It wasn't the most spectacular performance of the year, but it also wasn't the worst.

In front of a sparse crowd in Rec Hall last night, the No. 6 Penn State men's volleyball team took on fellow EIVA foe Rutgers-Newark. Despite a mediocre performance, it got the job done and defeated the Scarlet Raiders 3-0 (30-24, 30-19, 30-28).

The match progressed slowly from the beginning, and the Nittany Lions actually had to put up a battle against the worst team in the EIVA. Rutgers-Newark (2-16, 0-8 EIVA) played very scrappy against the Lions, digging for every point it could muster. Penn State took Game 1 and looked more dominant in Game 2, not even allowing the Scarlet Raiders to score 20 points.

In Game 3, however, the Lions let their opponents get the best of them. At one point, they were down four points, and Penn State coach Mark Pavlik was forced to call a timeout to pull his team together. The team came back from this deficit but kept beating itself through unforced errors.

"You could see our offense beginning [to work], not really being in sync," Pavlik said. "I told them in the locker room [that] everybody needs to feel some urgency at times for the outcome."

The Lions didn't catch on to the needed urgency and allowed Rutgers-Newark to come close in the end, putting it two points away from a fourth game. Even with their mistakes, however, the Scarlet Raiders couldn't find enough strength to stop sophomore Max Holt's two aces to end both the game and the match.

"Yeah, I think in stretches that was the case -- we didn't prepare well enough for each contact," Pavlik said. "Passing wasn't as sharp."

Before last night's match, Penn State (10-2, 6-0) had had a 10-day hiatus from volleyball and almost three weeks since it had played in Rec Hall. This long break might've helped the Lions with their aches and pains, but it wreaked havoc when they entered the gym. The team often found themselves playing down to a team that it should've destroyed and hit .212 as a team in Game 3.

There were two points, however, where the Lions were impressive. Senior Alex Gutor was the bright spot in the lineup, finishing the night with 20 kills and hitting with a .455 clip.

The other point was the play of three reserves. Sophomores Jay Stauffer, Travis Foltz and Ryan Sweitzer all had a chance to play as Pavlik decided to take out senior Aaron Smith, junior Luke Murray and sophomore Matt Anderson. Sweitzer had the best match out of the three, nailing seven kills, notching three blocks and hitting with a .400 clip.

"They were tight," Pavlik said. "We had a couple of big kills from Sweitz. He had a couple of blocks in there that helped bring us back, when I took the timeout at 9-5. All and all it's one where you get in there, work hard and good things will happen."

This win, however, was not nearly as convincing as some of its past wins, and the team might be left wondering if it will not only be ready to take on Mercyhurst tonight but also ready to travel to the West Coast for four matches next week. These next five matches will be a real test for the Lions and will let Pavlik know if they will be ready for the postseason.

"I think we will be [ready]," Holt said. "At this point we're not prepared, but we will work on it."