No. 10 Men's Volleyball Travels for Two Matches at No. 15 McKendreeNo. 10 Men's Volleyball Travels for Two Matches at No. 15 McKendree

No. 10 Men's Volleyball Travels for Two Matches at No. 15 McKendree

The Nittany Lions are 4-0 to start the season

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#10 PENN STATE AT #15 MCKENDREE
Friday, Jan. 23 -— 6 p.m. // Melvin Price Convocation Center - Lebanon, Ill. // GLVC Sports Network
Saturday, Jan. 24 -— 4 p.m. // Melvin Price Convocation Center - Lebanon, Ill. // GLVC Sports Network

Series Breakdown

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SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State and McKendree will play for just the second and third time in program history.
• The Nittany Lions won the first meeting with a sweep at Rec Hall in 2019.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MCKENDREE

Year Winner Score Location
2019 Penn State 3-0 Rec Hall

 

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PENN STATE VS. MIVA
• Penn State is 230-119-1 all-time against current members of the MIVA.
• The Nittany Lions have played seven of the nine teams and have a winning record against six of them. Only Loyola Chicago holds a winning record against the Nittany Lions.
• Penn State is 1-0 against the MIVA this season with a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Lewis at Rec Hall.

Team Record Last Played Score
Ball State 63-28 2025 L, 2-3
Lewis 24-17 2026 W, 3-1
Lindenwood 1-0 2019 W, 3-0
Loyola Chicago 13-16 2025 L, 1-3
McKendree 1-0 2019 W, 3-0
Northern Kentucky 0-0 -- --
Ohio State 82-40-1 2024 W, 3-2
Purdue Fort Wayne 46-17 2024 L, 2-3
Queens 0-0 -- --
Total 230-118-1    
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STREAKS TO WATCH

Gaige Gabriel
• 3 straight matches with at least one ace

Ryan Merk
• 96 straight starts at libero

Match Notes

OPENING NOTES
• Penn State continues the 50th season in program history when it travels to play No. 15 McKendree on Friday and Saturday. It is the first road trip of the season for the Nittany Lions after opening with four straight matches at Rec Hall.
• Last season the Nittany Lions played the first nine matches of the season away from Rec Hall before playing their first home match on February 15.
• Penn State is coming off a 3-1 win over No. 9 Lewis at Rec Hall. It was the Nittany Lions’ first win over a team ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA Coaches Poll since beating No. 1 Ohio State on January 28, 2024.
• The Nittany Lions are 4-0 to start the season for the 14th time in program history.

PAVLIK'S LAST SEASON
• Mark Pavlik announced prior to the season that this season, his 32nd as the head coach of Penn State, will be his last.
• Pavlik is just the third head coach in the 50 seasons of Penn State men’s volleyball. 

PAVLIK'S RESUME
• 2008 National Champion
• 1x AVCA National Coach of the Year
• 25 EIVA Tournament titles
• 27 EIVA regular season title
• 10x EIVA Coach of the Year
• 698 wins ranks fourth in the history of collegiate men's volleyball and first amongst current coaches

HASSELL'S BREAKOUT MATCH
• Freshman opposite Tristan Hassell announced his arrival in a big way with a breakout performance in Penn State's 3-1 win over No. 9 Lewis last match.
• Hassell entered with the score at 12-10 in the third set and finished with 13 kills on .550 hitting in the four-set win.
• Hassell put the team on his back in the fourth set, hitting .600 with 10 kills, one block, and one ace.

PENN STATE'S BACK IN THE TOP 10
• Penn State jumped three spots to No. 10 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll.
• The Nittany Lions cracked the top-10 of the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time since opening the season at No. 8 in last season.

SCOUTING MCKENDREE
• McKendree is ranked No. 15 in the AVCA Coaches Poll and is 2-2 overall following wins over Charleston (3-1) and Mount Olive (3-0) last week. The Bearcats opened the season with a pair of losses to highly-ranked teams, falling 3-0 to both No. 1 UCLA and No. 3 Long Beach State.
• The Bearcats were picked fifth out of nine teams in the MIVA Preseason Coaches Poll. Graduate libero Yadiel Diaz and junior setter Nate Flayter were named to the Preseason All-MIVA Team. Both players made All-MIVA last season. Flayter went on to become a second-team All-American, while Diaz was an honorable mention.
• McKendree ranks first in the MIVA and eighth nationally in digs/set (9.85).