STATE COLLEGE, Pa., April 18, 2003 - The ninth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team (23-5, 14-0 EIVA Tait) opens up post-season play on Saturday, April 19 when it hosts Vassar in the EIVA Tournament quarterfinals at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall. The Brewers defeated Southampton in three games in the play-in game to improve to 17-5, 8-4 in the EIVA Hay division.

Penn State leads the series with Vassar, 2-0, with the last meeting a three-game (15-3, 15-1, 15-4) Penn State win on March 21, 1999. The Nittany Lions enter the contest with a 40-3 record in the EIVA Tournament since 1986, winning the league championship 14 times, including the last four years.

Against common opponents this season, Penn State is 3-0 while Vassar is 2-3, losing three times to Springfield and defeating New York University twice.

Senior Carlos Guerra (Tamaulipus, Mexico) leads Penn State with an average of 4.44 kills per game while junior Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) and senior Zeljko Koljesar (Kitchener, Ontario) chip in an average of 2.98 and 2.92 kills per game, respectively. Freshman setter Dan O'Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) directs the offense with 13.76 assists per game while junior libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) leads the defensive front with 2.50 digs per game. Kowal sits atop the blocking chart with 1.46 blocks per game while junior Norm Keil (St. James, N.Y.) provides an average of 1.07 blocks per game.

As a team, Penn State is attacking at a .359 clip with 16.18 kills per game, 1.20 service aces per game, 8.14 digs per game and 3.11 blocks per game.

The Brewers are led by 6-2 senior Jesse Lam with 4.56 kills per game while attacking at a .402 clip. Senior setter Will Shapiro dishes out an average of 11.67 assists per game while senior Jeff Barr leads the defense with 2.68 digs per game. Sophomore Steve Gilhool tops the blocking charts with 0.91 blocks per game.

As a team, Vassar is hitting .309 with 14.94 kills per game, 1.78 service aces per game, 11.29 digs per game and 2.14 blocks per game.

The EIVA Semifinals will be held on Thursday, April 24 at Rec Hall, with the first match taking place at 5:30 and the second beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. The EIVA Championship will be on Saturday, April 26 at 6:00 p.m. and will be televised live on CSTV (www.cstv.com).

Tickets for the Semifinals and Final are $4 for adults and $2 for youth and senior citizens. Penn State students are free with ID. On April 24th, fans providing a game program from the Penn State baseball game against Bucknell will be admitted for $1 and on April 26th, fans providing a game program from the Penn State football Blue-White game will also be admitted for $1. All seats will be general admission and doors open one hour prior to game time.

Notes:

This season, College Sports Television (CSTV), with assistance from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, has secured the rights to televise the championships of the three premier men's volleyball conferences: the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).

The conferences boast USA Today/AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball Coaches Poll Top 15 schools such as Pepperdine, Hawai'i, Brigham Young, UC Irvine, Lewis, Pacific, Long Beach State, Ohio State, Ball State and Penn State, as well as other nationally ranked teams. CSTV, the first television network devoted exclusively to college sports, launched Monday, April 7.

"These three leagues represent the finest in men's collegiate volleyball," said Chris Bevilacqua, co-founder and executive vice president, College Sports Television. "With berths to the NCAA Championships on the line, the intensity and competitiveness will peak at these championships. The 'best of the best' will be on display on College Sports Television."

The championship matches for all three conferences are scheduled for Saturday, April 26. The champions of each of the three conferences, along with one wild card, will advance to the 2003 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship May 1-3 in Long Beach, Ca.

Please visit www.GoPSUsports for updated news and statistics on the Penn State men's volleyball team.