Ahh, spring break. A week of sun, beaches, beers, girls and ... fierce competition?

The No. 4 Penn State men's volleyball team is looking forward to spring break for reasons different than its male counterparts on campus.

Unlike the students heading to southern California to escape winter and have a hedonistically great time, the Lions are going there to confront three of the toughest opponents they will face all year.

Asserting themselves as the most dominant team in the eastern United States so far this season, the Nittany Lions (14-2) are riding a 14-match winning streak into California, not having lost since Jan. 6.

However, awaiting them at the UCSD Invitational this weekend is UC-San Diego (0-14) tonight and No. 12 UC-Irvine (6-12) Saturday.

Do not let their losing records fool you, either.

California is a collegiate volleyball Mecca with eight of the top 15 teams in the country. Neither San Diego nor Irvine will let the Lions easily cruise to victory.

Even if the Lions do come away from the weekend victorious, they will not have much time to sneak in some much-deserved fun in the sun.

In what will likely be their biggest challenge of the week, the Lions will travel north to Los Angeles on Tuesday to face the No. 1 UCLA Bruins (15-2) on their notoriously tough home court.

"We know what to expect out there, it's not like this is anybody's first trip to the West Coast or to Hawaii. All of the starters have played against a high level of competition," senior co-captain Keith Kowal said.

The Lions have been preparing for this West Coast trip all season long, since it is the only time they will face these teams before potentially seeing at least one of them in the NCAA tournament.

Here on the East Coast, Penn State has rolled past EIVA conference opponents with relative ease and has not even lost a single game since early February. It may seem like the Lions have the momentum swinging their way, but they are anticipating intense showdowns with these hard-hitting squads.

"These are teams that can bring some heat with jump serves and they're going to block a lot of balls. They're going to play hard, at the physical altitude that we can play at," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said.

"There will be close runs in those games by us and by the opposition. We've got the ability just as they have to score points with our serve and block, and we're not going to get any easy points from them."

Pavlik and assistant coach Dennis Hohenshelt have been changing up practices this week to better prepare the Lions for the physical teams they will face.

"We'll have some switching around so that maybe [Matt] Proper has to hit against [Kowal and Meerstein], or they'll hit against each other," Pavlik said.

"We'll get them used to having a big guy in front of them ... somebody that's 6-foot-6 and can play the ball, too."

So while others are basking in the glory of spring break, the Lions will be attempting to prove that the Penn State beast from the East can hold its own against the best of the West.

"We're ready for the weekend and have been looking forward to it more than anything," junior co-captain Nate Meerstein said.

"We want to prove to other teams that we're No. 4, if not better."