UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The third-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team opens a five-match road trip with two contests in California this weekend. The Nittany Lions play at Concordia on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET, and at No. 6 UC Irvine on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET..
FOLLOW THE ACTION
No. 3 Penn State (13-1, 4-0 EIVA) at Concordia (5-11, 0-4 MPSF)
Date: Saturday, March 4
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Place: CU Arena (Irvina, Calif.)
Watch: Stretch Live
Stats: Live Stats
No. 3 Penn State (13-1, 4-0 EIVA) at No. 6 UC Irvina (9-5, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Sunday, March 5
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Place: Bren Events Center (Irvine, Calif.)
Watch: ESPN+
Stats: Live Stats
SERIES HISTORY - CONCORDIA
- Penn State is 1-0 in the all-time series with Concordia, winning the only matchup in 2013.
- The Lions won the 2013 match 3-1 with scores of 25-13, 19-25, 25-22, 25-20.
SCOUTING CONCORDIA
- Concordia is 5-11 overall and 0-4 in the MPSF following four-straight losses to No. 8 BYU twice and No. 2 UCLA twice.
- The Golden Eagles rank first in the MPSF and sixth nationally in digs/set (9.44). Jacob Reilly ranks third in the conference at 1.95 digs/set,
- Concordia goes to Uriel Batista often. He leads the nation in attacks/set (10.04). It's resulted in him ranking second in the nation in kills/set (4.21) and points/set (4.85).
SERIES HISTORY - UC IRVINE
- Penn State is 5-8 in the all-time series with UC Irvine. The teams first played in 1990.
- The Lions won the most recent matchup in 2016.
- Penn State is 1-4 in matches played at UC Irvine.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE
- UC Irvine is 8-5 overall and ranked sixth in the nation following a pair of losses to No. 2 UCLA. The Anteaters beat No. 7 Pepperdine twice prior to that.
- The Anteaters rank second in the Big West in aces/set (1.75) and blocks/set (2.35).
- Hilir Henno ranks second in the nation in aces/set (0.83).
PENN STATE NOTES & STATS
- Penn State is 13-1 overall and 4-0 in the EIVA after back-to-back weekend sweeps over Princeton and NJIT.
- The Lions were ranked third in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll. They have been ranked third for four straight weeks after being ranked fourth in the first five polls of the season.
- Toby Ezeonu was named the Off the Block Middle Attacker of the Week for the second time this season after his performance last weekend against Princeton. He totaled 22 kills on .667 hitting over the two wins.
- UC Irvine is Penn State's seventh ranked opponent of the season. The Lions are 5-1 against ranked opponents so far this season.
- Ezeonu ranks first in the nation in hitting percentage at .506.
- Cole Bogner ranks fourth in the nation in assists/set at 10.14.
UP NEXT
- Penn State heads to Honolulu for the Outrigger Challenge. The Lions will take on No. 2 UCLA on Thursday, March 9, No. 1 Hawaii on Friday, March 10, and Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, March 11.
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