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April 14, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 2016 regular season schedule comes to an end as Penn State takes its final road trip of the season for matches against Charleston (WV) (Apr. 15) and George Mason (Apr. 16) with both matches scheduled for 7 p.m. ET starts.
QUICK SETS
* Chris Nugent and Taylor Hammond lead the offense this season pouring in 357 kills and 995 assist, respectively, while Royce Clemens and Matt Seifert have handled things on defense leading the team with 237 digs from Clemens and 87 total blocks from Seifert, respectively.
* Penn State captured their 18th-consecutive EIVA conference title Saturday night as they defeated Sacred Heart 3-1 at Rec Hall. This marks the 32nd time in program history that the Nittany Lions have captured the EIVA regular season title. Penn State has earned the No. 1 seed in the EIVA post-season tournament ansd will host the event April 21-23 in University Park, Pa.
* Penn State currently leads the EIVA with an 11-1 record in conference play. Saint Francis (Pa.) is second in the EIVA with a record of 8-4 in conference play and 17-8 overall. George Mason is third with an EIVA record of 8-4 while Harvard rounds out the top-four with a 7-5 record in conference play holding the tie breaker over NJIT who sports an identical 7-5 record in EIVA play.
* Penn State is ranked in the top-25 in five different team categories including top-10 rankings in Kills per Set - 13.19 (3rd), Blocks per Set - 2.40 (8th) and Assists per Set - 12.45 (5th). Individually, Chris Nugent is ranked 13th in the nation in Points per Set (4.46) and 12th in the nation in Kills Per Set (3.84), while Matt Callaway is currently 21st in the nation in Blocks Per Set averaging 1.03. Taylor Hammond is fifth in the nation in Assists per Set currently averaging
EIVA SEEDS 2-4
With Penn State wrapping up the No. 1 seed this past weekend, here is a look at the playoff scenarios happening for seeds 2-4.
- Saint Francis, the current No. 2 seed heading into this weekend, needs to win at least one more game to secure a spot in the EIVA tournament. Saint Francis plays George Mason Friday April 15 followed by a Saturday matchup with Charleston (WV).
- George Mason, the current No. 3 seed heading into this weekend, needs to win at least one more game to secure a spot in the EIVA tournament. George Mason plays Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday April 15 followed by a Saturday matchup with Penn State.
- Harvard, the current No. 4 seed heading into this weekend, needs to win both of their final two games to secure a spot in the EIVA tournament. Harvard plays Princeton on Friday April 15 followed by a Saturday matchup with NJIT.
- NJIT, the current No. 5 seed heading into this weekend, needs to win at least one more game to secure a spot in the EIVA tournament. NJIT plays Sacred Heart on Friday April 15 followed by a Saturday matchup with Harvard.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
The Nittany Lions lead Charleston (WV) in the all-time series 1-0 with their first matchup happening earlier this season. Penn State opened the series against Charleston (WV) on Feb. 26 sweeping the Golden Eagles 3-0 in Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions lead George Mason in the all-time series 99-14 since first playing the Patriots in 1977. In their last matchup, Penn State downed George Mason in four winning 3-1 back on Feb. 27 to earn Penn State's 99th win against the Patriots. With a win, Penn State would claim it's 100th victory against a single program for the first time in Penn State men's volleyball program history.
AVCA DI-II COACHES' POLL UPDATE: WEEK 14
Penn State moved up two spots to No. 9 in the latest AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll. PSU has been in the top 15 the last 12 consecutive weeks since debuting at No. 10 in the AVCA DI-II pre-season poll. The Nittany Lions have now seen or will see a total of nine teams from the top 15 at some point during the regular season.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State returns to Happy Valley to host the EIVA Championships for the 18th-consecutive year in-a-row after clinching the No. 1 seed this past weekend. The EIVA championships will begin on April 21 with the first semifinal game scheduled for a 5 p.m. followed by the second semifinal match at 7:30 p.m. The EIVA Championship match wil be played April 23 at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.