April 15, 2008
University Park, Pa. - Six members of the top-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team have earned eight postseason EIVA awards, league officials announced. Junior outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) was named the Uvaldo Acosta Player of the Year while freshman libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) earned Newcomer of the Year honors.
Anderson and Del Valle were also two of the six Nittany Lion players named to the 10-person First Team All-EIVA squad, joining junior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio), sophomore middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.), senior setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) and junior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.). Princeton's Peter Eichler and George Mason's Hudson Bates, R.J. Goubeaux and Kyle Gramit rounded out the squad. The Patriots' Fred Chao was named the EIVA Coach of the Year.
The accolades push Penn State's number of all-time All-East selections to 158 since 1972 and Anderson's Player of the Year distinction is the 10th for a Nittany Lion. Del Valle earns Penn State's fourth Newcomer of the Year recognition.
Anderson earns his first Uvaldo Acosta Memorial Player of the Year honor and his second consecutive First Team All-EIVA award after picking up Second Team honors his freshman season. He leads the squad and ranks second in the country with 5.63 kills per game on .386 hitting. A two-time EIVA Player of the Week and the AVCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 11, Anderson has 15 or more kills in a match on 18 occasions. A versatile player, he also has at least one dig in every match and has 17 matches of four or more digs, also recording a block in all but two contests.
Del Valle earns his first career EIVA award after helping the Nittany Lions to the top ranking in the nation through his passing and defensive skills. He is averaging 2.53 digs per game and is passing at a .960 clip, with only 19 reception errors in 470 total tries, to aid Penn State's nation-best .400 hitting percentage. Del Valle has produced eight double-digit dig matches and has two 16-dig outings against Saint Francis and Ohio State. He has at least three digs in every match of the year, with five or more digs on 23 occasions.
Holt's First Team All-East recognition is his third in as many years. A four-time EIVA Player of the Week in 2008, Holt was named to the Outrigger Invitational All-Tournament team to start the season and currently leads the country in hitting percentage (.567) while adding 3.19 kills per game. He also leads the team with 45 service aces, just 10 shy of the school-record 55 he produced last season. Holt has double-digit kills in 16 matches and has 12 multiple ace contests, including two outings of five aces each. He also has at least one block in every match of the year, including five or more blocks 12 times.
Lipsitz picks up his second consecutive First Team All-East honor after averaging 2.39 kills per game on .500 hitting, a mark that places him third in the country. He has double-digit kills in nine matches this season and has at least one block in every match of the year, producing four or more blocks 13 times. He has also attacked at a .500 clip or better on 13 occasions, including hitting .778 (14-0-18) at Hawaii to open the season.
Murray earns his second straight First Team All-EIVA honor after directing the Lion offense to a nation-best and current school record .400 team hitting percentage. A two-time EIVA Player of the Week and the AVCA National Player of the Week on March 17, Murray has four players averaging more than 2.35 kills per game on higher than .318 hitting, with two of them owning a spot in the top three in the country. Murray ranks second in the nation with 13.49 assists per game and is third on the team with 115 digs and 73 total blocks. He has two double-doubles for the season and has at least one block in every match of the year, including 21 double-digit blocking contests.
Sweitzer picks up his first career All-EIVA honor and ranks second on the squad in kills with 288. Named the EIVA Player of the Week on Jan. 22, he has set a career high in every statistical category this season. Sweitzer has 16 double-digit kill matches, including a career-high 20 kills in the win at Long Beach State. He is second on the team in aces with 32 and has at least one dig in 23 contests, also recording 19 multiple-block matches.
As the top seed in the EIVA, Penn State earned a bye in the league quarterfinals and Rec Hall will once again host the EIVA Championship on Thursday and Saturday, April 24 and 26. The winner earns the league's automatic berth in the NCAA National Collegiate Championship Semifinal, held on the campus of UC Irvine on Thursday, May 1. The National Championship match will take place on Saturday, May 3.
EIVA Championship play opens Wednesday, April 16 when No. 7 seed Springfield travels to No. 6 seed NJIT and No. 8 seed NYU travels to No. 5 seed Juniata. On Saturday, April 19, No. 4 seed Saint Francis will host the winner of NYU/Juniata and No. 3 seed Princeton will host the winner of NJIT/Springfield. In the EIVA Semifinals on Thursday, April 24 at Rec Hall, the 4:30 p.m. match will feature No. 2 seed George Mason against the Princeton/NJIT/Springfield winner while the 7:30 p.m. contest will feature No. 1 seed Penn State versus Saint Francis/NYU/Juniata. The EIVA Semifinal winners will square off on Saturday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall in the EIVA Championship match.
All three final matches of the EIVA Championship will feature Gametracker and free live streaming video, available at www.GoPSUsports.com. There will be no television coverage for the conference championships this year.
Tickets for the EIVA Semifinals and Championship are $5 for adults and $3 for youth, with Penn State students gaining free admission. Groups of 10 or more, any age, are just $2 per person. Seating is general admission and tickets will be available at the Rec Hall ticket office beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 24 and starting at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26.
Penn State retained all 16 first place votes and 240 total points in the April 14 CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Coaches Top 15 Poll after sweeping both Loyola-Chicago and IPFW to equal its best regular-season record since 1997 at 26-1. Long Beach State moved up two spots to the No. 2 ranking with 219 points after sweeping No. 14 UC Santa Barbara and then-No. 3 Cal State Northridge on the road last weekend. BYU dropped to third place in the poll with 212 points and Northridge moved down to fourth place with 191 points with the loss to the 49ers, while Pepperdine remained at fifth with 162 total points despite splitting matches with No. 13 Hawaii last weekend.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.