Bag Policy - Parking
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April 4, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 11 Penn State men's volleyball (16-7, 9-1) hits the road for a midweek match up with the MIVA leading Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio at St. John Arena April 5th with a first whistle slated for 8 p.m. ET and broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
QUICK SETS
* Chris Nugent and Taylor Hammond have paced the offense so far this season pouring in 316 kills and 879 assist, respectively, while Royce Clemens and Matt Seifert have handled things on defense leading the team with 206 digs from Clemens and 76 total blocks from Seifert, respectively.
* Penn State currently leads the EIVA with a 9-1 record in conference play. Harvard is second in the EIVA with a record of 7-3 in conference play and 11-8 overall. NJIT is third with an EIVA record of 7-4 while Saint Francis (Pa.) rounds out the top-four with a 6-4 record in conference 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 - 2.42 (8th) and Assists Per Set - 12.43 (3rd). Individually, Chris Nugent is ranked 11th in the nation in Points Per Set (4.44) and 12th in the nation in Kills Per Set (3.81), while Matt Callaway is currently 17th in the nation in Blocks Per Set averaging 1.06. Taylor Hammond is fourth in the nation in Assists Per Set currently averaging 10.99.
MAGIC NUMBER
The magic number to claim the EIVA championship is 11. Penn State can outright win the EIVA with two more conference wins, and will be entitled to at least a share with one more conference win. Penn State has won 17-consecutive EIVA championships and 31 overall in program history.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE COMPETITION
The Nittany Lions lead the Buckeyes in the all-time series 71-30. Penn State last faced Ohio State on Mar. 19 falling to the Buckeyes in five sets in Rec Hall.
AVCA DI-II COACHES' POLL UPDATE: WEEK 11
Penn State checked in at No. 11 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 will return to Rec Hall for matchups with EIVA foes Harvard and Sacred heart Friday Apr. 8 and Saturday Apr. 9, respectively with match times slated for 7 p.m. ET.