PROVO, Utah – The No. 15 Penn State men's volleyball team begins its 2020 regular season with a challenging nonconference trip to BYU to face the third-ranked Cougars in a pair of matches Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10-11.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
#15 Penn State (0-0, 0-0 EIVA) vs. #3 BYU (2-0, 0-0 MPSF)
Dates: Friday, Jan. 10 | Saturday, Jan. 11
Times: 9 p.m. (ET) | 7 p.m. (ET)
Place: Smith Fieldhouse
Watch: Game 1 | Game 2
Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
Game Notes: Penn State Game Notes
ON THE MATCHUP
- All-time series: BYU leads 13-10
- Last matchup: Jan. 18, 2019 at Rec Hall – BYU Wins 3-2
- Penn State all-time on the road vs. BYU: 5-3
- PSU's last matchup at BYU: April 14, 2012, L 2-3
- PSU's last win vs. BYU: Feb. 5, 2005, 3-2 at Springfield College
COACHING EXCELLENCE
This weekend's coaching matchup features the winningest active coach in DI-II men's volleyball (PSU head coach Mark Pavlik, 573 career wins) and the coach with the highest winning percentage among active DI-II coaches (BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead, .759, 88-28).
QUICK NOTES
- Penn State enters the 2020 season ranked 15th in the AVCA preseason poll, its first ranking in any AVCA poll since 2018 in the March 5th poll when PSU ranked 11th.
- Penn State was chosen second in the 2020 EIVA Preseason Coaches' poll after its runner-up finish in the EIVA Tournament in 2019.
- The Nittany Lions return nine players with starting experience to this year's lineup as well as all four of their All-EIVA award recipients (Jason Donorovich, Henrik Falck Lauten, Will Bantle, & Brett Wildman) from the 2019 roster.
- The Nittany Lions have won double-digit EIVA matches in the regular season for 20-consecutive seasons.
- Sophomore Brett Wildman had back-to-back 20+ kill performances in the 2019 EIVA Tournament April 18 & 20, becoming the first Nittany Lion to have back-to-back 20-kill matches since Aaron Russell Jan. 16-17, 2015 (32 at Ball State, 20 at IPFW).
- Redshirt senior Jason Donorovich finished first in the EIVA with a .379 hitting percentage in 2019 while also leading the Nittany Lions in service aces (36) and total blocks (91).
- Redshirt senior and 2019 EIVA Newcomer of the Year, Henrik Falck Lauten, had 14 matches of double-digit kills in 2019 and led the Nittany Lions in kills ten times, the most on the team.
- Redshirt sophomore Will Bantle started 24 matches at libero and led the team with 149 digs, good for third in the EIVA despite missing the final six games of the season due to injury.
NEXT UP
- Penn State heads to Illinois to face Loyola Chicago and Lewis Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17 & 18.
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.