Winning isn't new to the Penn State men's volleyball team, but this weekend they'll have to do it on the road for the first time since mid-January.

With their eight-match winning steak on the line, the Nittany Lions will travel to the Garden State for key EIVA matches, stopping at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Friday and Rutgers-Newark Saturday.

Penn State (9-2, 4-0 EIVA) and NJIT (1-5) will clash tonight at 7 p.m. at Entwisle Gymnasium. The meeting will be the teams' 24th since 1977. The Lions are 22-1 against the Highlanders all-time, with their only loss coming in 1998.

"From NJIT we'll probably see the same thing we've seen these past couple of weeks like from East Stroudsburg and Juniata," senior outside hitter Jason Hawkins said.

Junior outside hitter Carlos Guerra expects a physical advantage over an undersized Highlander team.

"These guys tend to be a little scrappy," Guerra said. "They tend to rely on their ability more than their size because they don't have a whole lot of size."

NJIT earned its first victory of the year last Monday by erasing an 0-2 deficit to upend East Stroudsburg in five games (25-30, 26-30, 30-25, 30-23, 15-8). The Highlander's comeback was charged by sophomore middle blocker Kenny Giacolone, who led all hitters with 24 kills and a .432 hitting percentage.

Pavlik said that his concern is a potentially hostile environment at New Jersey Tech.

"When the crowd is going crazy and things aren't going the way you want, it can be very frustrating," he said.

Penn State will look to avoid an upset from Rutgers-Newark (4-4, 1-0 EIVA) tomorrow at 7 .p.m. when the teams go head-to-head at the Golden Dome Athletic Center.

"Rutgers is going to be a war," Pavlik said.

The Scarlet Raiders sent both matches this year against Ball State to five games. Despite losing the first match Jan. 15, Rutgers-Newark rebounded less than two weeks later in a hard-fought contest (31-29,27-30,19-30,30-27,15-8).

With a season-high 26 kills, Scarlet Raiders senior outside hitter Ryan Burrow recorded his 1,000th career kill while leading Rutgers-Newark to a 3-1 win over Springfield last Saturday.

Behind Zach Slenker's league-leading hitting percentage, the Penn State middle hitters could be a factor in this weekend's matchups.

"We have to see if we can unleash Zach (Slenker) and Norm (Keil) a little bit and open up our outsides and really force their smaller outside guys into 1-on-1 situations," Pavlik said.

If the Lions cause teams to have trouble with their passing, it may make it easier for them to block balls.

"We need to keep passing the ball," Guerra said. "That's going to make it easier for Jose (Quinones) to run the offense and for us to get good swings."

Penn State hopes to continue its high level of play on the road despite leaving the comfort of Rec Hall.

"Volleyball is volleyball - no matter where you play," Guerra said.

While it may be difficult to adjust to playing on the road after playing their past matches at home, Pavlik expects the Lions experience to help them prepare.

"This is a team that has traveled for three years and I'm counting on their experience," Pavlik said. "We'll see how that experience holds up for us."

Hawkins, however, seemed reluctant to head to New Jersey.

"Going to Newark is always hard because it's not that great of a city."