STATE COLLEGE, Pa., April 30, 2002 - A limited number of tickets remain for this weekend's NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship, Penn State officials announced today.
Approximately 500 tickets are left for the 33rd NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship, which will be contested in Penn State's Rec Hall. The national semifinals are Thursday, May 2 at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. and the championship match is Saturday, May 4 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
Nearly 4,700 tickets have been sold for the NCAA Championship. The capacity of Rec Hall for the event will be 5,186.
The first semifinal on Thursday will pit No. 1 Pepperdine (28-4) and No. 4 seed Ball State (23-7). The second semifinal matches No. 3 Penn State (25-3) against second-seeded Hawaii (22-8) at approximately 8:00 p.m.
All four teams will practice on Wednesday in Rec Hall. The practices are open to the public and media. Pepperdine will practice at 10:00 a.m., followed by Ball State (11:35), Hawaii (1:10) and Penn State (2:45).
Coach Mark Pavlik's Nittany Lions won the EIVA Tournament and automatic NCAA Tournament berth for the 11th time in 12 years. Penn State is 1-8 all-time against Hawaii, with the one win coming in a five-game thriller in the 1995 NCAA semifinals. The Lions lost to Hawaii in the '96 semifinals and in January in Honolulu. The teams split a two-game exhibition series in November in Rec Hall.
All-session tickets for the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship are $20 for adults and $12 for students, youth and senior citizens. Single session tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students, youth and senior citizens. Fans can call 814-865-5555 or 800-863-3336 to purchase tickets or for more information.
Should any tickets remain, the Rec Hall ticket office will open Thursday at 9 a.m.
Penn State is hosting the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship for the third time and the first time since 1986. In '86, the Lions won the EIVA crown, but lost to eventual champion Pepperdine in the national semifinals. In 1982, UCLA defeated Penn State in the NCAA title match in Rec Hall.
In 1994, Penn State became the first team outside of California to win the national championship when it stunned No. 1 UCLA in a pulsating five-game match for the title in the 25th NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship.
