HUNTINGDON -- Early in Game 1 of last night's volleyball match, libero Dennis Del Valle failed to dig a kill by Juniata.

In response, Juniata student Christopher Esperance (junior-business) broke the silence in Memorial Gymnasium, yelling, "Go after No. 6. He's the weak link!"

Such player-targeted heckling has become a trademark of Penn State road matches this season, as fans from small colleges flood gyms throughout the EIVA to see the No. 1 Nittany Lions. Last night's match against Juniata was no exception, as 357 gold-clad fans watched Penn State sweep the Eagles.

Even before the teams took the court, most of the Juniata students knew their team didn't stand much of a chance. But on what was deemed "Gold Rush" night, fans sported as much gold apparel as they could and tried to even the competition.

"We try to support our team as much as we can," Esperance said. "We try to get under [Penn State's] skin and get into their heads."

The student section made its presence felt on the court early. As Matt Anderson set up for a serve, one fan shouted, "Somebody get that kid a burger," in reference to Anderson's thin body type. Anderson seemed to enjoy the joke, as he cracked a wide smile and laughed as he completed his serve.

Juniata students spent most of their energy heckling the Lions about their physical characteristics. Max Lipsitz heard several cries of "Nice ears!" and Jay Stauffer received attacks for his scruffy facial hair.

"In small gyms like this, you tend to hear that kind of thing the most," Anderson said. "But it's nothing I haven't seen before. You just kind of get used to it."

While a handful of Juniata students harassed Penn State the entire match, most of the home crowd was silenced by the Lions' quick start. By asserting itself from the get-go, Penn State neutralized the Eagles' homecourt advantage. For most of the match, the loudest noise came from those sitting on Penn State's bench.

"People usually come out to matches at smaller schools," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said, "and that was no different tonight. But when we shut Juniata down early, we didn't give the fans a lot to latch onto."

The students of the small college knew beforehand their Eagles were likely to lose, but they said just getting to play against a program like Penn State is enough.

"We appreciate the chance to show off our cheering, our loudness, our heckling and our good school spirit," said Nicole Staricek (junior-communications).