No. 15 Men's Volleyball Hosts George Mason with EIVA Regular Season Title Up for GrabsNo. 15 Men's Volleyball Hosts George Mason with EIVA Regular Season Title Up for Grabs

No. 15 Men's Volleyball Hosts George Mason with EIVA Regular Season Title Up for Grabs

The teams play Friday and Saturday

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Series Breakdown

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SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State and George Mason will meet for the 141st and 142nd time in a series that began in 1977.
• The Nittany Lions lead 122-18 in the all-time series, including wins in each of the past 11 matchups. The Patriots’ last win in the series came in Fairfax in 2021.
• Penn State is 68-5 at home against George Mason, including a nine-match winning streak. The Patriots’ last win over the Nittany Lions at Rec Hall came in 2019.
• Owen Rose has hit .573 with 1.70 kills/set and 1.21 blocks/set in eight career matches against George Mason. Ryan Merk has averaged 2.58 digs/set in eight career matches against the Patriots, including six matches with double-digit digs. Merk has allowed just three aces on 130 serve receptions in the series.

SERIES HISTORY VS. GEORGE MASON (LAST 10)

Year Winner Score Location
2022 Penn State 3-0 Rec Hall
2022 Penn State 3-0 Fairfax, Va.
2023 Penn State 3-0 Fairfax, Va.
2023 Penn State 3-0 Fairfax, Va.
2023 Penn State 3-1 Rec Hall
2024 Penn State 3-2 Rec Hall
2024 Penn State 3-1 Rec Hall
2024 Penn State 3-1 Rec Hall
2025 Penn Sate 3-2 Fairfax, Va.
2025 Penn State 3-2 Fairfax, Va.

 

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PENN STATE VS. EIVA
• Penn State is 330-38 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 six EIVA opponents.

Team Record Last Played Score
Charleston 22-1 2026 W, 3-0
George Mason 122-18 2025 W, 3-2
Harvard 30-4 2026 W, 3-1
NJIT 58-3 2026 W, 3-0
Princeton 71-10 2026 W, 3-0
Sacred Heart 27-2 2026 W, 3-2
Total 330-38    
EUT_7715

STREAKS TO WATCH

Sean Harvey
• 4 straight matches with double-digit kills
• 3 straight matches with at least one ace

Ryan Merk
• 117 straight starts at libero

Owen Rose
• 90 straight starts at middle blocker

Team
• 14 straight wins against EIVA opponents

Match Notes

OPENING NOTES
• Penn State, competing in the 50th season in program history, closes the regular season at home with a pair of matches against EIVA foe George Mason on Friday and Saturday.
• The Nittany Lions are 10-0 in the conference and a hold a two-match lead over the second-place Patriots. The Nittany Lions clinch the EIVA regular season title and hosting rights to the conference tournament with one win this weekend, while the Patriots can do so with wins in both matches.
• Penn State can finish no lower than second in the conference, meaning it has locked up a bye into the semifinal round regardless of where the tournament takes place.
• It is a big weekend in Happy Valley. In addition to the regular season title being on the line, the Nittany Lions will celebrate head coach Mark Pavlik, who is in his final season, on Friday, and four players — Jaxon Herr, Ryan Merk, Owen Rose, and Miller Trubey — for Senior Day on Saturday.

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
• 712 wins ranks tied for third in the history of collegiate men's volleyball and first amongst current coaches.

SCOUTING GEORGE MASON
• George Mason is 20-7 overall and 8-2 in the EIVA after posting 10 straight wins over Barton (3-0), FDU (3-1), Sacred Heart (3-0), Sacred Heart (3-0), Saint Francis (3-2), Saint Francis (3-1), Harvard (3-0), Harvard (3-0), Princeton (3-1), and Princeton (3-1).
• The Patriots were picked third in the EIVA Preseason Poll. Redshirt senior outside hitter Liam French and sophomore middle blocker Alex Lillie (MBB) were named Players to Watch.
• George Mason leads the EIVA in assists/set (11.49), digs/set (9.20), hitting percentage (.278), kills/set (12.62), winning percentage and (.720),
• Aidan Weltin is the busiest player in the nation, ranking first in attacks/set (9.82).
• Georgi Zahariev ranks first in the EIVA in assists/set (9.96), while Weltin ranks first in points/set (4.65) and kills/set (3.97).

IN THE POLL
• Penn State was ranked No. 15 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll and has been ranked in each of the first 15 polls of this season.
• The Nittany Lions have appeared in the Coaches Poll for a total of 623 of the 659 weeks since the rankings debuted in 1986. That stands as the fifth most of any program in the nation.

CAREER HIGHS SET LAST WEEK
at Sacred Heart - Saturday
Tristan Hassell - kills (19), blocks (7)
Ryan Merk - assists (8)
Bennett Wilson - kills (10), digs (9)

BEST IN BLOCKS
• Penn State leads the nation in blocks/set (2.86) thanks in large part to Owen Rose, who leads the nation individually in the category with 1.48/set.

ROSE MOVES UP RECORD BOOKS
• Owen Rose has 129 blocks this season, which ranks as the 15th most in a season in program history.
• Rose needs 12 blocks to move into the top-10 in the team’s single season record book.
• Rose has totaled 460 career blocks, which ranks fifth in program history. He needs 33 more blocks to pass Max Holt (2006-09) for fourth on the list.