Penn State Men’s Volleyball To Face UC Irvine In First Round Of NCAA Tournament
Penn State men’s volleyball was placed as the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 4 seed UC Irvine, the NCAA announced Sunday. The Nittany Lions clinched a spot in the tournament after defeating George Mason 3-1 in the EIVA Championship Saturday night.
Penn State will have another shot at the national title after falling short in the semifinals last season. This season, the Nittany Lions went 23-6 and 12-0 in EIVA play. Outside hitter John Kerr was named EIVA Player of the Year and 30-year head coach Mark Pavlik was named the EIVA Coach of the Year, too.
Penn State also has six players on the all-EIVA teams. Kerr, Ryan Merk, Owen Rose, and Toby Ezeonu were named to the EIVA first team, and Michal Kowal and Michael Valenzi were named to the second team.
UC Irvine went 19-10 this season and finished 7-3 in its conference. It was also ranked No. 4 in the country in the final AVCA Coaches Poll.
Penn State and UC Irvine will face off in the first round of the tournament at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, in Long Beach, California. The match can be streamed on the NCAA men’s volleyball website.
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