After rolling over every opponent during the course of their 11-game winning streak, the Penn State men's volleyball team nearly suffered an upset at the hands of Concordia (NY) last Saturday.

The No. 5 Nittany Lions (12-2, 7-0 EIVA) will look to regain the dominant form that led them to eight sweeps this season when No. 13 Ohio State (7-5, 3-2 MIVA) visits the Rec Hall gym tonight at 7:30 p.m.

When the Big Ten rivals went head-to-head at the season opener on Jan. 11, Penn State pulled off the victory despite some shaky play, possibly the result of some off-season rust. Lions head coach Mark Pavlik said after the game that he felt Penn State did what they had to do to get the win and turned the big points when it had to.

The match went to four games (30-28, 31-29, 25-30, 30-26), though junior outside hitter Carlos Guerra said that the Lions should have put the Buckeyes away in three. Guerra said Penn State needs to dictate the tempo of the match early in the teams' second meeting.

"I think it's really important to make a statement and start beating teams in three sets," said Guerra, the EIVA Div. I Player of the Week.

Getting in front early will put pressure on Ohio State, causing momentum to swing into the Lions' favor, said junior opposite Zeljko Koljesar, who will be returning against Ohio State after sitting out last weekend due to an illness.

"If we keep smiling and laughing and joking on the court, it's our game," Koljesar said.

Pavlik said that anytime Penn State is at home, it's important to establish dominance.

"Putting that pressure on visiting team is key to getting a home win," Pavlik said.

After taking on top-ranked teams BYU (twice) and No. 8 Ball State, the Buckeyes may be a stronger opponent twelve games into the season.

"As we're getting better, they're getting better," Koljesar said.

The Buckeyes held a two-games-to-one lead over Ball State last Saturday, but could not hold on as the Cardinals rallied back to edge out Ohio State in five tight games (30-26, 28-30, 26-30, 30-24, 15-13).

"They've been in some matches that they probably should have won, and they're coming close enough to win these, but not closing the deal," Pavlik said.

For the first time this season, the Lions needed five games to defeat an opponent. After winning the first game against Concordia last Saturday, Penn State dropped the next two games. Playing on its heels, the Lions nudged out the victory, winning games four and five.

"It was a good wake-up call for us," said Geurra, who notched 20 kills and 12 digs in his second double-double of the season. "In the past nine games, we haven't played against teams as good so we couldn't test how well we've been playing. When we went to Concordia, we thought the match was over — and it wasn't."

Penn State hadn't faced adversity from an opponent since its early-season Hawaiian swing. Concordia challenged the Lions and raised the bar, forcing Penn State to play at a higher level, Pavlik said.

"It was something that made us feel some emotions that we hadn't felt before," Pavlik said. "It was something that made us have to dig down a little bit."

With midterms in progress and with Spring Break coming up, Pavlik hopes the team doesn't think about vacationing just yet.

"These are the dog days of the season," Pavlik said. "The beginning of the season is gone — all the novelty has worn off. The exciting part of the season — the Final Four, the playoffs — is still a month and a half away, so you're just kind of muddling through."