March 16, 2017
Bag Policy - Parking
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 13 Penn State men's volleyball returns to Rec Hall for a match against Cal-Baptist Mar. 17 at 7 p.m. ET in non-conference action.
SCOUTING CAL-BAPTIST
Cal-Baptist is currently on an eight-game skid last recording a win against Grand Canyon on Feb. 2 at home in a sweep of the Antelopes.
The Lancers last took the court Tue., Mar. 14 for a 3-1 loss against MPSF member UC-San Diego on the road.
Kevin Vaz leads the Antelopes in kills recording 171 through 19 matches while teammate Luis Palos is close behind with a season total of 152.
Cody Jackson leads Cal-Baptist in assist with 421, Emmett Enriques leads in digs (139) and Kevin Vaz is the team leader in blocks with 49 total.
Cal-Baptist is currently 12th in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference with a record of 3-16 overall and 1-13 in MPSF play.
PENN STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Penn State is currently ranked in the top-25 in four different team categories including a top-10 rankings in blocks per set - 2.44 (8th).
Individually, Chris Nugent is ranked 26st in the nation in points per set (3.89) and 19th in the nation in kills per set (3.50), while Kevin Gear is 5th in the nation in blocks per set averaging 1.14.
Luke Braswell is eighth in the nation in assists per set averaging 10.43 and Royce Clemens is ranked 18th in the nation in digs per set averaging 2.27 per set.
NITTANY LIONS 13th IN LATEST AVCA POLL
Penn State starts week ten at No. 13 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association DI-II (AVCA) poll.
Penn State (12-7, 6-2) remained No. 13 in the week 10 AVCA D I-II rankings. The Nittany Lions are coming off a bye week during spring break.
Long Beach State took over as the No. 1 team in the nation receiving 13 of the 24 first-place votes and bumping Ohio State down one spot to the No. 2 team in the nation grabbing the remaining 11 first-place votes.
BYU checks in at No. 3 followed by Hawai'i at No. 4 and UC-Irvine 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 534-169 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 hits the road for a couple of non-conference matches in Illinois. The Nittany Lions face Lewis Mar. 24 at 7 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. match against Loyola on Mar. 25 in Chicago, Ill.