Penn State men’s volleyball is getting ready to travel to Los Angeles to play UC Irvine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The team is coming off an undefeated regular season and tournament run against EIVA opponents.

Before their championship win against Princeton, the Nittany Lions played five straight five-setters, winning every single one. But the team swept the Tigers last Saturday to win their fourth consecutive EIVA Tournament title.

Owen Rose played a crucial role in the win, recording five blocks, 10 kills, and a .909 hit percentage. But overall, it was a team effort that helped clinch the EIVA title. Now, Penn State is focused on the NCAA Tournament in hopes of being named national champions.

After 11 straight wins for the Nittany Lions, head coach Mark Pavlik is looking to make sure the team’s streak will continue. Despite having 11 wins in a row, he doesn’t believe the team is carrying momentum to the NCAA Tournament.

“I don’t think there’s a carryover, I think it’s a preparation,” he said. “How do these guys look at what we’re going to face against Irvine and say, ‘here’s what we’ve got to be ready for’, and then be ready to play.”

He described it as more of “a carry on” than “a carryover.”

Pavlik believes sticking to the plan is the most effective way to win, but added that passing, serving, and opportunities will be key factors.

“I think it’s going to come down to two things: one, pass and serve. Whichever team passes and serves better is going to be the winner,” he said. “On top of that, the team that makes the most out of the opportunities it has to score real points, if we can control them a little bit and not give them a whole lot of opportunities, I think we’ll be in a pretty good spot leading games.”

Penn State recently traveled to California in March to play Long Beach State, Pepperdine, and USC. Pavlik mentioned that the West Coast teams have very explosive offenses, and when preparing to play UC Irvine, he said the team has to be physical.

“It really boils down to physicality, that’s the difference,” he said. “The physicality exists at a higher level than mostly what we’ve seen in the EIVA, the Conference Carolinas, and the NEC here, kind of the eastern part we’ve had.”

While also facing a strong West Coast team, Penn State will have to travel to the West Coast and play on UC Irvine’s home turf. The Nittany Lions will leave Happy Valley at 4 a.m. to get over to California. While the team has a long trip, UC Irvine gets home-court advantage in round one.

Pavlik mentioned that everyone will see how much the team learned from the previous trip to California. He believes that saying it’s not a factor is disingenuous, but the team doesn’t treat it any differently.

“What we do on the road is very similar to what we do here; it’s not like it’s anything special,” he said. “We’re going to be doing it in the mid-seventies instead of the mid-sixties.”

Besides home court advantage, UC Irvine also has a strong offense. This season, the team recorded 1,291 kills, 161 aces, 1,201 assists, and a .298 hit percentage. All of these stats are higher than Penn State’s.

Palik mentioned that the team needs to be more controlled and slow some of UC Irvine’s hitters down. He believes the team will have opportunities to strike, but has to remain in control.

Moving forward, the players who have the potential to keep the team composed and in control are the seniors. Pavlik talked about how Ryan Merk and Rose have experience and leadership to drive the team further.

“Teams that make their first foray into NCAA events tend to be ‘what we got to fo that now, we can’t do this?’ I think that’s where senior leadership comes in, where they just say ‘dude, it’s what we do,'” he said.

Recent tensions had been high for the team, getting warnings from referees about foul language and unsportsmanlike conduct. He said the team is still figuring out its competitive personality, but going into the NCAA Tournament, the team still needed to remain in control.

He mentioned that the seniors play a big role in calming everybody down.

“The seniors understand the importance of just being who they are,” he said. “Be who you are, let things roll, and let’s just compete. That’s what we’ll look for the senior leadership to really provide us.”

Through authenticity and control, Penn State looks to get its first NCAA Tournament win this season.

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. The match will be streamed on ESPN+, where the winner will play in the regional finals against No. 1-ranked UCLA.