Even during the pre-game handshake, the Penn State men's volleyball alumni showed some signs of rust.

With the current varsity team awaiting them at the net, the alumni approached from the wrong side, making the greetings go less smoothly than planned and drawing heckles from the alumni coaching staff.

Even though the alumni had won the exhibition two straight years, their own rust and the youth of the varsity team was too much to overcome as the varsity squad won 3-0 (30-27, 30-25, 30-21) at Rec Hall Saturday afternoon.

"As defending national champions, we can't lose to them," senior middle hitter Max Holt said.

Coach Mark Pavlik joked he was worried about beating the alumni this year because the varsity team lost last year before going on to win the national championship.

The setter from the national championship team, Luke Murray, wasn't concerned about the current team's ability.

"When they beat you, you know the program's in good hands," Murray said. "We're happy they showed us something here."

Although play was expectedly sloppy at times, the alumni sometimes wowed the surprisingly large crowd with powerful kills and solid blocks.

With more than 30 players, the alumni used their depth to hang with the younger team.

Substituting freely, players often came to the bench saying, "I can't breathe."

The alumni bench tended to be rowdy and attempted to bully the officials, prompting the referee to jokingly issue a yellow card.

After the match, the varsity players watched the alumni play each other in a matchup of "Old" versus "Really Old," according to the scoreboard.

The "Old" team prevailed 30-23.

The weekend was more about having fun and reconnecting with old teammates, according to the alumni.

"I probably really couldn't remember any of the games that I played, but I remember the stories," 1987 graduate Duane Trumble said.

The stories were shared at the annual banquet on Saturday night, where traditions are explained and the current players realize that not much has changed since the alumni played, Trumble said.

"It's just great having the family back to make us all understand that this is so much bigger than any one person, any one team." Pavlik said.