April 6, 2017
Bag Policy - Parking
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Currently holding a two game lead in the EIVA standings, No. 12 Penn State hits the road to take on conference opponents Sacred Heart and Harvard Friday, Apr. 7 and Saturday Apr. 8 at 7 p.m. ET.
SCOUTING SACRED HEART
The Pioneers are currently on a six game losing streak dating back to Mar. 17 against UCLA on the road. Sacred Heart dropped back-to-back sets to George Mason this past week.
Christopher DeLucie leads Sacred Heart in kills with 234 through 21 matches while teammate Michael Comens is second with a season total of 170.
Eduardo Zardo leads the Pioneers in assist with 383, Joshua Ayzenburg leads in digs (213) and Taylor Bloomquist is the team leader in blocks with 82 total.
Sacred Heart is currently in sixth-place in the EIVA with a record of 12-9 overall and 5-5 in EIVA play.
Sacred Heart defeated Penn State 3-1 earlier this season in Rec Hall.
SCOUTING HARVARD
Harvard is on a three-game win streak heading into this Saturday's match with Penn State. The Crimson posted a 3-0 win over Sacred Heart followed by a weekend sweep of Charleston (WV) with three-set and four-set wins over the Golden Eagles last Friday and Saturday.
Casey White leads Harvard in kills recording 201 through 19 matches while teammate Erik Johnson is second on the team with a season total of 183.
Marko Kostich and Matthew Ctvrtlik lead the Crimson in assist with 364 and 349, respectively, C. White leads in digs (138) and Trevor Dow is the team leader in blocks with 66 total.
NJIT is currently second in the EIVA with a record of 13-7 overall and 6-3 in EIVA 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 ranking in hitting percentage-- .283 (10th).
Individually, Chris Nugent is ranked 28th in the nation in points per set (3.79) and 23st in the nation in kills per set (3.34), while Kevin Gear is 19th in the nation in blocks per set averaging 1.01.
Luke Braswell is sixth in the nation in assists per set averaging 10.41 and Royce Clemens is ranked 19th in the nation in digs per set averaging 2.28 per set.
NITTANY LIONS 12th IN LATEST AVCA POLL
Penn State enters week 13 as No. 12 team in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association DI-II (AVCA) poll.
Penn State (16-9, 8-2) is coming off a 3-0 week that included wins over No. 1 Ohio State, Princeton and NJIT in Rec Hall.
Long Beach State assumed the role of the top team in the nation receiving 22 of 24 first-place votes with a record of 23-3, followed by Ohio State at No. 2 (25-2), BYU at No. 3 (21-3), Hawai'i at No. 4 (22-4) and UC-Irvine (17-6) rounding out the top-five.
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Total Points Adjusted | 2017 Record | Previous Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Long Beach State (22) | 358 | 25-3 | 2 |
| 2 | Ohio State (1) | 327 | 25-2 | 1 |
| 3 | BYU (1) | 322 | 21-3 | 3 |
| 4 | Hawai'i | 283 | 22-4 | 4 |
| 5 | UC Irvine | 270 | 17-6 | 5 |
| 6 | UCLA | 237 | 17-7 | 6 |
| 7 | Lewis | 213 | 20-6 | 7 |
| 8 | Pepperdine | 190 | 9-10 | 8 |
| 9 | Stanford | 168 | 12-11 | 9 |
| 10 | Loyola-Chicago | 120 | 15-10 | 10 |
| 11 | Southern California | 116 | 12-13 | 11 |
| 12 | Penn State | 108 | 16-9 | 13 |
| 13 | Ball State | 83 | 17-8 | 12 |
| 14 | CSUN | 45 | 12-14 | 14 |
| 15 | Grand Canyon | 25 | 16-10 | NR |
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 537-171 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 for the final regular season matches against Charleston (WV) and George Mason Friday Apr. 14 and Saturday Apr. 15, respectively, with both matches slated for a 7 p.m. first serve in Rec Hall.