Feb. 16, 2017
Bag Policy - Parking
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 13 Penn State men's volleyball is set to matchup against Harvard (3-4, 1-1) Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. ET, before taking on Sacred Heart (9-1, 2-0) Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. ET.
SCOUTING HARVARD
Harvard is coming off a loss to No. 15 George Mason on Feb. 12, falling 3-0 to the Patriots at the Malkin Athletic Center.
Harvard is led by Erik Johnsson on offense recording 71 kills through seven matches hitting .212 on the season. Casey White is close behind with his season total of 69 kills hitting .242.
Marko Kostich leads the Crimson in assist recording 150 while (Casey) White leads the team in digs with 65.
Harvard is currently fifth in the conference with a record of 3-4 overall and 1-1 in EIVA play.
SCOUTING SACRED HEART
Sacred Heart is coming off two wins over Charleston (W.Va.) to open EIVA play this past weekend at home.
Christopher DeLucie leads the charge for Sacred Heart leading the team in kills with 92 on the season hitting .341 for the year.
Noah leads the team in assist with 172, while Joshua Ayzenburg holds the team lead in digs with 79.
Sacred Heart currently leads the conference with an unblemished record of 2-0 in EIVA play recording back-to-back wins over Charleston (W.Va.) on Feb 10-11.
WATCH THE NITTANY LIONS IN ACTION
Friday's matchup of Penn State and Harvard will be broadcast on BTN Plus. Click the link above to watch you Nittany Lions battle the Crimson of Harvard LIVE from Rec Hall!
PENN STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Penn State is currently ranked in the top-25 in five different team categories including top-10 rankings in Digs Per Set - 9.00 (9th) and Assists Per Set - 11.87 (10th).
Individually, Chris Nugent is ranked 21st in the nation in Points per Set (4.07) and 16th in the nation in Kills per Set (3.68), while Kevin Gear is 24th in the nation in Blocks Per Set averaging 0.94.
Luke Braswell is eighth in the nation in Assists per Set averaging 10.50 and Royce Clemens is ranked fifth in the nation in Digs per Set averaging 2.63 per set.
NITTANY LIONS 13th IN LATEST AVCA POLL
Penn State (8-4, 3-0) moves up one spot from last week's rankings. The Nittany Lions are coming off a weekend against NJIT and Princeton that saw Penn State record wins in back-to-back nights defeating both opponents in five set thrillers followed by a loss to Saint Francis (Pa.) on the road currently holding a 3-1 record in EIVA play.
Defending national champions Ohio State remained the number one team in the nation receiving all 24 first-place votes with an unblemished record of 13-0, followed by Long Beach State at No. 2, BYU at No. 3, Hawai'i at No. 4 and UCLA rounding out the top-five.
GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
Make sure to check out the game day promotions for each match by clicking here.
This week's promotions include:
vs. Harvard
- Beach Night
- Post-match Booster Club Ice Cream Social
vs. Sacred Heart
- Post-match autographs
PAVLIK KNOWS HOW TO WIN
In his 23rd year at the helm of the program, head coach Mark Pavlik has amassed over 500 wins. Pavlik currently stands at 530-167 for his career.
FRESH FACES ON THE COURT IN 2017
The defending EIVA regular season champion men's volleyball team returns a core group of eight letter winners and four starters this year, while welcoming five freshmen to the roster.
The new additions include 6-10 MB/OH Cameron Bartus from West Seneca, N.Y., Declan Pierce, a 5-10 Libero from Buffalo, N.Y., Kyle Mackiewicz, a 6-8 OPP/MH from Edison, N.J., Bobby Wilden, a 6-8 OH/MH from Ashburn, Va. and Nathan Smith, a 6-5 setter from Los Altos, Calif.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State continues the road stand as they hit the road against for games at George Mason and Charleston (W.Va.). The Nittany Lions square off against George Mason Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. match against Charleston (W.Va.) on Feb. 25 in Charleston, W.Va.