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An arena’s ceiling could be a factor in a NCAA Tournament match.
An Off the Block analysis revealed that in previous Daemen home matches against EIVA teams the volleyball has made contact with the ceiling multiple times during sets at Lumsden Gymnasium.
Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen campus in Amherst, New York, will be the site of the NCAA Tournament play-in match on Friday between the EIVA champions Penn State and the NEC champions Daemen.
Off the Block for this analysis reviewed the match footage of Daemen’s last two home matches at Lumsden Gymnasium against EIVA opponents – a victory against Princeton in 2023 and a loss to Harvard in 2024. The review tracked how many plays featured the volleyball making contact with the ceiling or rafters and altering a rally.
The volleyball contacted the ceiling or rafters an average of 3.33 plays per game in those two matches.
There were 17 plays in Daemen’s four-game victory against Princeton when the volleyball’s flight path was altered because it hit the ceiling or rafters. The volleyball made contact with the ceiling or rafters on multiple plays in all four games, including a match-high eight times in the fourth game.
There also were eight plays when the volleyball hit the ceiling or rafters in Daemen’s four-game loss to Harvard last year.
The majority of time the ball hit the ceiling or rafters was the result of a pass on a fast-pace jump serve.
Off the Block opted to specifically review the footage from these two Daemen home matches because they were against EIVA opponents. Penn State has won three consecutive EIVA championships and has multiple players who are jump servers.
Lumsden Gymnasium is a 40-year-old arena on the Daemen campus with a seating capacity of 1,000 people. This will be the first time it will host a men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament match.
Lumsden Gymnasium meets all necessary ceiling height requirements per USA Volleyball and NCAA playing venue guidelines.
No arena is immune from a volleyball potentially making contact with the ceiling or an object suspended from the ceiling. Even larger arenas can occasionally have a volleyball make contact with the jumbotron during a rally.
The NCAA men’s volleyball committee selected Daemen over Penn State as the host site for the play-in match.
The play-in match is the only match in the NCAA Tournament that will take place on a team’s home court.
The winner of this play-in match between Penn State and Daemen will advance to face the No. 2 seed Hawai’i in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will all be played at the neutral site of Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.