Last season, Penn State showed how much it enjoyed playing at home and ended up posting a 12-2 record in Rec Hall -- with one of the losses coming against UCLA in last season's NCAA final.
However, the Lions will have to overcome several obstacles if they hope to win tonight, one of which being an undefeated Buckeye team.
Ohio State enters tonight's tilt with a record of 7-0.
Running its offense through a highly touted setter, the Buckeyes are similar to No. 5 IPFW, a team that Penn State lost to earlier in the season.
"They have a very good setter in Danny Matthews. I think their outside hitters are pretty physical, pretty quick. Their middles have played against us, they're fairly experienced," Pavlik said. "I think they're gonna give us a match very similar to what Fort Wayne did."
In order to defeat Ohio State, the Lions will have to be able to handle the Buckeyes' serving game and will have to establish their offense early -- something Penn State has failed to do in both of their losses.
"They have a pretty quality team. They got a pretty good setter. They have some pretty big guns," Penn State setter Luke Murray said. "I think as long as we play our style and we play our game, we'll be fine."
Also, the Lions are still recovering from their cross-country trip from Hawaii.
"Oh yeah, [jet-lag] is the concern," Pavlik said.
"I think our guys have taken pretty good care of themselves. That's my concern whether it's a valid one or not."
While the Lions hope the jet lag from this weekend isn't a factor, they do hope the success from their last match is.
"Coming back from Hawaii, the team is just really excited about beating Hawaii in three, and we're kind of on a high right now," captain Aaron Smith said. "Everybody is just really excited about showing the East Coast what we have.
"Everyone's really excited to get out there and show the world what we have."
