. We just need to play our matches and try to get healthy."

The Lions practiced yesterday and worked to become more comfortable with the new lineup. They identified some of their weaknesses and continued working on communication.

"Right now, we're working with what we have," Rose said. "We don't have much choice."

The makeshift lineup will need to be at its best again tonight. The Penguins are a growing program and feature three seniors who rank among the top players ever to play at the school.

Middle blocker Kristen Meech owns the single season record for blocks and block assists and is the all-time leader in blocks. She is among the top defensive players in the Horizon League.

The main offensive threat for the Penguins will be opposite Rebecca Sylak. She is complemented by setter Melissa Lyczkowski, who holds the Youngstown single season and career records for most assists.

"We don't know much about them," Rose said of the Penguins, who have only played Penn State once, and that was in 1998. "The thing we have to recognize is that we have to be ready to play. We have to find things that are going to work and bring us to a suitable level of play."