Now is when the games really start to count.

The women's volleyball regular season is perhaps the longest in collegiate sports, literally spanning from August through December. Penn State, as is typical of most schools, played 31 matches.

The Nittany Lions went 24-7, but what does all that mean now? They are in the NCAA Tournament, true. But so are 63 other teams. Michigan went 16-14, but the Wolverines were invited to the Tournament, too.

Indeed, the previous 31 matches are relegated to mere tune-ups as the Lions prepare for Pennsylvania (22-4) in a first-round NCAA Tournament match tonight at 7:30 at Rec Hall. The winner will advance to play the winner of today's 5 p.m. Temple-Manhattan match in the second round tomorrow night at 7.

So what did Penn State gain by posting such an impressive mark and lofty No. 12 national ranking? Other than home-court advantage, not much. But Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose says don't discount the importance of playing matches at a place Penn State has won 129 of its last 136.

"We only lost one match at Rec Hall," Rose said of his team that went 15-1 this year in the old building. "All around the country teams play better at home. There's a certain comfort level."

"Being at home is special," sophomore defensive specialist Tabitha Eshleman said. "It's a huge advantage."

Still, that's all four months of hard work and 31 matches gets you? The right to play at home? Well, not quite. The Lions also earned a 13 seed in the tournament, meaning they will avoid other seeded teams until at least the third round.

And thanks to a new policy of the NCAA trying to keep the opening rounds of the tournament more regional, the Lions appear to have been given a favorable draw.

Manhattan (30-3), Penn and Temple (26-6) are all conference champions, but none of the three conferences they represent (the Metro Atlantic Athletic, Ivy and Atlantic 10, respectively), has a single team getting a single vote in the AVCA Top 25.

For a point of reference, contrast that to the rounds Pepperdine is hosting out in the volleyball hotbed California coast. The No. 8 Waves were given a 9 seed and are in a bracket with No. 9 Long Beach State and No. 21 UCLA.

Looking at this, it seems the Lions are being given an advantage simply as a result of geography.

As is a coach's job, Rose warns against overlooking Penn State's opponents.

"These are teams that can beat us," Rose said. "Penn has a good volleyball team. They won't be in awe."

A year ago, Penn State hosted the tournament and was placed in a bracket with Penn, which lost to a UCLA team in the opening round that went on to beat Penn State in round two for the Lions first loss in 25 home tournament matches.

"Last year I thought Penn played UCLA better than we did, so it just depends on how you play not who you play," Rose said.

Rose spends a lot of time drilling this message into his players' heads.

"Coach made us well aware we need to be ready every single match," Eshleman said. "We're all real excited and ready to go."

But just like in the March Madness of the men's basketball tournament, upsets are bound to happen.

"I would hope all teams that come are excited to come and ready to play," Rose said. "We need to match that intensity. I've been around the game long enough to know that when you have an opportunity like this, you go out and take it.

"The goal is to win a national championship. You don't get this far without saying you don't want to go as far as you can."