Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik is bringing out the measuring stick, and by the end of this weekend, the first assessment of the No. 9 Nittany Lions will be available.

The Lions (1-1), who left Wednesday morning for Honolulu, will compete this weekend in the 13th annual Outrigger Invitational. They will play No. 2 Brigham Young (6-0) tonight at 9 (EST) and No. 3 University of Hawaii (2-2) tomorrow at midnight (EST) in the Stan Sheriff Center.

The team's ranking and record at the end of the weekend will not determine Pavlik's personal assessment of the Lions. He is more concerned with how they play against two of the top teams in the country.

"I'm not caught up in the wins and losses," Pavlik said. "This is going to be the first really big stage that this group has played on and it will be real interesting to see how we've developed over the past three weeks."

In the past three weeks, the team has only had two chances to prove to its coach that it is just as strong as last year. With the loss of five seniors, four of whom were four-year starters, the Lions have a lot new players on the court, leaving them vulnerable to the attacks of the BYU and Hawaii's more seasoned players.

"BYU is a very physical team," Pavlik said. "Yosleyder Cala is as good a player at his age group is the world. I don't think you are ever going to shut him down. I don't think we have anyone to match his experience, his physicality."

Cala, who is only a sophomore, led his team last year in kills per game with 4.01 and was tied for first in aces, tallying 23.

Against Hawaii, the Lions must deal with setter Brian Beckwith, who also has experience on the international level.

The key to this weekend for the Lions is to minimize the errors that were evident in its first two matches this season. Against Ball State, Penn State's defense was lacking, as it only tallied eight team blocks. This number dropped to six in the next match against IPFW.

"We must play pretty clean," Pavlik said. "If we make a dig, if we touch a ball, if we get a chance to swing for a real point, we are going to have to convert a vast majority of those because we aren't going to have a ton of them. I think our goal is to keep the match close and let's see what happens."

Historically, the team does not have a great amount of success when it travels to Honolulu. Last year, it lost to all three teams it played. Pavlik and the Lions know that wins and losses do not mean anything, but it is their play that will determine the outcome of the season.

"I know we know have what it takes to compete with these teams," junior setter Luke Murray said. "I think this trip is going to be a real good measuring stick to see exactly where we are at."