It has been awhile since the Penn State men's volleyball team lost an EIVA match.

Penn State (3-2, 3-0 EIVA) has won 21 straight EIVA matches, and will look to extend the streak to 22 when it takes on Juniata (4-1, 2-1 EIVA) tonight at 7:30 at Rec Hall.

The Nittany Lions are looking for their fourth straight win after dropping their first two matches of the year to Hawaii and Ball State. After demonstrating a lack of energy a week ago and taking four games to beat St. Francis, Penn State came out amped Friday night and beat No. 15 Loyola-Chicago, 30-28, 30-27, 30-27.

Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik said he liked his team's energy and emotion on Friday night, as the team's leaders stepped up late in the three games to give Penn State the sweep.

Penn State has never lost a match to Juniata, going 20-0 in the teams' meetings dating back to 1993. Juniata has been physically overmatched the last two years, and hasn't won a game in the team's four matches. This Juniata team will look similar to the team Penn State faced last year, as Juniata lost only one player from last year's roster.

Although the roster will look the same, Juniata has experienced a change at the top, as Ken Shibuya has taken over as head coach. Shibuya comes from Christopher Newport University, where he spent four years as the coach for the women's volleyball team. Shibuya finished his career at Christopher Newport as the school's all-time leader in volleyball wins, having led the team to its first-ever NCAA Div. III tournament appearance last year.

After dropping its first game this year, Shibuya has led Juniata to four straight wins, including a five-game win against then-Div. III No. 1 Springfield. Juniata has since moved up the ranks to take over the Div. III No. 1 spot. The team is coming in to Happy Valley with confidence, having won both of its road matches this year, and having not dropped a game in its last three matches.

Junior Ryan Genova leads the team with 4.47 kills per game, while sophomore setter Ricky Zeigler directs the offense with 10.2 assists per game.

Although Penn State has dominated its EIVA opponents in the past, the team will not just be satisfied with a win, but wants to match Juniata's energy.

Co-captain Zack Slenker said that for many EIVA teams, Penn State is the biggest match on their schedule, and they play with extra enthusiasm, looking to knock off the team that has dropped just one division game in the last four years.

Co-captain Nate Matthews said that the team had not been satisfied with their play until Penn State swept Loyola.

"Intensity has been a problem," Matthews said.

"We haven't been happy with the intensity all season."

Penn State will look to move up in the AVCA rankings that come out later today, as six of the teams ranked ahead of the Lions dropped at least one match last weekend.