A three-game sweep lasting a little more than an hour. A physically overmatched opponent. A workman-like performance from the team's veterans.

Even though it was the first round of the EIVA playoffs for the No. 9 Penn State men's volleyball team, Saturday night's match against Vassar greatly resembled many of Penn State's regular season wins against EIVA opponents.

The No. 1 seed in the EIVA, Penn State (24-5, 15-0 EIVA), defeated No. 8 Vassar (17-6, 8-5 EIVA), 30-21, 30-20, 30-22, to advance to the EIVA semifinals

Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik said that the game was pretty much what he expected, although he said the team played sloppier than he would have liked.

"I probably didn't do a great job of forcing the team to be real sharp during practice this week," he said.

The three games were strikingly similar, as Penn State gained early leads, and Vassar was never able to recover. The Nittany Lions were simply too physical for Vassar, as Penn State amassed eight service aces compared to just three for the Brewers. While Penn State outblocked Vassar 7-1, the quarterfinal match marked the first time in the last six matches that the Lions failed to reach double-digit blocks. Junior Keith Kowal, who along with freshman setter Dan O'Dell led the team with four blocks, said the match was what the team has come to expect against EIVA opponents.

"I thought we played pretty well in the first two games," Kowal said. "In the third game, we probably put it on cruise control."

The Lions out-hit Vassar .487 to .182 for the match and improved their record to 9-0 on the season when hitting over .400. Senior outside hitter Carlos Guerra led the team in kills for the 14th time this season, with 13. Kowal and Norm Keil also notched double-digit kills, posting 11 and 10 kills respectively.

O'Dell performed well in his first playoff match, dishing out 41 assists to direct the Lions' offense. Guerra said that O'Dell played well and his inexperience is not an issue because he is playing with veterans at the other positions.

Penn State improved its record to 41-3 in the EIVA tournament since 1986. The team has won the tournament the past four years, and is currently riding a 33-game EIVA winning streak. While Pavlik was happy with the team's win, he said that Penn State probably didn't improve much as a result of the quarterfinal match.

"This match didn't prepare us for playing teams we have to play down the stretch," Pavlik said.

In the other EIVA quarterfinal matches, No. 3 Rutgers-Newark defeated No. 6 Concordia, while No. 2 George Mason beat up on No. 7 Springfield. Rutgers-Newark and George Mason will square off at Rec Hall on Thursday evening at 5:30 in the first EIVA semifinal match. Penn State will play at 7:30 Thursday evening, taking on the winner of the match between No. 4 Juniata and No. 5 Princeton.

Guerra said that the match against Vassar was a typical EIVA match, and he doesn't expect the Lions to run into many problems in the EIVA tournament.

"The only team in the EIVA that's going to beat us is ourselves," Guerra said.