Topics

More

Penn State Men’s Volleyball Aiming To Repeat History After Slow Start

Penn State men’s volleyball is off to one of its worst starts in program history. The Nittany Lions are 0-4 with each loss coming to a top-15 team to start the 2025 season.

The only times Penn State has started 0-4 were the 2015 and 1999 seasons. However, this start is arguably the worst out of the two. The 2015 team won five out of 12 sets in its first four losses, but the 1999 and 2025 teams only won two sets.

The 2015 team went 0-6 before notching its first win and the 1999 team started 0-7. This year could yield a similar result with the next two matches coming against No. 3 UCLA and No. 6 USC.

“I think this five to six weeks, it’ll be interesting to see how our personality emerges and how the guys accept the fact that ‘OK, I may not feel 100% perfect, but we got to do what we got to do,’ so it’s part of the fun,” head coach Mark Pavlik said.

There’s little to no panic from Pavlik, now in his 31st season at the head of the program. He coached both the 1999 and 2015 teams, and if history is any indicator, this season will get turned around.

After their rocky starts, both the 1999 and 2015 teams went on impressive winning streaks in the back half of the season. In 1999, Penn State ended its losing streak by winning five of its next six matches and went on an eight-match winning streak, winning every match via sweep. That team went on to finish with a 22-13 record, a 7-0 record in the EIVA, won the EIVA Championship, and played in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

The 2015 season played out in a similar fashion. That team went on a 17-match win streak, won the EIVA, made it to the semifinal of the NCAA Tournament, finished with a 21-10 record, and went 12-0 in EIVA play.

However, the landscape of collegiate men’s volleyball, and college athletics as a whole, has changed in the past decade and especially since 1999. Winning in the EIVA and creating extensive winning streaks has become more difficult.

“It’s obviously a different era of men’s volleyball where scholarships were probably a little bit more suppressed than they are now,” Pavlik said. “The quality of players was not as nationally known and international kids were probably minimized. So, getting through an EIVA schedule unscathed this year could be a challenge.”

Trying to quickly recover from the bad start will also be a challenge for the Nittany Lions as the schedule gives them no favors. Not only have they faced four top-15 teams, but they’ve had to travel to Illinois and Texas to do so. There are 10 matches before spring break and only two of those are at Rec Hall with the rest being road trips to Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Arizona, and Hawaii.

“We’re putting our guys through a little bit of a grind,” Pavlik said. “But I also think that’s something that all teams have to come to grips with.”

However, Penn State gets a break toward the end of the regular season with only one road trip to Virginia before the end of the season.

“I think we’re going to be capable of playing some very good volleyball, certainly by the end of March, the beginning of April, if I can keep this group together and not let them worry too much about what they perceive is going on with them,” Pavlik said.

Late March to early April is the same time both the 2015 and 1999 teams were on their winning streaks. And with a late-season home stretch, the opportunity is there for this year’s team to do the same.

“I think we’ll get a chance to come home and take a deep breath after the Outrigger Invitational with that off weekend and do a pretty good self-assessment to see what we can do to keep our strengths in front of us,” Pavlik said. “Then let people come here and try to beat us.”

Your ad blocker is on.

Please choose an option below.

Sign up for our e-mail newsletter:
OR
Support quality journalism:
Purchase a Subscription!

About the Author

Mitch Corcoran

Mitch is a senior broadcast journalism major from Johnstown, PA. He is a big Pittsburgh sports fan and in his free time he likes to listen to music, play video games, and rewatch old football games. He also loves Seinfeld, Star Wars, bucket hats, Chili's, and Dua Lipa. If you want Justin Herbert propaganda or random sports content, follow him on Twitter/X @MitchCorc18 or email [email protected]

‘This Was A Job I’ve Always Wanted’: George Daniel Turns Passion For Fly Fishing Into Career

The Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing program has a storied history at Penn State.

Power Ranking Sorority Bid Day 2025 Themes

From “Xi Big Leagues” to “Camp DeeGee,” we power ranked all 18 of this year’s themes

‘Defense All Has To Do With Heart’: Carolyn Kieger Highlights Lady Lions’ Struggles Amid Four-Game Skid

Penn State is 1-11 in Big Ten play this season and sits second to last in the conference.

113kFollowers
164kFollowers
63.5kFollowers
4,570Subscribers
Sign up for our Newsletter