After three weeks of being on the road for matches, the No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions men's volleyball team (3-3) will return home to Rec Hall tonight to open up its Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association schedule against St. Francis (Pa.).

The Lions will be trying to find a common direction, something they were unable to do on the road.

"Were trying to find our identity as a team," Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik said in a press release. "Keith [Kowal] and Ricky [Mattei] have played real well for us, but we just need to find a team personality and correct these problems."

In reaching their .500 record, the Lions have done respectably, considering the tough schedule they have played. Four of their matches this season have been against teams ranked in the top 15 of the current American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

Facing St. Francis tomorrow poses a new challenge that the Lions haven't had to face yet this season: not overlooking a team. The Red Flash come into the match against the Lions with a 3-5 record and haven't played teams nearly as good as Penn State.

The problem they present to the Lions is that they don't have one player that will get all of the team's kills. St. Francis tends to spread the ball around to all of its hitters. It has had only one game in which a player has recorded 20 or more kills.

Penn State will try to counter the Red Flash attack by continuing its good defensive play, which, aside from the Ball State game, has been consistent. Senior libero Mattei will be a key in the defense as the Lions blockers will most likely not get to every shot. Because of this, Mattei will have a lot of digs to collect.

Another strong performance by Kowal will help Penn State immensely in their quest for a conference win tomorrow night.