UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., April 28, 2004 - The seventh-ranked and top-seed Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team will play host to George Mason, Rutgers-Newark and Juniata for the EIVA Championship semifinals on Thursday, April 29. The Nittany Lions will face the Patriots in the 7:30 p.m. match with the Scarlet Raiders and the Eagles squaring off in the 5:00 p.m. contest.

The winners of each semifinal match advance to the EIVA Championship Final on May 1 in a 5:00 p.m. contest that will be televised live on CSTV. The winner earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Semifinal on May 6 hosted by the University of Hawaii.

Penn State enters the match as the No. 1 seed in the EIVA Championship while George Mason comes in as the No. 5 seed after upsetting fourth-seed Princeton in four games on Saturday (17-30, 30-19, 30-24, 30-27). The Patriots are the lone team left in the EIVA Championship semifinals to break seed, as both No. 2 Rutgers-Newark and No. 3 Juniata both advanced.

Livestats will be available for all three matches of the EIVA Championship at www.GoPSUsports.com.

Admission to the semifinals and final is $4 for adults, $2 for youth and senior citizens and $1 for groups of 10 or more. Admission is free for Penn State students showing their ID.

Penn State is led by EIVA Player of the Year Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) who is attacking at a .577 clip with a team-high 3.86 kills per game. Sophomores Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) and Kevin Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) average 3.14 and 3.08 kills per game, respectively, while sophomore Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) chips in 2.70 kills per game and attacks at a .516 clip. Sophomore setter Dan O¡¯Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) directs the offense with 13.47 assists per game and senior libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) tops the defense with 2.34 digs per game. Kowal and Meerstein lead the blocking front with 1.41 and 1.32 blocks per game, respectively. As a team, Penn State is hitting .352 with 15.76 kills per game, 1.12 service aces per game, 8.60 digs per game and 3.25 blocks per game.

George Mason is led by Felix Campos with 5.13 kills per game while Matt Steinfurth and Dustin Crosby chip in 2.41 and 2.32 kills per game, respectively. Dave Egan directs the offense with 9.76 assists per game and Graham Sheppard tops the defense with 1.65 digs per game. Steinfurth heads the blocking charts with 1.20 blocks per game. As a team, the Patriots are hitting .220 with 13.22 kills per game, 1.10 service aces per game, 7.77 digs per game and 3.04 blocks per game.

Penn State leads the series with the Patriots, 72-12. The last meeting was a 3-0 Nittany Lion win (30-26, 30-12, 30-21) in Fairfax, Va., on April 17, 2004. The last meeting in Happy Valley was a three-game Penn State victory (30-19, 30-28, 30-23) on April 2, 2004. The last time the two teams faced off in the EIVA Championship was last season¡¯s championship match, where the Nittany Lions claimed the four-game win (27-30, 30-23, 30-24, 34-32) on April 26 to advance to the NCAA Semifinals.

For more information on the Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.