UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The season's first edition of the AVCA/NVA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Poll was released on Wednesday, and Penn State opens as the sixth-ranked team in the nation.
Penn State reached the top spot in the rankings midway through last season and finished the year No. 3 in the poll. The Nittany Lions return four All-Americans from that team.
Defending national champion UCLA took the top spot in the poll while receiving all 23 first-place votes. Long Beach State, Hawaii, UC Irvine, and Ohio State rounded out the top five. Penn State posted five wins over those five teams last season.
Rounding out the top 10 behind Penn State were Grand Canyon, Stanford, BYU, and Loyola-Chicago. The Nittany Lions were one of four EIVA teams ranked as Princeton came in at No. 14, Charleston landed at No. 18, and George Mason slotted in at No. 20.
Sixteen of Penn State's 27 regular season matches are against teams ranked in the first national poll of the season. The first of the ranked opponents is Lewis, which the Nittany Lions host Saturday at 6 p.m.
Penn State opens the 2024 season against Central State on Thursday. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Rec Hall.
