Penn State men’s volleyball will face UC Irvine in the regional first round of the NCAA Tournament, the selection committee announced on Sunday. The Nittany Lions clinched a spot in the tournament, sweeping Princeton in the EIVA championship on Saturday night, and have been placed in the UCLA Regional.

Penn State will play in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year after losing in the quarterfinals last season against Hawaii. After having their first losing record in the Mark Pavlik era a year ago, the Nittany Lions finished 22-7 2026 season and unbeaten in EIVA play as they went on to win both the EIVA regular-season and Tournament titles. It will be Pavlik’s final appearance in the NCAA Tournament, as he is set to retire at the end of the season.

Penn State notched seven players on all-EIVA teams. Sean Harvey was named EIVA Player of the Year, and Ryan Merk and Owen Rose were named to the EIVA first team. Gaige Gabriel, Matthew Luoma, and Michael Schwob made the second team. Tristan Hassell was named an honorable mention.

With the tournament being expanded to 12 teams, seeds 1–4 will host regions of three teams. The top seed in each region will have a bye to the region final, while two other teams will play a regional first-round match. The winners will move on to play the host in the region final.

UC Irvine went 18-8 this season and finished 5-5 in its conference. Despite not winning its conference tournament, the Anteaters made the NCAA Tournament as one of the five at-large selections. The last time both teams faced each other was in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, where the Anteaters swept the Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals.

Penn State and UC Irvine will face off in the first round of the tournament at 9 p.m. on Friday, May 1, at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. That will be the same site for the semifinals and championship round. The match can be streamed on ESPN+, and the winner will play against No. 1-seed UCLA.