Call them cupcakes, call them patsies, call them what you will, but the Penn State men's volleyball team plays a schedule cluttered with opponents that present little challenge to the No. 3 Nittany Lions. Playing the roles of the hapless Washington Generals this week are Rutgers-Newark, New York University and Princeton. Prepare the EIVA plank, because the Scarlet Raiders, Violets and Tigers are about to walk it.

Always cautious against any opponent, Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik concedes that the Lions (19-3, 5-0 EIVA) enjoy a "physical advantage" over most other EIVA teams.

Also in Penn State's favor when it treks eastward is its undefeated record against teams hailing from east of Provo, Utah. Pavlik took some time this week to crunch some statistics, comparing Penn State's players by position to players at No. 5 Hawaii, No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 Brigham Young.

Pavlik combined all applicable statistics to create a plus-minus category in which the Lions stacked up pretty well against the setters, middle hitters, opposites and liberos from those three other elite teams.

"The one position that we don't have in the top two or three is the outside," Pavlik said. "If we can get them either scoring more points or creating fewer errors, we're gonna be in pretty good shape."

Those outside hitters are Alex Gutor, Aaron Smith and Kevin Wentzel. Since Wentzel's return from injury earlier this month, the three have been in competition for playing time. Pavlik has said the best passers will play, giving Smith and Wentzel the starting nod last weekend.

Pavlik addressed the team on Wednesday about the disputed validity of plus-minus numbers because of the teams Penn State plays.

"I don't care what they say about our numbers coming from playing against [lesser teams], what we have to be concerned with is the errors that we can control," Pavlik said. "We just have to make that one extra ace instead of that extra error."

About 90 seconds later as the Lions run laps and throw balls at unsuspecting teammates, an errant throw by Guillermo Fernandez hits Pavlik squarely in the back of the head.

"Like I said, we have to cut down on that extra error," Pavlik said, shaking his head.