NCAA BRACKET
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Fifth-seeded Penn State Men's Volleyball opens the NCAA Tournament against fourth-seeded UC Irvine in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. ET. The eight-team event will be played at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid.
The Nittany Lions, who enter with a record of 23-6, earned an automatic bid to the tournament after winning the EIVA title last weekend. They went 10-0 in league play during the regular season before posting four-set wins over Harvard and George Mason in the conference tournament at Rec Hall.
FOLLOW THE MATCH
Quarterfinal Round - No. 5 Penn State (23-6) vs. No. 4 UC Irvine (19-10)
Date: Tuesday, April 30
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Place: Walter Pyramid (Long Beach, Calif.)
Live Stream: NCAA.com
Live Stats: NCAA.com
PENN STATE NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- Penn State is set to make its 34th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
- This is the Lions' 24th appearance in the tournament in Mark Pavlik's 30th season as head coach.
- Penn State won the 1994 national title over UCLA at Purdue Fort Wayne. The Lions won the 2008 title with a victory over Pepperdine at UC Irvine.
- Penn State has won at least one match in four of its past five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, beating Lewis in 2014, Hawaii in 2015, Belmont-Abbey in 2021, and Ohio State last season.
- This is the first year of an eight-team championship format.
AGAINST THE FIELD
- UCLA - Penn State is 8-35-1 all-time against the Bruins. UCLA won both matches this season, taking the first 3-0 in Austin, Texas, and the second 3-2 in Los Angeles. Penn State is 1-7 against UCLA in the national tournament.
- LONG BEACH STATE - Penn State is 8-21 all-time against The Beach. Long Beach State won the matchup in California by a 3-1 score this season. The Nittany Lions are 0-2 against The Beach in the NCAA Tournament.
- GRAND CANYON - Penn State is 2-0 all-time against the the Antelopes, sweeping both matches at Rec Hall in 2022. The teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament.
- UC IRVINE - Penn State is 6-8 all-time against the Anteaters. The Nittany Lions won the most recent matchup 3-2 in Irvine last season. Penn State is 1-2 against UC Irvine in the NCAA Tournament.
- OHIO STATE - Penn State is 82-40-1 all-time against the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions beat the Buckeyes in the quarterfinal round of the tournament last season and then swept the two-match regular season series this season.
- BELMONT ABBEY - Penn State is 1-0 against Belmont Abbey with a 3-0 win over the Crusaders in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
- FORT VALLEY STATE - Penn State has never played the Wildcats.
HOW PENN STATE GOT HERE
- Penn State earned an automatic bid to the NC Tournament by winning the EIVA Championship at Rec Hall. The top-seeded Lions defeated fifth-seeded Harvard 3-1 in the semifinal round. They followed that with a 3-1 win over second-seeded George Mason in the championship match.
- John Kerr was voted the MVP of the conference tournament after averaging 6.25 kills/set and 2.13 digs/set. He had a ridiculous 31 kills in just four sets in a win over the Crimson and then followed that with 19 kills and 12 digs in a four-set win over the Patriots.
- Kerr was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Toby Ezeonu, Michael Schwob, and Michael Valenzi.
- Penn State earned the top seed in the conference tournament by going a perfect 10-0 against EIVA opponents during the regular season. It was the third-straight unbeaten season in conference play for the Nittany Lions.
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.