UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., April 27, 2005 ¨C The field has been set for the 2005 men¡¯s volleyball Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Championship, slated for Thursday and Saturday, April 28 and 30 at Penn State¡¯s Rec Hall.
The third-ranked and No. 1 seed Nittany Lions will take on No. 4 seed Rutgers-Newark in the second EIVA semifinal match on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET. Third-seed Juniata will face second-seed and No. 14 George Mason in the first EIVA semifinal match at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. The winners of each of the semifinal matches will advance to the EIVA Championship on Saturday, April 30 at 7:15 p.m. ET at Rec Hall in a contest that will be televised live on CSTV.
The winner of the EIVA Championship earns a berth in the NCAA National Collegiate semifinals, hosted by UCLA on Thursday, May 5. The EIVA winner joins the winners of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) as well as an at-large team in the NCAA Semifinals. The winners of each of the two NCAA Semifinal matches advance to the NCAA National Collegiate Championship on Saturday, May 7 at UCLA.
Admission to the EIVA semifinals and championship is $4 for adults and $2 for youth and senior citizens each day. Penn State students are free with Penn State ID. Groups of 10 or more are just $1 per person. Rec Hall ticket office doors open at 4:00 p.m. on April 28 at 5:45 p.m. on April 30.
The MIVA Championship will be hosted by Loyola-Chicago on Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30. In the first semifinal match, second-seed and No. 11 Ohio State takes on third-seed and No. 15 Ball State before the top-seeded and No. 9 Ramblers face fourth-seeded IPFW.
The MPSF Championship will be hosted by Pepperdine on Thursday and Saturday, April 28 and 30. In the first semifinal match, the top-ranked and top-seeded Waves face seventh-seeded and No. 8 Cal State Northridge before fifth-seed and No. 4 Long Beach State takes on sixth-seed and No. 7 UC Santa Barbara.
Please visit www.GoPSUsports.com for more information on the Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team and the 2005 EIVA Championship.
