Dec. 11, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's volleyball has been voted No. 3 overall in the AVCA Division I-II Preseason Top 15 Coaches Poll, as announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The Nittany Lions are the only EIVA team represented in the top 15.
Pepperdine earned this year's No. 1 overall spot, while defending NCAA national champion Loyola-Chicago claimed the No. 2 position, picking up eight first place votes. UC Santa Barbara and UCLA rounded out the top five at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
Penn State will square off a total of 11 teams featured in the 2014 AVCA preseason poll including nine teams ranked within the top 15 and two receiving votes. First up, the Nittany Lions meet eighth-ranked UC Irvine and T-10 Hawaii in the Outrigger Invitational. PSU then travels to No. 15 IPFW before returning home to welcome the No.2 Ramblers and No. 9 Lewis in the 2014 home opener at Rec Hall January 23-24.
Other matches against teams featured in the preseason poll include seventh-ranked USC, No. 12 Long Beach State, No. 13 Cal State Northridge and No. 14 Ohio State. EIVA conference foe Princeton and Ball State round out the group of future ranked squads receiving 20 and eight votes, respectively.
Entering his 21st season at the helm of the program, head coach Mark Pavlik returns nearly all of his starters from a year ago, with graduating senior and 2014 All-EIVA second team honoree, Peter Russell as the only departure.
Key returners include first team AVCA All-American senior Aaron Russell and redshirt senior Nick Goodell, who both recently picked up Off the Block/Springbak Preseason All-America honors. Russell was selected as a First Team All-American, while Goodell earned Second Team honors. The two were among 22 selections, decided by a voting committee comprised of men's volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation.
Other top returners include first team All-EIVA honoree, redshirt junior Taylor Hammond and second team All-EIVA honorees redshirt senior Connor Curry and redshirt junior Matt Seifert.
Penn State is set to kick off the 2015 season making its 20th appearance in the Outrigger Invitational, hosted by Hawaii. Widely tabbed one of the top early tournaments of the season, the Nittany Lions open the event taking on UC Irvine Thursday, Jan. 8, before squaring off against tournament host Hawaii, Friday, Jan. 9.
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