UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's volleyball team has released its schedule for the upcoming 2019 season as announced by Head Coach Mark Pavlik. This year's slate includes 12 Penn State home matches at Rec Hall and a traditional 14-game Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) conference schedule.
In addition, Penn State's non-conference schedule features matches against the last three NCAA national champions, additional recent NCAA Tournament qualifiers, and the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge featuring matches against USC and UCLA.
"The 2019 schedule continues to challenge us in ways we have always looked for as a program," Coach Pavlik said. "We will compete against the very best in the country as we face the last three national championship programs in Long Beach State, Ohio State, and Loyola. Our other non-conference matches against opponents from the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) and Conference Carolinas offer solid tests for our team. Finally, we look forward to another year of improving EIVA play. We will need to be ready every single time we take the court to be in the mix for the EIVA Championship this year."
2019 Regular Season Schedule
Penn State begins the season with road trip to Columbus to take on Ohio State on Saturday, Jan. 5
The Nittany Lions return to University Park for their home opener against North Greenville of Conference Carolinas Saturday, Jan. 12 starting at 7 p.m. The following Friday, Jan. 18, Penn State will host BYU at Rec Hall.
EIVA play begins Sunday, Jan. 20 with a road match at St. Francis at 4 p.m. Penn State's first home weekend doubleheader is set for Jan. 25-26 against McKendree and Lindenwood out of the MIVA.
The Nittany Lions follow the home weekend with four-straight road games beginning in Illinois with two games against Lewis (Jan. 31) and Loyola (Feb. 2). Penn State heads to the West Coast Feb. 8-9 to take on defending national champion Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara.
Home conference play begins Feb. 15-16 with matches against Harvard and Sacred Heart before two road EIVA Games at George Mason and Charleston (W.V.) the following weekend Feb. 22 and Feb. 24.
Penn State begins the month of March with EIVA matches against Princeton and NJIT March 1-2 before traveling back to California the following weekend for the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge in Los Angeles. The Nittany Lions will take on USC and 2018 national runner-up UCLA at the Galen Center March 8-9.
The team takes on Ball State and Fort Wayne in Indiana March 15-16 before hosting back-to-back Tuesday home games at Rec Hall. Penn State and Ohio State face off for the second time on March 19, followed by March 26's match against St. Francis, the first of seven-straight EIVA matches to conclude the regular season.
The Nittany Lions head to New England March 29-30 for matches against Harvard and Sacred Heart before returning to University Park for the final two home games of the regular season against Charleston (W.V.) and George Mason April 4-5.
The final weekend of the regular season for the Nittany Lions will be spent in New Jersey against NJIT and Princeton April 12-13.
2019 Postseason
The EIVA Championship will be hosted by the conference's No. 1 overall seed April 19-21 and will feature the top four teams in the EIVA regular season standings. The winner of the EIVA Tournament receives an automatic bid into NCAA postseason play.
The NCAA Play-In game to determine the sixth and final team in the NCAA Tournament field will be played April 25 at a site to be determined. The NCAA Quarterfinal Round will be played April 30 also at sites yet to be determined.
The NCAA Semifinals and National Championship will be hosted by Long Beach State in Long Beach, Calif. May 2-4.
Penn State finished the 2018 season with a 15-11 record and a 10-4 record in EIVA play. This year's team returns 15 players from last year's squad and welcomes five freshmen.
For more information on Penn State men's volleyball, follow the Nittany Lions on Twitter @PennStateMVBALL and Instagram @pennstatemvball and "like" the Penn State men's volleyball page on Facebook.
