Heading into the EIVA semifinals, the one thing the No. 9 Penn State men's volleyball team isn't lacking is confidence.
And that's rightfully so because the Nittany Lions (24-5, 15-0 EIVA) will take on a team that they have easily dismantled not once, but twice this season, the Princeton Tigers.
The fifth-seeded Tigers (16-10, 7-7) come into Rec Hall tonight at 7:30 with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Tonight's other semifinal match will be played at Rec Hall at 5:30, and will pit the No. 2 seed George Mason against the No. 3 seed Rutgers-Newark.
Penn State players and coaches alike realize that this is a dangerous Princeton team, but if Penn State plays the game that it is capable of playing, the Lions could breeze through the semis.
"They [Princeton] know they don't have a chance unless we beat ourselves," Penn State libero Ricky Mattei said. Both teams are pretty familiar with one another, as they met just 20 days ago in Rec Hall and the Tigers left with their tails between their legs after a 3-0 beating. Penn State also traveled to Princeton earlier in the season and defeated the Tigers, 3-1.
In order for Princeton to be successful, the Tigers will have to stop EIVA Uvaldo Acosta Memorial Player of the Year Carlos Guerra. Guerra led Penn State in kills in both matches between the teams this season, killing a combined 33 balls.
The Tigers are led by senior Dennis Alshuler, who led the team in its first round match with 18 kills, and freshman middle hitter Brian Hamming, who was named the EIVA player of the week last week. Hamming leads Princeton this season with a .379 hitting percentage, which is ninth in the EIVA.
With Penn State coming into the game with a business as usual attitude, the fact that the last time it lost an EIVA tournament game was at the hands of the Tigers in 1998 must be in the players' heads.
While letting bygones be bygones, Penn State volleyball coach Mark Pavlik is confident in his team tonight; he doesn't want anyone to overlook a team that has its back to the wall. "They're going to be competitive because they have the feeling that they have nothing to lose," Pavlik said.
At this point of the season Pavlik isn't looking for a perfect game; instead, he just wants his team to block and serve well and the rest should take care of itself.
"I'm not looking for great games," Pavlik said. "I'm just looking for wins."
Penn State got to the semifinals by beating Vassar 3-0 last Saturday in a match that took a little over an hour. On the other hand, Princeton upset the No. 4 seed Juniata in five games.
