M. BASKETBALL

at UPenn

7:30 p.m. tomorrow, at Philadelphia

The last time the Penn State men's basketball team played intra-state rival Penn, the Lions came out on top with an 84-74 home win at the Bryce Jordan Center.

It was the beginning of the 2000-2001 season, Joe Crispin was nailing shots from all over the floor, and the Lions would go on to the Sweet 16 that year.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to 1992 to find the last time Penn beat the Lions.

That year, the Quakers edged Penn State in double-overtime, 87-86.

The Quakers will be looking for revenge tomorrow when the Lions travel to Philadelphia.

The odds are good that Penn will be able to turn things around this time.

The Quakers return all five starters from a team that won the Ivy League title last year and reached the NCAA tournament.

Penn has a solid frontcourt that features seniors Ugonna Onyekwe and Koko Archibong.

Onyekwe was the Quakers' leading scorer last season with 17.5 points per game.

He was also named to the Wooden Award Preseason All-American team by the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

The Lions are coming off a season-opening 85-55 loss to North Carolina in the Preseason NIT, while Penn has yet to play a game.

-- Matt Finkelstein

M. CROSS COUNTRY

at ICAAAA Championships

10:30 a.m. tomorrow, at New York, N.Y.

The Penn State men's cross country team will run its final race of the season tomorrow.

The race, the 94th ICAAAA Championships, will be held at Van Cortland Park in New York.

Penn State men's cross country coach Harry Groves said the course is the oldest course in the country.

The team finished 14th at the Mid-Atlantic Regional race in Davis West Virginia last Saturday.

Competitions in the meet will include James Madison, Maryland and La Salle among many other teams.

-- Patrick Abdalla

DIV. I ICERS

at Delaware

7 tonight, 5 p.m. tomorrow at Newark, Del.

The Div. 1 ACHA Penn State Icers (12-0) may have their first real test of the season this weekend in Newark, Del., when they travel to Rust Arena to take on the No. 4 Delaware Blue Hens (9-2).

Delaware is in a bit of a slump, losing two of its last four, but Icers head coach Joe Battista knows that the Blue Hens are a dangerous team that are capable of handing Penn State its first loss of the season.

"This is our first real big road test," Battista said. "They beat us two out of the last six times we've played them."

Making his return for the Icers on defense will be Curtiss Patrick, who missed three weeks after having minor surgery.

Battista said that he plans on playing Patrick, but he may take a shift off here and there to make sure he's got his wind back.

It will also be a bit of a reunion for three coaches as two of Delaware's coaches, head coach Josh Brandwene and assistant coach John 0'Conner, played under Battista during their days as Icers in the late 1980s. Brandwene is a member of the Penn State Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.

-- Tony Calvello

DIV. II ICE LIONS

vs. Stony Brook & NYU; at Siena

9:15 tonight & 10:15 p.m. tomorrow at Ernest B. McCoy Natatorium

11:15 a.m. Sunday at Indiana Univ. of Pa.

Lions don't necessarily only thrive in the hot, humid jungles; in fact, there are some that are doing quite well on the ice.

The Penn State Ice Lions are entering into a weekend that can make or break the team's dreams for an ACHA Division II Championship.

"Our fate is in our hands," Penn State Ice Lions coach Mo Stroemel said.

The Ice Lions are playing games back-to-back-to-back this weekend, much like every other weekend this year. However, not every weekend has had the same type of emotion involved. Two of these teams they'll face, Stony Brook and Siena, rank above Penn Stale in the Northeast division of the ACHA Div. II rankings.

"Without a doubt, this is the weekend we have been waiting for," Stroemel said. "It is going to be the weekend of the season."

The Ice Lions face an extremely fast Stony Brook team that is ranked No. 2 in the Northeast division.

Penn State then plays NYU for the second time in one week. Last Sunday, the Ice Lions beat NYU 6-4.

Stroemel said the most difficult game might be against the Northeast division's No. 3 team, Siena College. The Ice Lions play the Saints in less than 24 hours after the game with NYU. Sierra comes in playing some of its best hockey.

-- Adam Kuczynski

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

at Wisconsin & Northwestern

6 tonight, at Madison, Wisc. & 8 p.m. tomorrow, at Evanston, Ill.

Way back on Oct. 26, things were rolling along quite nicely for the Penn State women's volleyball team.

Sure, there had been a slight bump in the road in the form of a loss at Minnesota, but the Lions were still tied for first place in the Big Ten and sporting a 18-2 overall record. Wisconsin, on the other hand, was struggling severely, having just lost to Northwestern.

But something changed that Saturday nearly a month ago.

A troubled yet resilient Wisconsin team marched into Rec Hall that night and, by winning a pair of two-point games, stalked out with a victory that has sent Penn State into a tailspin, by its standards, anyway.

Including that Wisconsin match, the Lions are 4-4 in their last eight matches. Since then, Minnesota has clinched at least a share of the conference championship, Wisconsin has won six of seven and the Lions are trying to find themselves.

So now this weekend, Penn State will try to reverse roles and take a high-flying Wisconsin team down a peg or two. To do this, the Lions must contain Erin Byrd and Lisa Zukowski. The pair combined for 43 kills in the last meeting.

The following day, the Lions will travel south to play Northwestern. The match will be a homecoming of sorts for freshman setter Sam Tortorello, who will be playing her first match in the Chicagoland area since her days as a high school phenom.

-- Chris Rajotte