No PSU thread...

[eiva]

...so i made one. (PSU sure is quiet-maybe nobody cares)

[italianmattd]

:PWho's PSU?

[future]

No Mason. Whoops!

PSU will host.......love those matchups with UCLA and LBSU. With the way things have gone this year and the playoffs a National Championship is definitely in PSU's grasp.



No. 11 Penn State Men’s Volleyball Advances To EIVA Title Match

Nittany Lions top Rutgers-Newark in three games



University Park, Pa., April 27, 2006 – The 11th-ranked Penn State
men’s volleyball team advanced to its 11th Eastern Intercollegiate
Volleyball Association (EIVA) Championship title match with a three-
game win over Rutgers-Newark Thursday night, 30-17, 30-19, 30-22. The
Nittany Lion will face St. Francis, who upset No. 12 George Mason in
four games (31-33, 30-26, 30-28, 30-27) in the first match of the
evening. The EIVA Championship match is slated for Saturday, April 29
at 7:30 p.m. at Rec Hall and will be aired live on CSTV. The winner
of the contest earns an automatic berth into the National Collegiate
Championship, to be held May 4 and 6 at Rec Hall.

“We took advantage of a Rutgers-Newark squad that has had to make a
lot of lineup changes lately for various reasons,” said head coach
Mark Pavlik. “I liked that we were able to take advantage of the
passing and run our middles. We played with a passion and I thought
we played well in transition. It seemed like every time we dug a
ball, we terminated it.”

Senior opposite Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) led Penn State with 11
kills on .474 hitting as senior outside hitter Kevin Wentzel
(Pittsburgh, Pa.) collected eight kills. Senior middle hitter Nate
Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and freshman middle hitter Max Holt
(Cincinnati, Ohio) both tallied seven kills, with Meerstein’s coming
on 10 errorless attempts while hitting .700. Junior outside hitter
Alex Gutor (Kiev, Ukraine) and freshman outside hitter Matt Anderson
(West Seneca, N.Y.) each recorded six kills as Anderson connected on
all six of his attacks. As a team, the Nittany Lions outhit the
Scarlet Raiders, .467 to .051.

Senior setter Dan O’Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) directed the balanced
offense with 39 assists as Wentzel led the defense with six digs, one
shy of his season high. Junior libero Ryan Walthall (Irvine, Calif.)
notched four digs in the contest as O’Dell added five.

Penn State won the blocking battle, 13.0 to 8.0. Holt led all players
with a career-high-tying nine blocks as Proper tied his season high
with six stuffs. O’Dell, Wentzel, Gutor and Meerstein all contributed
two blocks. Gutor also set a new career high with three service aces
as Wentzel set a season mark with two.

Danny McGowan led Rutgers-Newark with 11 kills and Eric Honsberger
chipped in nine. Mark Hulse dished out 23 assists and Brian
Honsberger led the blocking front with six blocks.

In the first EIVA semifinal match, Marc Honore led St. Francis with a
school-record 29 kills on .610 hitting (29-4-41) as Jim Fazzini
tallied 18 kills and Jonathan Sherrick and Cory Spencer posted 11 and
10 kills, respectively. Shane Conley dished out 69 assists as Zach
Nanni led all players with 13 digs. Honore and Sherrick each
collected three blocks.

For George Mason, EIVA Player of the Year Shaun Powell posed 26 kills
on .309 hitting as Hudson Bates and Matt Steinfurth tallied 11 and 10
kills, respectively. Bryan Newcomb produced 50 assists as Newcomb and
libero Graham Sheppard each tallied eight digs. Steinfurth led all
players with nine blocks as Newcomb added six.

[mikesmith]

PSU will win again, and show up to take a beating in the FF.

[idiotic]

yes, unfortunately, i see little hope for saint francis. mason was the only other eiva team that had a decent chance in the tournament. as much as it pains me to say this, but it looks like PSU will be in the FF for the umpteenth time.

[eiva]

Meerstein again failed in blocking. Is SF coaching smart enough to get the Meerstein/Honore matchup? I doubt it.

I wonder if Meerstein blocks with his eyes open against Honore.

With Honore in his game..SF has a chance. It is a slim--but still a chance. I missed the Mason-SF game...was Mason looking past to the Sat game against PSU?

PSU can beat LBS. (they already have) Wouldn't it be something for the MPSF people to howl about if PSU plays UCI in the final?

[akbar]

Why the contempt for PSU making it to the NCAA Championship. It is not their fault that the competition is so slim out East.
Did we REEEEAAALLLLLY all want to see Rutgers, Mason or like they have a chance St. Francis in the final 4.

As I said before, for volleyballs sake I want the best teams possible under the current system.....and certainly for the sites sake have PSU in it makes it that much more entertaining.

One of the two hot teams UCLA or LBSU will not make it in. That leaves UCI and Hawaii......both of whom do not seem to be on the top of their game sitting around ......desperately trying to have focused /intense practices while they rub their rabbit's feet.

I agree with both Future and EIVA PSU chances are far better than they have been in the past 3-4 years for a push into the Finals. All of the teams left in it are very capable of laying and egg.

Agreed, Meers has been dissapointing in blocking through most of his career, but with only 2-3 matches left that can turn in a hurry.

I'm liking Loyola out of the MIVA.

Interesting that so many questions still remain at this stage of the year.