When the Penn State men's volleyball team travels to the West Coast, it is usually accompanied by a familiar figure. Next week's trip is no different -- the proverbial measuring stick will once again be present as the team travels to California.

On Tuesday, the Nittany Lions take on No. 2 University of California-Irvine, and on Wednesday, they face the University of Southern California. Both matches will be played in California.

Before they catch a flight to the Golden State, the Lions must take on Princeton at 7 tonight in Rec Hall. Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik looks at tonight's match as a springboard for next week.

"We gotta take another step [tonight] against Princeton," Pavlik said. "We gotta make sure we're geared up and ready to get on the road."

Currently, the No. 9 Lions (10-4, 7-0 EIVA) are riding a nine-game winning streak and have been solid against EIVA teams, but the players are looking forward to playing against some tougher opponents.

"We'll be pumped to go out there and play some better teams," senior co-captain Nate Meerstein said. "If we can come out and play strong against Irvine and USC, I think it will be a good measuring stick and show us where we can go."

The Lions appear to be hitting their stride and are hitting .333 on the season. In Wednesday night's contest, they hit a season-high .455. UC-Irvine has already seen the Lions -- the two teams met twice in fall exhibition matches. Penn State lost both matches to the Anteaters in November, but since then both teams have started to jell.

"Both teams have gotten so much better from the last time we played," Pavlik said. "Both teams have been in the gym quite a bit. We know what they do, they know what we do, the question is how they've improved on what they didn't do well here in November, and how we've improved from what we didn't do well in November."

The Lions are led by senior co-captain Matt Proper, who is leading the team in kills (191) and is hitting .373. Also stellar for Penn State are middle hitters Meerstein and freshman Max Holt -- the duo ranks second and third on the team in hitting percentage.

Holt is currently eighth in the nation in blocks per game (1.46), but USC and UC-Irvine both have standout players. UC-Irvine freshman libero Brent Asuka is third nationally in digs per game (3.19) and has already dug 182 balls this season. USC features Juan Figueroa, a 6-foot-1 sophomore outside hitter who is currently eighth in kills per game (4.50).

"Obviously our excitement level is gonna be high. It's gonna be fun," senior setter Dan O'Dell said. "We just know the teams we're gonna be playing are teams we're gonna be seeing come Final Four time."

Some Lions are California dreamin' right now, but the rest have managed to contain their excitement at the prospect of playing some of the best competition in the nation.

"Tomorrow night I want to play strong and take care of business and do what we've been doing to EIVA teams," Meerstein said.

"We'll just see how it goes [in California], I think we can come out of there with two wins."