Spikers looking to maintain supremacy in EIVA semifinals

In years past, the Penn State men's volleyball team had the lock on the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) title. But this year there are other teams on the verge of stealing the keys to the NCAA Final Four.

To get to the Final Four, the No. 10 Nittany Lions (17-14) have to go through Princeton (15-7) in the semifinals at 5 p.m. today at the Golden Dome Athletic Center at Rutgers-Newark. In the second semifinal match, No. 15 Rutgers-Newark (17-11) will take on George Mason (10-11).

For the past seven years, the Lions have completely dominated the East and been regulars at the Final Four. But the Lions' weak start this season allowed other teams gain ground.

- Penn State setter Dan Pollock

The Lions are not the only ones feeling confident. The three remaining teams believe their chances of getting to the Final Four are just as strong as Penn State's, and it looks like the Lions may not be the shoe-in they once were.

Princeton, No. 3 in the EIVA, is less than pleased with the Lions, No. 2 in the EIVA, at this point. When Princeton takes on Penn State, it will bring with it a powerful grudge.

The Tigers have been dethroned by the Lions in the EIVA title match two years running. This rage paid off recently when Princeton defeated the Lions 3-0 on the Tigers' home turf. When the two rivals meet again, the Tigers will look to pick up just where they left off.

Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said because the Tigers have been such solid competition in the past, he expects nothing less in this match.

"(Princeton) is a good team who's knocking on the door and sooner or later they're going to kick the damn thing in," Pavlik said.

Ranked No. 1 in the EIVA and hosting this year's tournament, Rutgers feels it has obligations to uphold. Scarlet Raiders' coach Ron Larsen said there is a lot of pressure on his team to perform well in front of the home crowd.

"This is a wonderful group of young men who've worked real hard all season," Larsen said. "I think if we don't contribute as a team of six, we'll have difficulty. But if we play together, we should win.

The Raiders have worked well as a team and also individually. Rutgers boasts four nationally ranked players in many aspects of the game. Not least of these is opposite hitter Jason Hamernick, ranked No. 17 in kills with a 5.32 average.

Larsen said he will look to Hamernick to guide his team when it takes on George Mason. The last time these two met, Rutgers crept past the Patriots 3-2. Larsen said the team now knows what it needs to do to pull out a win.

"It's just a matter of slowing them down and making them work hard," Larsen said. "We know the things they have trouble with and if we can do those things I'm sure we can win."

With its No. 5 seating in the EIVA, George Mason is the undoubted underdog this year when it takes on Rutgers.

Troubles started for the Patriots when they were rocked by tragedy early in the season. The drowning of coach Uvaldo Acosta left the Patriots unstable until former coach Ron Shayka took over Acosta's dreams of success in the postseason.

"It was a big problem having a new coach step in and adopt the team like that," Shayka said. "Even though I'm not really a new coach, it was a tough adjustment."

With the help of opposite hitter Mike Duckworth, the Patriots made the necessary changes. Duckworth boasts a 5.71 kills per game average, enough to earn him the No. 10 seat in the nation for kills.

Shayka said he will call upon Duckworth's strong arm as well as the team's past accomplishments in the game against the Scarlet Raiders.

"The fact that we played so well last week makes us feel pretty good about our sideout game," Shayka said. "We have to build on the success we had a week ago and go a notch better than that to beat Rutgers, and I think we can."