IPFW beat Penn State, 3-2, (25-30, 30-27, 30-24, 28-30, 10-15) on Friday in Fort Wayne, Ind., before the Lions squeezed out a five-game win of their own against Ball State, 3-2, (19-30, 26-30, 30-26, 30-28, 15-11) on Saturday in Muncie.

"This weekend was a good example of how we need to be able to overcome things," senior setter Dan O'Dell said. "We had to play 10 games in two days, and we had to fight through some things that were difficult."

O'Dell was critical in both of the weekend's matches, said Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik, and did a solid job directing the offense.

On Friday, O'Dell dished 48 assists, while still leading the team in digs (10) and service aces (3). The 6-foot-7 Rochester, N.Y., native's favorite target against the Mastodons was senior outside hitter Kevin Wentzel, who finished with 19 kills.

Despite Wentzel's hot hand, O'Dell managed to spread the ball around, as three other Lions finished with double-digit kill totals.

Senior captains Matt Proper and Nate Meerstein turned out solid efforts thanks to O'Dell's ability to mix it up and set balls away from IPFW's block. Proper tallied 18 kills, while middle hitter Meerstein finished with 12 kills on .526 hitting. Freshman middle hitter Max Holt had 10 kills at a .667 clip.

Under O'Dell's direction, the Lions hit .313 as a team and limited IPFW to .287, but still weren't able to hold off the Mastodons' late-match comeback.

"[Now] the guys know when you're up and in control, you can't let up one bit," Pavlik said.

On Saturday night the tables turned, and it was the Cardinals who tried -- but failed -- to hold off the late-charging Lions.

But like Friday night, O'Dell came up big again and was able to help seal a Penn State victory. He had his seventh career double-double with 64 assists and 13 digs, as he and the Lions mounted a comeback after a slow start, thanks to the help of a motivational talk from the coaching staff.

"After the first game, after we got embarrassed, [Pavlik] brought us in and talked to us," O'Dell said. "He called out all four seniors on the floor and told us he didn't want us going out like this."

The Lions came back to win three consecutive games behind Proper, who also had a double-double, with 21 kills on .349 hitting and 10 digs. Holt had a career-high in kills (18) on .536 hitting.

"We've had two tough matches this weekend, and I think we look at this weekend as two different extremes," Pavlik said. "I'm pretty pleased with what we faced this weekend. It gives us a real good view of where we're at. Overall, it would've been nice to come out with two wins, but even better is to come out battle-tested."