Feb. 25, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's volleyball team has moved into the top spot in the AVCA Division I/II Coaches Poll, American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) officials announced today. The Nittany Lions (16-0, 7-0 EIVA) moved up one spot and earned 234 total points along with 13 first-place votes. Long Beach State (12-1) moved into second place with 220 total points and three first-place votes. BYU (12-1), who had held the top ranking in the previous eight polls of the season, fell to third after being swept at home by No. 9 Stanford last weekend. Cal State Northridge (12-4) and Pepperdine (7-5) round out the top five spots in the poll.
The last time Penn State held the No. 1 ranking was Jan. 15, 2002 and this week marks the ninth time in Nittany Lion men's volleyball history that the squad has captured the top spot in the weekly poll. Penn State also becomes the first school since Stanford in 2001 to have its women's team win the national championship title in the fall and have its men's team ranked No. 1 in the winter.
Also on Monday, junior Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) was named the EIVA Player of the Week for the second time this season. The 6-10 outside hitter helped the Nittany Lions to two EIVA wins to remain the only undefeated team in the nation. Against East Stroudsburg he racked up 13 kills on .579 hitting in only two games while also adding one ace, two digs and one block for 14.5 points. On Saturday against second-place Saint Francis, Anderson pounded 19 kills on .500 hitting with one ace and a team-high five digs along with two blocks for 21 points. For the week he averaged 6.40 kills per game on .531 hitting with two aces, seven digs and three blocks for an average of 7.10 points per game.
Penn State remains at home this weekend, hosting East Stroudsburg and NJIT on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 29 and March 1 before hitting the road to face George Mason and Princeton. The Nittany Lions then head west to meet up with NAIA-power Cal Baptist on Friday, March 14 before squaring off against No. 2 Long Beach State on Saturday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.
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