Dec. 28, 2007

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's volleyball team earned the No. 4 ranking in the preseason CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Top 15 Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions received 197 total points in the poll.

Brigham Young received the No. 1 ranking and obtained four first-place votes and 220 total points as No. 2 Pepperdine (nine first-place votes, 215 total points), No. 3 UCLA (two first-place votes, 214 total points) and defending national champion No. 5 UC Irvine (one first-place vote, 172 total points) rounded out the top five.

Penn State will face nine teams recognized in the CSTV/AVCA preseason poll, including the third-ranked Bruins, No. 6 IPFW, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 10 Long Beach State, No. 11 Hawaii, No. 12 George Mason and No. 15 Loyola-Chicago along with Ball State and Lewis who received votes in the poll.

The Nittany Lions return 10 players from last season's 22-8 EIVA Champion and NCAA semifinal squad and also bring in six newcomers to the team. Penn State has captured nine consecutive league titles and finished as national runners-up in 2006. The Nittany Lions open the 2008 slate at the Outrigger Invitational, taking on No. 11 Hawaii, No. 3 UCLA and Ball State on Jan. 3-5 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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