Like a boy playing a game with a clearly overmatched younger sibling, the No. 4 Penn State men's volleyball team made quick work of hapless Mt. Olive on Friday and disappointing Southern Cal on Saturday at Rec Hall.

Friday's match was, indeed, a family affair, as Sasha Gutor, father of Nittany Lions outside hitter Alex Gutor, coached Mt. Olive (0-3). In two games, the younger Gutor hit 0.636 with eight kills and two blocks and Penn State cruised to a 3-0 victory (30-15, 30-18, 30-18).

Penn State coach Mark Pavlik veered from the usual rotation in the second game, mixing reserves with the regulars.

"We enjoyed a very significant physical advantage," Pavlik said of Friday's match.

Penn State's role as older sibling continued on Saturday against USC, as the Lions dominated again. More than 3,000 fans turned out to watch the Lions dismantle the usually strong Trojans in straight sets (32-30, 30-27, 30-24).

Of the many impressive statistics compiled this weekend by the Lions (9-2, 2-0 EIVA), perhaps the most impressive was the "0" in the error column for the second game against USC (4-10).

"More than anything else, we were very disciplined," Pavlik said.

If discipline is the key to success in volleyball, then the Lions were as disciplined as black belts this weekend, making Pavlik a veritable Mr. Miyagi.

Outside hitter Aaron Smith brought his game to a new level against USC, collecting nine kills on 0.667 hitting.

"Smitty's game [Saturday night] was as good as it's ever been," Pavlik said.

And setter Dan O'Dell credited that effort to USC's game plan.

"Their block is pretty easy to read," O'Dell said. "Part of the reason Smitty played so well was that they were paying a lot of attention to Keith [Kowal] and [Nate Meerstein] on 31's. Every time I'd go over the top with him he was wide open, and [Saturday night] he was putting them all down."

Even though the Trojans devoted more effort to stopping Kowal than most of the other Lions, the senior All-American was still able to produce very efficient numbers.

"All I was concentrating on, was going in there high and hard, and whatever the outcome, I'd be happy with it," Kowal said of USC's efforts to stop him.

Kowal, of course, was happy with nine kills and zero errors on the evening. The co-captain hit 0.680 with 17 kills, zero errors and nine blocks for the weekend.

Per usual, the Penn State block was strong enough to give the Lions an advantage up front. The Lions outblocked their opponents 20.5-7.5.

"Our block saved us," Pavlik said of the USC match. "We came up with some huge blocks in transition."

With a nine-match win streak heading into tomorrow's contest against Juniata, the Lions are on a roll, and they don't want the fun to stop.

"It was a great crowd, and this was really fun," Pavlik said.