No. 15 Men's Volleyball Opens EIVA Play at Princeton Friday and SaturdayNo. 15 Men's Volleyball Opens EIVA Play at Princeton Friday and Saturday

No. 15 Men's Volleyball Opens EIVA Play at Princeton Friday and Saturday

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Series Breakdown

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SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State and Princeton will meet for the 80th time in a series that began in 1977.
• The Nittany Lions are 69-10 in the all-time series with the Tigers.
• Penn State is 25-5 when playing on the road against Princeton, including a 3-0 sweep in last year’s EIVA Championship match. Matthew Luoma racked up 18 kills, seven digs, two blocks, and one ace in that win. Gaige Gabriel hit .667 with eight kills and five blocks, while Michael Schwob tallied 35 assists and three aces.

SERIES HISTORY VS. PRINCETON (SINCE 2022)

Year Winner Score Location
2022 Penn State 3-0 Rec Hall
2022 Penn State 3-1 Princeton, N.J.
2022 Princeton 3-2 Rec Hall
2023 Penn State 3-0 Rec Hall
2023 Penn State 3-0 Rec Hall
2023 Penn State 3-0 Rec Hall
2024 Penn State 3-1 Princeton, N.J.
2024 Penn State 3-0 Princeton, N.J.
2025 Princeton 3-1 Rec Hall
2025 Penn State 3-0 Rec Hall
2025 Penn State 3-0 Princeton, N.J.

 

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PENN STATE VS. EIVA
• Penn State is 320-38 all-time against current members of the EIVA.
• The Nittany Lions have won at least 87 percent of the matches in the series with all six teams.
• Penn State has won its most recent match against all of the EIVA teams except Charleston.

Team Record Last Played Score
Charleston 20-1 2025 L, 1-3
George Mason 122-18 2025 W, 3-2
Harvard 28-4 2025 W, 3-0
NJIT 56-3 2025 W, 3-0
Princeton 69-10 2025 W, 3-0
Sacred Heart 25-2 2025 W, 3-2
Total 320-38    
Merk_Ryan (26-Hawaii-BB)-65

STREAKS TO WATCH

Ryan Merk
• 102 straight starts at libero

Owen Rose
• 5 straight matches with at least three blocks

Match Notes

OPENING NOTES
• Penn State, competing in the 50th season in program history, opens EIVA play this week when it travels for a pair of matches at Princeton on Friday and Saturday.
• The matchup features two teams that won EIVA championships last season. Princeton won the regular season title and earned the right to host the EIVA Tournament. The conference tournament was won by Penn State as it swept all three of its opponents at Princeton’s Dillon Gymnasium.
• The series also features the two teams responsible for each of the past six EIVA Tournament titles and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournment. Princeton won in 2019 and 2022, while Penn State was the champion in 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

EIVA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS SINCE 2019
2019 - Princeton beat Penn State at Princeton
2020 No tournament
2021 - Penn State beat George Mason at Rec Hall
2022 - Princeton beat NJIT at Rec Hall
2023 - Penn State beat Princeton at Rec Hall
2024 - Penn State beat George Mason at Rec Hall
2025 - Penn State beat Princeton at Princeton

EIVA DOMINANCE
• Penn State has dominated the EIVA so far this decade, going 67-6 in conference matches during the regular season.

PENN STATE EIVA RECORD SINCE 2020
2020 - season didn't finish, 7-0 
2021 - first place, 16-2
2022 - first place, 16-0
2023 - first place, 10-0
2024 - first place, 10-0
2025 - tied for second, 8-4
Total 67-6

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
• 700 wins ranks fourth in the history of collegiate men's volleyball and first amongst current coaches.

IN THE POLL
• Penn State was ranked No. 15 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll and has been ranked in each of the first five polls of this season.
• The Nittany Lions have appeared in the Coaches Poll for a total of 614 of the 650 weeks since the rankings debuted in 1986. That stands as the fifth most of any program in the nation.

SCOUTING PRINCETON
• Princeton is 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the EIVA following a 3-1 loss at NJIT last weekend.
• The Tigers were picked fourth in the 2026 EIVA Preseason Poll one season after winning the conference regular season title. Senior middle blocker Ryan Vena sophomore outside hitter Mason Rice were named EIVA Players to Watch.
• Tristan Whitfield ranks first in the EIVA in blocks/set (1.10). Owen Mellon ranks second in kills/set (3.60).