The No. 7 Penn State men's volleyball team will look for history to repeat itself at Rec Hall tonight when it takes on St. Francis at 7:30.

Penn State (1-2, 1-0 EIVA) has owned its Div. III EIVA opponent in the past, having beaten St. Francis in all 10 meetings since 1995. Nine of these 10 meetings have lasted only three games, the only exception being in 1998, when the Red Flash was able to push the Lions to four games before eventually falling.

"From everything I've seen of St. Francis, they are in a similar situation to [New York University]," Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik said.

"We just need to establish our physical superiority and wear them down with our size and strength."

Pavlik said that the team should be able to take advantage of its strong serving like it did last weekend, notching eight aces to NYU's two. After having dropped its first two matches of the season against Ball State and Hawaii, Penn State easily knocked off NYU, 30-15, 30-21, 30-26 at Rec Hall on Friday night.

St. Francis (1-3) is coming off a three-game loss to No. 13 Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne on Saturday night. The Red Flash are led by senior middle hitter Taylor Whitehurst. Whitehurst finished last season 13th in the nation with a .451 hitting percentage, setting a St. Francis all-time record.

Whitehurst and his teammates struggled however against IPFW, hitting at a -.091 clip, and reaching a positive hitting percentage in just one of the match's three games.

St. Francis and the rest of Penn State's EIVA opponents have provided little challenge in recent memory, as the Lions have finished three of the last four seasons undefeated in EIVA competition.

However, senior opposite hitter Zeljko Koljesar said that Penn State must still bring the same type of focus to each match, as the team looks to win the EIVA Tait Division again this year.

"All the teams in the EIVA know we're the team to beat, so we have to match their intensity," Koljesar said.

If the Lions are able to dominate St. Francis early, Pavlik will likely look to get the younger players involved like he did against NYU, when the coach started a completely different lineup in the match's final game.

Although the younger team struggled initially, the players rebounded to complete the sweep. Koljesar said that the team has confidence in the younger players and it is important for the them to remain in games for long stretches of time even if they struggle early.

"Experience is key," Koljesar said. "You have to taste the sour before you taste the sweet."

Pavlik agreed and said that he is happy with the way his younger players have progressed in practice early in the season.