PRINCETON, N.J. — Penn State men’s volleyball beat No. 19 Princeton in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) championship on Saturday, April 26.
The road to the championship was simple for the Nittany Lions, two straight sweeps over Harvard and NJIT. The first round game against Harvard, Will Kuhns, Matthew Luoma and Owen Rose led the way on offense, all with over seven kills.
Against NJIT in the semifinal, it was the Luoma and Michael Schwob show. Luoma had 17 kills and two aces to lead the way on offense, while Schwob had 38 assists and three digs. The Nittany Lions won all three sets for the sweep.
The final was against No. 19 Princeton, a team that Penn State is now 2-1 against in 2025. Similar to the first two games of the EIVA tournament, the Nittany Lions swept the Tigers 3-0.
Luoma once again dominated on the offense with a team high 18 kills, the next best was Kuhns with 9. Schwob also added three aces and 25 assists for the Nittany Lions. On the defensive end Gaige Gabriel had five blocks and Ryan Merk had 12 digs.
Following the win, the Nittany Lions found out they will take on Daemen in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 2, in Amherst, New York. This is a play-in game with the winner taking on No. 2 Hawaii on May 8.
Daemen is 15-12 in 2025 with losses to No. 19 Princeton, No. 7 USC, No. 5 UC Irvine and No. 18 UC San Diego. The Wildcats got a bid for the NCAA tournament with a win against Saint Francis in the Northeast Conference Men’s Volleyball Championship.
