March 2, 2017
| STANFORD & UC-SANTA BARBARA | | | |
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| PENN STATE vs UC-SANTA BARBARA | | Rec Hall | University Park, Pa. | | Friday, Mar. 3 - 7:30 p.m. ET | | LIVE video | | | Notes: Penn State | UC-Santa Barbara | | PENN STATE vs STANFORD | | Rec Hall | University Park, Pa. | | Saturday, Mar. 4 - 7:30 p.m. ET | | LIVE Video | | | Notes: Penn State | Stanford |
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Rec Hall | University Park, Pa.
Bag Policy - Parking |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 15 Penn State men's volleyball returns to Rec Hall this weekend as they host the Penn State Spring Break Tournament Friday, Mar. 3 and Mar. 4. Penn State will host Stanford, UC-Santa Barbara and Lees McRae this weekend.
SCOUTING STANFORD
No. 8 Stanford challenged third-ranked BYU, but ultimately fell 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24, Feb. 24 at home.
Jordan Ewert leads the Cardinals with 198 kills on the season averaging 3.60 kills per set while hitting .225 for the year.
Paul Bischoff leads the team in assist having recorded 389 on the season averaging 7.63 per set.
Evan Enriques has recorded a team high 138 digs for the Cardinals while Kevin Rakestraw holds the team lead in blocks with 58.0.
Stanford is 9-7 overall with a 6-5 conference record through 16 games.
SCOUTING UC-SANTA BARBARA
UCSB split its two matches last week, sweeping UC-San Diego on Friday to break a seven-match slide before falling in five to No. 7 UC Irvine the following night.
Jacob Delson leads the offense for the Gauchos, recording 266 kills on the year averaging 4.43 kills per set and holding a .304 hitting percentage through 16 games.
Casey McGarry leads the team ion assist recording 459, while Parker Boehle is the team leader in digs with 131.
Connor Drake leads the way at the net recording 48 total blocks on the year.
UC-Santa Barbara is 7-9 overall with a 4-9 conference record through 16 games.
PENN STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Penn State is currently ranked in the top-25 in five different team categories.
Individually, Chris Nugent is ranked 27st in the nation in points per set (3.89) and 23rd in the nation in kills per set (3.50), while Kevin Gear is 11th in the nation in blocks per set averaging 1.08.
Luke Braswell is eighth in the nation in assists per set averaging 10.40 and Royce Clemens is ranked 17th in the nation in digs per set averaging 2.30 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 (11-6, 6-2) holds steady from last week's rankings. The Nittany Lions are coming off a weekend against George Mason and Harvard that saw Penn State go 2-0 in conference play.
Ohio State remained the number one team in the nation receiving all 24 first-place votes with an unblemished record of 17-0, 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 533-168 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 will take a week off before hosting Cal-Baptist Mar. 17 at 7:00 p.m. in Rec Hall.
