March 30, 2017
Bag Policy - Parking
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fresh off a 3-2 win over No. 1 Ohio State, No. 13 Penn State welcomes Princeton and NJIT to Rec Hall Friday, Mar. 31 and Apr. 1 at 7 p.m. ET.
SCOUTING PRINCETON
The Tigers are coming off a 1-1 weekend against Grand Canyon on the road, taking the first match 3-2 on Mar. 23 followed by a 3-1 loss the following day.
Parker Dixon leads Princeton in kills notching 220 through 20 matches while teammate Kendall Ratter is close behind with a season total of 192.
Jonah May leads the Tigers in assist with 646, Corry Short leads in digs (96) and George Huhmann is the team leader in blocks with 68 total.
Princeton is currently in third-place in the EIVA with a record of 10-10 overall and 6-3 in EIVA play.
SCOUTING NJIT
NJIT is currently on a six-game win streak heading into this Saturday's match with Penn State. The Highlanders are coming off back-to-back wins over Charleston on the road, sweeping the Golden Eagles on both occasions.
Jabarry Goodridge leads NJIT in kills recording 326 through 20 matches while teammate Raymond Kowalski is second on the team with a season total of 186.
Ricardo Whitaker leads the Highlanders in assist with 567, Shannon Heckman leads in digs (142) and Luke Allmond is the team leader in blocks with 55 total.
NJIT is currently second in the EIVA with a record of 13-7 overall and 6-3 in EIVA play.
PENN STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Penn State is currently ranked in the top-25 in four different team categories including a top-10 ranking in assist per set - 11.57 (10th).
Individually, Chris Nugent is ranked 27th in the nation in points per set (3.79) and 21st in the nation in kills per set (3.37), while Kevin Gear is 11th in the nation in blocks per set averaging 1.07.
Luke Braswell is sixth in the nation in assists per set averaging 10.41 and Royce Clemens is ranked 18th in the nation in digs per set averaging 2.31 per set.
NITTANY LIONS 13th IN LATEST AVCA POLL
Penn State enters week 12 remaining the No. 13 team in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association DI-II (AVCA) poll.
Penn State (13-9, 6-2) is coming off a 0-2 weekend vs. Top-10 teams Lewis (No. 7) and Loyola (No. 10) on the road.
Ohio State returned to the number one team in the nation receiving 21 of 24 first-place votes with a record of 23-1, followed by Long Beach State at No. 2 (22-3), BYU at No. 3 (21-3), Hawai'i at No. 4 (22-4) and UC-Irvine (16-6) rounding out the top-five.
PAVLIK KNOWS HOW TO WIN
In his 23rd year at the helm of the program, head coach Mark Pavlik has amassed over 500 wins. Pavlik currently stands at 535-171 for his career.
FRESH FACES ON THE COURT IN 2017
The defending EIVA regular season champion men's volleyball team returns a core group of eight letter winners and four starters this year, while welcoming five freshmen to the roster.
The new additions include 6-10 MB/OH Cameron Bartus from West Seneca, N.Y., Declan Pierce, a 5-10 Libero from Buffalo, N.Y., Kyle Mackiewicz, a 6-8 OPP/MH from Edison, N.J., Bobby Wilden, a 6-8 OH/MH from Ashburn, Va. and Nathan Smith, a 6-5 setter from Los Altos, Calif.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State hits the road for matches against Sacred Heart and Harvard Friday Apr. 7 and Saturday Apr. 8, respectively, with both matches slated for a 7 p.m. first serve..