It took 40 points for the Penn State men's volleyball team to hit its stride in last night's EIVA semifinal, but once the No. 2 Nittany Lions found their rhythm, it was lights out for Rutgers-Newark.

Penn State overcame a shaky start at the serving line to pull away from the Scarlet Raiders, taking the match in three games (30-24, 30-21, 30-16), and setting up a date with second-seed George Mason University in the EIVA Championship on Saturday.

The first game saw 17 tie scores and six lead changes, as the Lions (29-3, 14-0 EIVA) committed six service errors. Trailing 20-21, Penn State had seen enough, and decided to return to the usual EIVA domination. From that point, the Lions would close out the game on a 10-3 run, and then the match on a 70-40 stretch.

"The longer it went, the better we played," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said. "I never felt that we were out of control of the match -- you just felt like we were gonna get on a run with our serving or blocking."

The Lions hit 0.544 as a team, while four starting hitters swung at more than a 0.400 clip. Junior opposite Matt Proper led the team with 14 kills on 0.550 hitting, while sophomore Alex Gutor rose to the occasion by recording nine kills at a 0.615 rate.

Gutor's game is peaking at the right time, as the outside hitter is both passing and swinging more consistently than before. Until two weeks ago, Gutor even found himself out of the lineup while his passing was suspect.

"I've been working more on consistency, and the passing is better," Gutor said. "The passers talk a lot more and communicate better than we did at the beginning of the year."

Gutor's spot in the lineup was never in jeopardy last night, though. Sophomore outside hitter Aaron Smith is nursing tendonitis in his right biceps, and was held to limited action against the Scarlet Raiders.

But on this night, like most others for the Lions, the strength of the team was in the middle and on the right side block. Middle hitter Nate Meerstein hit 0.583 with eight kills, while position-mate Keith Kowal registered seven kills and nine blocks, leading the squad to 16 team blocks on the night.

"There's no middle combination in the East that can stop these two -- short of maybe a Big Boy statue," Pavlik said.

Meerstein's 0.524 hitting for the season puts him in first place in the NCAA. Also a leader, Kowal's 1.76 blocks per game place him atop the national rankings.

"I was seeing the ball well," Kowal said of his five-block performance in the second game. "I just got into a rhythm and ran a few. It felt good."

Kowal is enjoying his final points at Rec Hall, as Penn State's lone senior will play his final home match tomorrow at 8 p.m.

"I'm not gonna cry -- well, maybe if Meers does," Kowal joked.

The Lions now prepare to face George Mason for the right to advance to the NCAA tournament next week. The Patriots beat Juniata in five games yesterday, led by 33 kills off the hand of George Mason outside hitter Shaun Powell.

"Shaun Powell is gonna get a ton of balls," Pavlik said. "But we're not going to change much. They know we're gonna get Keith and Meers the ball. They know we're gonna have a big right side block."