UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The ninth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team heads to Columbus for a pair of neutral-site, nonconference showdowns against Big West opponents No. 5 Long Beach State and No. 3 UC Santa Barbara Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8, at the Covelli Center.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
#5 Long Beach State (5-1) vs. #9 Penn State Nittany Lions (4-4)
Date: Friday, Feb. 7
Location: Covelli Center | Columbus, Ohio
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Video: BTN-Plus ($)
Stats: StatBroadcast Stats
#3 UC Santa Barbara Guachos (6-1) vs. Penn State
Date: Saturday, February 8
Location: Covelli Center | Columbus, Ohio
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Video: BTN-Plus ($)
Stats: StatBroadcast Stats
Weekend Game Notes: Penn State Game Notes
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BEACH & GUACHOS
Penn State is 7-18 all-time against the Beach with LBSU winning four of the last five matchups. Penn State's last victory against Long Beach came on the road March 14, 2015, a three-set sweep.
The Nittany Lions are 7-9 against UCSB in their all-time series with Penn State winning three of the last five meetings dating back to the 2007 season. PSU last beat the Guachos 3-1 March 3, 2017 at Rec Hall.
Penn State played both Long Beach and UCSB in the AVCA Showcase at Long Beach Feb. 8-9, 2019. Both The Beach and the Guachos downed PSU in three sets.
NITTANY LION NOTES
- Penn State dropped two spots in the AVCA Coaches Poll from 7 to 9 after its two losses last weekend at home. The Nittany Lions dropped from 6 to 8 in the Off The Block National Media Poll.
- PSU has played a lot of competitive volleyball early in 2020. Out of the 28 sets they've played this season, they've scored at least 22 points in 19 of the sets playing one of the nation's toughest nonconference schedules.
- Sophomore setter Cole Bogner was a finalist for The Off the Block National Fan Vote Player of the Month for January after recording 259 assists in seven matches for the month. His 10.36 assist per set rank was either on top or near the top of the EIVA list all month and his play has helped PSU to the fourth-best kills per set rate (13.11) in the nation.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns to Rec Hall to being conference play Feb. 14-15 against Princeton and NJIT. The Princeton match will be play in the main gym Friday at 7 p.m. while the NJIT matchup Saturday will be in the south gym also at 7 p.m.
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.