No. 9 Men's Volleyball Opens EIVA Play at No. 15 PrincetonNo. 9 Men's Volleyball Opens EIVA Play at No. 15 Princeton
Steven Walter

No. 9 Men's Volleyball Opens EIVA Play at No. 15 Princeton

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- No. 9 Penn State Men's Volleyball opens EIVA play with a pair of matches at No. 15 Princeton this week. The Nittany Lions and Tigers play on Friday at 7 p.m., and again on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both matches are at Dillon Gymnasium and will stream on ESPN+.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
#9 Penn State (8-3, 0-0 EIVA) at #15 Princeton (6-5, 0-0 EIVA)
Date: Friday, Feb. 16
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Dillon Gymnasium (Princeton, N.J.)
Live Stream: ESPN+
Stats:Live Stats

#9 Penn State (8-3, 0-0 EIVA) at #15 Princeton (6-5, 0-0 EIVA)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 17
Time: 5 p.m.
Place: Dillon Gymnasium (Princeton, N.J.)
Live Stream: ESPN+
Stats:Live Stats


SERIES HISTORY - PRINCETON

  • Penn State and Princeton will meet for the 75th time. The teams first played in 1977.
  • The Nittany Lions lead the series 65-9 and won all three matchups 3-0 last season, including the EIVA Championship match at Rec Hall.
  • Penn State is 22-5 in road matches against Princeton. The Nittany Lions won the most recent road match against the Tigers 3-1 in 2022.


SCOUTING PRINCETON

  • Princeton is 6-5 overall after back-to-back losses to Lincoln Memorial and Sacred Heart.
  • The Tigers were picked second in the EIVA Preseason Coaches Poll. 
  • Princeton returned four of its five All-EIVA selections from last season, including 6-4 outside hitter Ben Harrington, (first team), 6-4 setter Henry Wedbush (second team), 6-7 opposite Nyherwo Omene (honorable mention) and 6-7 middle blocker Ryan Vena (honorable mention).


EIVA WINNING STREAK

  • Penn State has won 28 consecutive EIVA regular season matches.
  • The Nittany Lions' last EIVA regular season loss came at George Mason on April 3, 2022.
  • The streak includes six wins over Charleston, four each over Princeton, George Mason, Harvard and NJIT, and two each over Sacred Heart, Saint Francis and St. Francis Brooklyn.


PENN STATE VS. RANKED

  • Penn State has seen success against nationally-ranked opponents as of late, going 31-11 dating back to the start of the 2021 season. 
  • The Nittany Lions are 14-7 against top-10 opponents, 6-6 against top-five opponents and 3-2 when playing the top-ranked team in the nation during that time.
  • The first of the two top-ranked wins came over Hawaii by a 3-1 score in Honolulu last season, while the most recent two came over Ohio State - one away, one home - in a span of four days this season.


EIVA FAVORITES

  • Defending EIVA champion Penn State received five of a possible six first-place votes to take the top spot in the EIVA Preseason Coaches Poll.
  • Rounding out the poll in second through sixth were Princeton, George Mason, NJIT, Charleston, and Harvard.


UP NEXT

  • Penn State continues EIVA play with a pair of home matches against NJIT in Rec Hall's South Gym on Feb. 23-24.


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.