Despite it being the last weekend of regular season play, the No. 7 Penn State men's volleyball team is not too concerned about its two matches.

Instead, it views them as "springboards" to the EIVA Championships and the NCAA Championships, both at the end of the month, according to Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik

Tonight at 7, the Nittany Lions will face Lewis University in Neil Carey Arena. They will then stay in Chicago and take on No. 11 Loyola-Chicago University at 7 p.m. tomorrow night in Alumni Gym.

"It's important that we carry over the four good days of practice," Pavlik said. "Playing hard and doing the things we are capable of doing will put us in the position to wins games we are capable of winning."

With Penn State (19-6, 12-0 EIVA) already slated into the top spot for the EIVA championships in Rec Hall next weekend, these two matches only have bearing upon the outcome of the MIVA as well as seeding for the NCAA tournament. While the Lewis Flyers (17-12, 5-7 MIVA) are not in contention for a top spot in the MIVA standings, a win for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (21-6, 8-4 MIVA) could put them above IPFW and into the No. 2 spot.

For the Lions, however, neither match is more important than the other, and two wins would definitely secure a strong seed in the NCAAs.

"For the team, we are definitely looking to win these two matches," senior Aaron Smith said. "We had a couple of good practices this week, so let's hope that's the way it turns out."

Both Lewis and Loyola-Chicago will have its hands full this weekend with the Lions star middle hitter, freshman Max Lipsitz. He was named EIVA Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks and is No. 6 in hitting percentage on the NCAA leader board, averaging a .501 clip this season.

The Ramblers boast senior James Grunst, their middle hitter who is second in the NCAA in hitting percentage, averaging a .556 clip. Junior opposite Ian Anderson is No. 11 in kills, notching 428. For the Lions, both matches will be tough and they cannot afford to play lackadaisical against either one.

"They hang in there and they don't shoot themselves in the foot," Pavlik said. "They push themselves and we've got to make sure we minimize our power errors."

Injury Notes

Lions' senior Alex Gutor will not play this weekend. Gutor wore a protective boot at practice on Wednesday but his injury is unknown. Sophomores Jay Stauffer or Ryan Sweitzer will fill Gutor's position, Pavlik said.