The Buckeyes.

Just the uttering of those words sends feelings of resentment and disgust to anyone that claims to bleed blue.

The No. 11 Penn State men's volleyball team (4-4, 3-0 EIVA) looks to keep the rivalry alive when it goes to Springfield Mass., for the Hall of Fame Classic tournament. The Nittany Lions will face Ohio State at 5 tonight and Stanford at 5 tomorrow night.

"It's a great rivalry with the Buckeyes," head coach Mark Pavlik said. "You just know that neither team, no matter what the score of the game is, will never be out of the match so you can't back off and expect them to hand it to you."

Another reason that many hate Ohio State so much is that they excel at everything.

Whether it be on the gridiron, hardwood, or even gymnastics, Buckeyes fans always have a good team to cheer on. That's no different on the volleyball court.

Ohio State is ranked No. 8 with a 9-1 record. It definitely won't be a pushover, but the Lions are coming off of three straight wins, including an upset over then-No. 3 Long Beach State last Saturday night.

"We have a lot of momentum going after this weekend," senior co-captain Nate Meerstein said. "If we can just keep that going and keep our intensity high, we should be all right."

Meerstein will be a big part of this game if the Lions hope to get an upset. He averages three kills a game at a .493 clip (good for fourth on the NCAA list) and also collects 1.14 blocks per game.

This may be considered an away tournament for the Lions, but they play in this tournament every year and have won it the last two. For a team that boasts three seniors in the starting lineup, that familiarity should play a big role.

"I like playing in that gym. We've played well in it," senior co-captain Matt Proper said. "As long as we keep doing what we're doing, the wins will come."

If Proper keeps doing what he's doing, the Lions may not lose another match the rest of the season. The senior averages 4.25 kills per game, along with .93 blocks and 1.39 digs.

On the other side of the net, Ohio State will look to outside hitter Stuart Katz to score most of its points. He's averaging 4 kills per game on the offensive side and 1.94 digs and .81 blocks on the defensive side.

The Buckeyes rack up tons of blocks each contest with John Albertson, Brett Verson, and Ben Spurlock all averaging more than one a game.

After Ohio State, the Lions will face Stanford.

The Cardinals may want to stick with hitting the books, because on the volleyball court, they're certainly not as proficient. Their record stands at an unimpressive 3-9.

Still, no opponent should be taken lightly, and, for the Cardinals to pull an upset over the Lions, they'll need outside hitter Ben Reddy to play outstandingly. Reddy comes in averaging 4.46 kills per game, but only with a .208 hitting percentage.

The Cardinals aren't an intimidating defensive team. Matt Ceran leads them in blocks with one per game.

For the Lions, the team has finally started to make the leap of being a championship-caliber team, and Pavlik has taken notice of the steady improvements.

"The offense is starting to click, and we're putting together better runs," Pavlik said. "We're starting to play good volleyball and our blocks and defense have improved."

If the Lions can continue to play good volleyball, they should have no problem coming home with two wins and their third straight victory at the Hall of Fame Classic.