The Nittany Lions won both of their matches to open the 2026 season, the first of which was against Mount Olive. Before the match Penn State raised a banner to celebrate winning the 2025 EIVA Championship Tournament title.
Photo courtesy Penn State Athletics

Men's Volleyball Gordon Brunskill

Week 1 Roundup: 2026 season kicks off

The Nittany Lions won both of their matches to open the 2026 season, the first of which was against Mount Olive. Before the match Penn State raised a banner to celebrate winning the 2025 EIVA Championship Tournament title.
The 2026 season has begun, with teams hitting the court in a variety of places. This week's news and notes:
With wins in each of its matches during the opening weekend, Penn State produced both Players of the Week. Sean Harvey earned the honors on offense and Ryan Merk led the defense.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sean Harvey, R-So., OH, Penn State
Sean paced the Nittany Lion offense in kills in each of the team’s weekend wins, opening the season by defeating Mount Olive 3-1 and sweeping Manhattan 3-0. The redshirt sophomore posted 13 kills on .276 hitting with an assist, five digs and three blocks in the Jan. 9 opener. The next day he had 14 kills while hitting .667 with an ace, a dig and a solo block. He totaled 27 kills on .426 hitting with an ace, an assist, six digs and four blocks, two solo. He also was 29 for 30 in service receptions. This is the first career EIVA weekly honor for Harvey.
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Merk, R-Sr., L, Penn State
Ryan anchored the defense to help the No. 13 Nittany Lions to a pair of wins to open the season. During a 3-1 win against Mount Olive on Jan. 9 and a 3-0 sweep of Manhattan on Jan. 10, the redshirt senior libero totaled 18 digs and added three assists. He posted nine digs in each match, adding a perfect 36 for 36 in service receptions. His work helped hold PSU’s two opponents to .158 hitting on the weekend. The three-time All-American entered the season with 663 career digs, which is eighth on Penn State’s all-time list. This is the fifth EIVA weekly honor of Merk’s career.

Around the EIVA
  • Five EIVA teams hit the court during the first week-plus of the season. Princeton and Sacred Heart also saw action in exhibition matches.
  • NJIT had the busiest itinerary, playing five matches, four against ranked opponents, in three states over 10 days. The road trip began Jan. 2 with the first of two at then-No. 2 Hawaii, followed by visits to 14 Ohio State, 16 Ball State and closed at PFW.
  • Harvard also had a challenging opening trip, going to 7 UC Irvine, 12 CSUN and 17 UCSB.
  • Penn State posted a 2-0 record, beating Mount Olive and Manhattan at home, the latter match being the first for the Jaspers as a D-I program. Before facing the Trojans, PSU raised a banner for its 2025 EIVA tournament title.
  • The Nittany Lions are tied with Ohio State at 13 in the AVCA coaches’ poll. Princeton is 18th and George Mason is 20th, while Charleston also was receiving votes.
  • More ranked opponents await this week, including Princeton at 7 UC Irvine and 5 USC, George Mason at T-13 Ohio State and 2 LBSU, 15 McKendree at Charleston and 9 Lewis at PSU.
  • The conference tournament will be held April 22-25 at the home of the regular-season champion.
Last Week's Top Performers
  • Andre Aleixo (Fr., OH, NJIT) totaled 54 kills. Five aces, one assist, 24 digs and seven blocks, three solo, during the Highlanders’ five-match road trip. His trip was capped with 16 kills, three aces, six digs and a block vs. PFW.
  • Wiktor Nowak (So., OPP, NJIT) collected 50 kills, two aces, one assist, 13 digs and a dozen blocks over five matches. He had 20 kills, an assist, five digs and nine blocks vs. PFW.
  • Sawyer Nichols (So., OH, Harvard) led the Crimson in kills in all three west-coast matches, totaling 30 kills, 16 digs and six blocks.
  • Xander Bomert (So., OPP, UCWV) hit 11-1-15 .667 with two blocks vs. Lees-McRae.
  • Braxton Francis (Sr., MB, UCWV) hit 5-0-9 .556 with five blocks.
  • Lucas Torres (Sr., OH, UCWV) hit 8-2-12 .500 with an ace, two assists, five digs and a block.
  • Liam French (R-Sr., OH, GMU) had 15 kills on .357 hitting with an ace and four digs vs. Catawba.
  • Robert Evangelista (Jr., OH, GMU) had 14 kills on .381 hitting with two aces, an assist, five digs and a block.
  • Stef Kins (So., L, GMU) had 14 digs, two assists and one receiving error.
  • Gaige Gabriel (So., MB, PSU) hit 13-1-27 .444 with two aces, one assist, seven blocks and five digs.
  • Jaidyn Bethel (R-Fr., OH, PSU) made his collegiate debut with two sets vs. Mount Olive and one set vs. Manhattan, totaling 9-0-12 .750 hitting with three digs and three blocks.
  • Miller Trubey (R-Jr., OPP, PSU) played three sets vs. UMO, posting 10 kills, six digs, two blocks and one ace that was clocked at 71 mph.
EIVA RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
AVCA Top 15 (Non EIVA)    0-7
Big West                              0-5
Conf. Carolinas                    2-0
ECC                                     0-0
GLVC                                   0-0
IVA                                       0-1
MIVA                                    0-3
MPSF                                   0-0
NEC                                     1-0
SIAC                                     0-0
NCAA D-III/NAIA                  0-0

NATIONAL RANKINGS
AVCA Div. I-II Coaches’ Poll
Jan. 12
Rank School [first-place votes] Pts. Adj. Rec. Prev.
1 UCLA [20] 495 2-0 1
2 Long Beach State [4] 473 2-0 3
T-3 Hawai‘i 427 3-1 2
T-3 Pepperdine 427 2-0 4
5 Southern California [1] 405 1-0 5
6 Loyola Chicago 376 1-1 7
7 UC Irvine 369 3-0 6
8 BYU 312 2-0 8
9 Lewis 286 2-0 12
10 UC San Diego 264 3-0 10
11 Stanford 240 0-1 9
12 CSUN 237 3-0 11
T-13 Ohio State 178 2-0 14
T-13 Penn State 178 2-0 13
15 McKendree 157 0-2 15
16 Ball State 144 3-0 16
17 UC Santa Barbara 127 3-0 17
18 Princeton 70 0-0 18
19 Lincoln Memorial 46 2-0 20
20 George Mason 12 0-1 19
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Charleston 9; Belmont Abbey 8; Fort Valley State 8
4 teams mentioned on only one ballot for 6 points
Dropped out: None