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Check out the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament play-in match to follow today and how to follow the match live.
No. 7 seed Penn State (14-15, 8-4 EIVA) vs. No. 7 seed Daemen (15-12, 4-4 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Amherst, New York
Follow live: Live stats, Live video
Season series: Did not play each other this season
Last meeting: Penn State swept Daemen in 2023.
All-time series: Penn State leads 1-0
How they got here: Penn State swept Princeton in the EIVA Tournament finals to win the conference’s automatic bid. Daemen defeated Long Island in the NEC Tournament finals to win the conference’s inaugural automatic bid.
NCAA Tournament record: Penn State (18-34); Daemen (0-0)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Penn State (1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 1017, 2021, 2023, 2024); Daemen (2024)
NCAA Tournament titles: Penn State (1994, 2008); Daemen (none)
Penn State player accolades this season: Gaige Gabriel (All-EIVA Honorable Mention); Will Kuhns (First-Team All-EIVA); Matthew Luoma (All-EIVA Honorable Mention); Ryan Merk (First-Team All-EIVA); Owen Rose (Second-Team All-EIVA)
Daemen player accolades this season: Ondrej Arabasz(First-Team All-NEC); Jariel Giraud (First-Team All-NEC); Maverick O’Neil (Second-Team All-NEC); Zach Schneider (First-Team All-NEC); Billy Wieberg (Second-Team All-NEC); Kyle Zelasko (Second-Team All-NEC)
What to know: It would be hard for Daemen to have more ideally setting for its NCAA Tournament debut. The NEC champions will play host to two-time NCAA champions Penn State in front of a sold-out home crowd to open the NCAA Tournament. Outside attacker Zach Schneider leads Daemen and is in the nation’s top 20 with a 3.80 kills per game average. The three-time All-NEC graduate student holds the school record with 1,474 career kills, including having 12 kills in the NEC Tournament finals to help the Division II school reach the NCAA Tournament. Schneider is one of three players on the Daemen roster who played Penn State in the only previous meeting between the two schools. Schneider in that 2023 was held to six kills on a .118 attack percentage as Penn State swept Daemen. Penn State after graduating the majority of its starting lineup from last season opened this season on a seven-match losing streak. The Nittany Lions, though, rebounded in the final month of the season winning eight of their last nine matches. Outside attacker Will Kuhns is in the top five of the EIVA averaging both 3.19 kills per game and 0.32 aces per game. Libero Ryan Merk also is third in the EIVA with a 1.93 digs per game average, including having a team-high 12 digs in a sweep against Princeton in the EIVA Tournament finals.