"The Rutgers match starts us on the second round [of EIVA regular season play]," Pavlik said. "If we take care of business here in the next couple weeks, we can virtually ensure that we'll be here in the EIVA semis and finals."
Penn State won this season's previous meeting with Rutgers-Newark 3-0, and did so in a fairly dominating fashion.
Since then, the Scarlet Raiders have gone on a West Coast swing of their own, losing to No. 1 Pepperdine and No. 13 USC. However, they had their return trip delayed by winter weather and returned home after over 45 hours of travel that included planes, trains and automobiles.
"The teams will be ready for us," Pavlik said. "They've seen us once now, and with teams having three [conference] losses, we're going to face some desperation."
The Lions' second match this weekend will come against an IPFW Mastodons team that is not nearly as desperate
The Lions lost to IPFW in three games during the first weekend of the season, but two of the three games were deuce games that happened to fall in favor of the Mastodons.
"I think it's going to be a war," Pavlik said. "I'm looking forward to it. I've always enjoyed playing Fort Wayne."
Since their Jan. 13 match, both teams have undergone changes, most notably for Penn State was Matt Anderson's move from the passing oriented left side to the attack-oriented right side.
"The offense hadn't quite gotten together yet," Pavlik said. "I don't think there's much we can take away from [the first match]. We're just going to attempt to do what we've been doing the last five or six weeks."
As for the impending milestone victory of No. 300, Pavlik played it off.
"It just means that I'm old."
Penn State's Max Lipsitz, left, spikes the ball against Mercyhurst at Rec Hall earlier this season.
