UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Sept. 8, 2011 – The Penn State men’s volleyball team unveiled its 2012 schedule Thursday, Sept. 8. Matches with eight teams ranked in the final AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll highlight Penn State’s schedule.

The teams from the final poll include No.1 Ohio State, No. 3 USC, No. 5 BYU, No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 Pepperdine, No. 12 Loyola-Chicago, No. 13 Lewis and No. 15 Pacific.

Penn State opens the 2012 season with five straight matches on the road beginning with a trip to Ohio State on Jan. 14. The Nittany Lions remain on the road for matches at Loyola (Jan. 20) and Lewis (Jan. 21) before taking on both Stanford and Pacific on a neutral court in Columbus, Ohio. Penn State opens its home slate with the Penn State Tournament on Feb. 3-4. The Nittany Lions welcome Mt. Olive to Rec Hall on Friday, Feb. 3 for their home opener, followed by Cal Baptist on Saturday, Feb. 4. Ohio State will also be in attendance and play at 5 p.m. both days.

The 2011 spring trip has the Nittany Lions heading to California to face Pepperdine on March 8 in Malibu and USC on March 9 in Los Angeles.

This season’s schedule also includes home and away matches with Penn State’s Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) opponents, including Saint Francis (Pa.), Princeton, Rutgers-Newark, Harvard, Sacred Heart, NJIT and George Mason. The Nittany Lions will also have a home and away series with Ohio State. In addition, Penn State will travel to Provo, Utah for back-to-back matches against BYU on April 13-14.

The EIVA Quarterfinals are set for Saturday, April 21 with the top two seeds earning a bye. The EIVA Semifinals and Championship take place on Thursday and Saturday, April 26 and 28 on the campus of the top seed.

USC will host the 2012 NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship, May 3-5.