Feb. 22, 2017
Bag Policy - Parking
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 15 Penn State men's volleyball hits the road this weekend for matches at George Mason (5-7) Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. ET and Charleston (WV) (7-6) Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. ET.
SCOUTING GEORGR MASON
George Mason fell to Princeton on Feb. 19, dropping the match 3-1 to the Tigers on the road to close out weekend play.
George Mason is led by Jack Wilson on offense with 120 kills through 10 matches hitting .276 on the season.
Brian Negron leads the Patriots in assist (282) while Seth Blevins leads the team in digs with 48.
George Mason, the defending EIVA Tournament champion, is currently sixth in the conference with a record of 5-7 overall and 2-3 in EIVA play.
SCOUTING CHARLESTON (WV)
Charleston, currently in their second-year of EIVA play, dropped their final match of this past weekend 3-1 against Alderson Broaddus at home.
Charleston's offense is led by Ryan Santos and Rajahl Moxey who have 116 and 112 kills, respectively on the season.
Anthony Rivera leads the Golden Eagles in assist with 342, while Darrin DePellegrini holds the team lead in digs with 86.
Charleston (WV) is still looking for their first win in conference play following a 0-14 season last year. The golden Eagles are currently 0-3 in EIVA play this season.
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 blocks per set - 2.43 (9th).
Individually, Chris Nugent is ranked 25st in the nation in points per set (3.89) and 23rd in the nation in kills per set (3.50), while Kevin Gear is 7th in the nation in blocks per set averaging 1.14.
Luke Braswell is eighth in the nation in assists per set averaging 10.50 and Royce Clemens is ranked 12th in the nation in digs per set averaging 2.43 per set.
NITTANY LIONS 15th IN LATEST AVCA POLL
Penn State starts week seven at No. 15 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association DI-II (AVCA) poll.
Penn State (9-6, 4-2) drops one spot from last week's rankings. The Nittany Lions are coming off a weekend against Harvard and Sacred Heart that saw Penn State go 1-1 in conference play.
Ohio State remained the number one team in the nation receiving all 24 first-place votes with an unblemished record of 15-0, followed by Long Beach State at No. 2, BYU at No. 3, Hawai'i at No. 4 and Lewis rounding out the top-five.
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 531-168 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 returns home as they host the Penn State Spring Break Tournament Mar. 3-4 in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions host UC-Santa Barbara Mar. 3 at 7:30 p.m. followed by a 7:30 p.m. match against Stanford on Mar. 4 in Rec Hall.