May 2, 2015
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UNIVERSITSY PARK, Pa. -- No. 7 Penn State men's volleyball (20-9) has earned the No. 5 seed heading into NCAA post season play, as announced by the organization this afternoon. The Nittany Lions swept past George Mason to win their 17th consecutive EIVA title Friday, May 1, earning the conference's automatic bid to NCAA post season play.
Penn State is set to square off against fourth-seeded Hawaii (21-6) in the second of two play-in matches Tuesday, May 5 at 11 p.m. ET at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. The winner of the matchup will move on to meet top-ranked Lewis (25-3) in the NCAA national semifinals, Thursday, May 7.
Fans can tune into a live radio broadcast of Penn State's play-in match against Hawaii online at GoPSUSports.com or listen locally on WRSC-FM 103.1.
The first play-in match features No. 3 seed Loyola Chicago (25-2) and No. 6 seed Pfeiffer (19-2) with the winner advancing to the NCAA national semifinals to play No. 2 seed UC Irvine (28-4). Each semifinal match will stream live via NCAA.com.
The winners of both semifinal matches will advance to the NCAA national semifinals Saturday, May 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET in Maples Pavilion. The matchup will broadcast live on ESPNU. For more information on the 2015 NCAA national championship, please click here.
"I think this once again, this year's fields will follow last year's in that there are going to be some outstanding matches played," head coach Mark Pavlik said.
Penn State trails Hawaii 8-14 in the all-time series, having met the non-conference Rainbow Warriors frequently during the regular season. While the two teams have never met in a post season play-in match, both Hawaii and PSU squared off in the 1995, 1996 and 2002 NCAA tournament. At 1-2 in tournament outings, the Nittany Lions claimed a 3-2 win in the 1995 matchup, but fell to the `Bows in three sets in 1996 and four in 2002.
The Nittany Lions and the Rainbow Warriors met earlier this season in the 21st annual Outrigger Resorts Invitational, where Hawaii captured a 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-18) win against Penn State. In the last five years, PSU and Hawaii have met in the Outrigger Invitational four times, with both team claiming wins in two outings apiece.
"Hawaii was our second match of the season this year and they have had a great season," Pavlik said. "They are going to put together a great challenge for us with Taylor Averill and Brook Sedore on their side, so there's no doubt in my mind that this will be a typical Penn State, Hawaii matchup. It's going to come down to the team who makes the least amount of errors," Pavlik added.
Hawaii's 2015 season came to a close with a 3-1 loss to Pepperdine in the MPSF Championship semifinals. The Rainbow Warriors finished the season with a 24-6 overall record and an 18-4 mark in MPSF play before earning one of two NCAA at-large bids to make this year's six-team tournament.
Penn State is coming off of its 27th EIVA Championship crown in program history after topping the Patriots 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-10) Friday evening. Three-time EIVA Player of the Year Aaron Russell was named the tournament MVP, while Chris Nugent and Connor Curry joined him on the all-tournament team.
