UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State, the champion in the EIVA regular season, received two major awards from the conference Tuesday. Sean Harvey was named the Uvaldo Acosta Memorial Player of the Year, while Mark Pavlik was selected as the Bob Sweeney Memorial Coach of the Year.
Additionally, Penn State had seven players earn All-EIVA recognition. Harvey was joined on the first team by Ryan Merk and Owen Rose. Gaige Gabriel, Matthew Luoma, and Michael Schwob made the second team, while Tristan Hassell was an honorable mention.
Harvey is Penn State’s 17th different player to be named EIVA Player of the Year, winning the program’s 24th honor in total. He is the EIVA leader in hitting percentage, hitting .324 with 4.32 points and 3.57 kills/set. The redshirt sophomore has also contributed from the service line with 24 aces. The outside hitter totaled double-digit kills in 21 of his 26 matches this season, including 20+ kills on three occasions. His season high was 22 kills on .325 hitting in a five-set win at Princeton. Defensively, Harvey has done his part with 1.43 digs/set and 0.74 blocks/set. He recently put together a huge double-double in the regular season finale, tallying 18 kills and 15 digs in a five-set win over George Mason.
Pavlik guided the team to a perfect 12-0 record in EIVA play this season as Penn State clinched the regular season title and hosting rights for the conference tournament. It was the 38th regular season title in program history. The Nittany Lions were ranked in every poll of the season and enter the postseason as the 16th-ranked team in the nation on a nine-match winning streak. Pavlik has 714 career wins, which ranks as the third most in the history of collegiate men’s volleyball across all divisions.
Merk anchored the back-row defense for Penn State, helping hold opponents to .209 hitting for the season. He currently leads the EIVA in digs/set with 2.11 and recorded double-digit digs in eight matches. The fifth-year player is also a huge reason for the team’s offensive success as one of the best passers in the nation. His reception percentage sits at .964 after 470 attempts. He had 16 matches during the season without allowing an ace. Merk is now a four-time first-team All-EIVA selection.
Rose has stepped up his game in numerous areas in his final season of eligibility. He currently ranks first in the nation in blocks/set with 1.46, bolstered by three matches in which he reached double-digits. Two of those matches went just three sets, including a sweep over Harvard in which he set the program record with 14 blocks. Additionally, Rose established himself as one of the team’s top servers with a team-high 30 aces. Rose has earned four All-EIVA honors during his career, including three first-team accolades.
Luoma earned All-EIVA recognition for the second-straight season, bumping from honorable mention last season to the second team this year. The redshirt junior opposite averages 2.46 kills, 1.08 digs and 0.59 blocks per set. He recorded double-digit kills eight times this season, including a season-high 23 on .378 hitting in addition to nine digs in a five-set win over George Mason that clinched the EIVA regular season title for Penn State. Five of his matches with double-digit kills came against conference opponents.
Just like Luoma, Gabriel was an honorable mention last season before making the jump to second team this season. The sophomore manned the middle along with Rose to help Penn State lead the nation in blocks/set with 2.81. Gabriel has been in on 0.90 blocks/set and has hit .339 with 1.27 kills/set. His season high of 10 blocks came in addition to seven kills in a five-set win at Princeton.
Schwob has been a proven performer in the postseason with multiple honors and now added a regular season award with his spot on the second team. He started 17 matches at setter for the Nittany Lions, including all nine of the team’s current winning streak. An all-around athlete, he contributed five matches with two or more aces, tallied a season-high eight digs twice, and posted a season-high six blocks in a sweep over Harvard.
Hassell started five matches this season but made his presence felt as a hot hand off the bench. He hit .294 with 2.44 kills/set despite often not playing the entire set. His breakout match came early in the season in a four-set win over then-No. 9 Lewis. He had 13 kills while playing just the final two sets of the win, including 10 in the deciding fourth set. He totaled double-digit kills six times, including a season-high 26 on. 347 hitting in a five-set win over George Mason to close the regular season.
Penn State hosts the EIVA Tournament at Rec Hall on Wednesday-Saturday. The Nittany Lions open the event in the semifinal round on Thursday when they play the winner between fourth-seeded Charleston and fifth-seeded Sacred Heart.