Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik said it best: "The rest of the EIVA now knows that they have to come in here and play exceptionally well for a long match to beat us."

The third-ranked Nittany Lions (25-3, 10-0 EIVA) clinched their 17th EIVA Tait Division regular-season title by pounding George Mason 3-1 (30-16, 27-30, 30-19, 30-25) Friday in Rec Hall. It was Penn State's 10th title with Pavlik at the helm.

The Lions continued their winning ways yesterday at No. 12 Ohio State, rolling past the Buckeyes, 3-1 (30-32, 30-25, 30-20, 30-21). With a nine-match winning streak under its belt and only two regular-season matches remaining, Penn State is focusing on winning the EIVA and NCAA championships.

The Patriots (16-8, 7-3 EIVA) and Buckeyes (17-7) felt the wrath of the dominant middle duo of Keith Kowal and Nate Meerstein, the aggressive high-flying opposite hitter Matt Proper and a blocking defense that is frankly, just amazing. The Lions tied their season high with 20 blocks against George Mason, and recorded 17.5 to Ohio State's nine -- it was Penn State's 26th double-digit blocking match of the year.

Proper, Kowal and Meerstein led the Lions on both sides of the ball, effectively giving both opponents little chance to score. However, credit must be given to setters Dan O'Dell and Luke Murray, as well as outside hitters Aaron Smith and Kevin Wentzel, for giving opportunities to the Lions' big hitters with solid passing.

"Smitty was a stud tonight, he did everything we've asked of him," Pavlik said. "It wasn't just his four aces; he was outstanding tonight as a passer. But people aren't necessarily going to notice because of the numbers that Proper, Keith and Meers put up."

Proper had a career-high 11 blocks against the Patriots, along with 18 kills. Meerstein hit .762 and recorded 18 kills, one shy of his career high, as well as eight blocks, falling one short of his season high.

At Ohio State, Proper and Meerstein threw down 16 kills each, and All-American Kowal recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 12 blocks, one short of his career high. The Lions hit a season-high .460 for a four-game match.

"We're asking our outsides to concentrate on the passing, and it's on the shoulders of Meers, Proper and myself to take care of the scoring. That formula right there is something we can count on to hopefully take us all the way," Kowal said.

In each of the games Penn State dropped to George Mason and OSU, the Lions seemed to back off instead of being constant aggressors on the attack.

"We waited for them to make the errors like we did against our opponents last weekend. You can't do that against teams of a higher caliber," Pavlik said.

"We have essentially been practicing winning, and we had to go out there and play solid like we know how to do. Both nights when we came out of the locker room after the break, the energy level skyrocketed."

And as it was yet another weekend of career and season highs, even though his job isn't to score points, freshman libero Gary Vogel recorded his first official kill on a diving dig that George Mason couldn't return, sending a roar of cheers through his teammates and the crowd.