This week's news and notes:
This week’s EIVA award winners helped their teams sweep weekend series of conference matches. Penn State’s Sean Harvey is the Offensive Player of the Week and NJIT’s Daniel Latkowski is the Defensive Player of the Week for Feb. 16, 2026.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sean Harvey, R-So., OH, Penn State
Sean made some big plays in big moments for Penn State in a weekend sweep at Princeton in a rematch of the 2025 EIVA Tournament Championship match. The redshirt sophomore outside hitter totaled 34 kills on .333 hitting with two aces, two assists, 11 digs and six blocks. He notched a career-high 22 kills on 40 swings to hit .325, adding one ace, one assist, eight digs and four blocks on Feb. 13 as the Nittany Lions withstood a Tiger rally for a 3-2 win. Harvey had four kills and a block during the decisive 15-11 fifth set win, including two kills and a block for the Lions’ final three points. He followed with 12 kills on .348 hitting with one assist, one ace, three digs and two blocks as part of a 3-0 sweep. Harvey has had at least nine kills in each of his 12 matches this season, ranks third in the EIVA in kills per set (3.52), third in points per set (4.08) and fourth in hitting (.305). This is the second EIVA weekly honor for Harvey for the season and his career.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Daniel Latkowski, Fr., MB, NJIT
Daniel put up a wall that was tough to beat, and was nearly unstoppable hitting, as the Highlanders took a pair of 3-1 victories at Harvard on Feb. 13-14. The freshman middle blocker totaled 14 kills with only one error, hitting .500 in each contest, while adding an ace, a dig and 15 blocks. In the first match he had six kills on 12 swings with an ace and five blocks. The next day he had eight kills with one error on 14 attempts, one dig and a career-high 10 blocks. He also was 3 for 3 in his service receptions. The 10 blocks ties for the single-match lead in the EIVA this season and is tied for second nationally in a four-set contest. He is hitting .471 this season, which would lead the EIVA and rank top-five nationally, but he doesn’t have enough attempts to qualify. He also is sixth in the EIVA at 0.98 blocks per set, and over his last seven matches he is hitting 50-7-81 .531 with 31 blocks. In six of those outings he hit .500 or better. This is Latkowski’s first career EIVA weekly award.
Around the EIVA
The past week saw the first full week of conference play, with only Sacred Heart waiting to play its first EIVA contests (Feb. 20-21 at Charleston).
Two of last weekend’s series were 2-0 sweeps, with the only split 3-0 wins each for George Mason and Charleston. Road teams were 5-1 in the conference matches.
The weekend also saw a rematch of 2025 EIVA Tournament Championship at Dillon Gym, with Penn State defeating Princeton 3-1 and 3-0. The Nittany Lions won the first match 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 22-25, 15-11 and the second match 30-28, 25-21, 28-26. The Lions put up a big block both days, with a 16.5-8.5 advantage in the first match and 11.5-7.5 margin in the second. The performance moved PSU up to fifth in the nation averaging 2.714 blocks per set.
NJIT scored a pair of 3-1 wins against Harvard, extending the team’s win streak to eight. It is the Highlanders’ longest run since taking nine straight in 2021.
In addition to the Pioneers’ trip to West Virginia, the Nittany Lions host the Crimson. The rest of the weekend’s matches are in New Jersey, with George Mason at NJIT and Fairleigh Dickinson, Princeton at FDU and Manhattan at NJIT.
Penn State is No. 16 in this week’s AVCA coaches’ poll, NJIT is tied at 19 with Lincoln Memorial and Princeton is receiving votes.
Charleston is No. 6 in Off The Block’s Div. II coaches’ poll.
Last Week’s Top Performers
- Owen Woolbert (Jr., MB, HARV) moved to opposite for the weekend vs. NJIT due to a teammate’s illness, resulting in career-high matches in kills, swings, aces, points and digs. He also reached 100 career block assists. He had 11 kills on 34 swings with three aces, two blocks and a dig in Match 1 vs. NJIT. The next day he had 17 kills on 35 swings, five blocks and 10 digs. Before the weekend, his 23 swings vs. Manhattan on Jan. 17 was the only time in his career he had taken over 20 swings in a match.
- Brian Thomas (Sr., MB, HARV) hit 14-2-26 .462 with two digs and nine blocks, three solo.
- Sawyer Nichols (So., OH, HARV) had the best weekend of his career in kills and digs, hitting 25-7-54 .333 with two assists, one ace, three blocks and 16 digs.
- Ryan Merk (R-Sr., L, PSU) has not allowed an ace in his last four matches, going 48 for 48 during the stretch, and has allowed only four aces in 207 chances this season (.981). He has a 2.69 passing rating and his 2.38 digs per set leads the EIVA and ranks 12th nationally. He had 24 digs vs. Princeton, six assists and was 35 for 35 in service receptions.
- Gaige Gabriel (So., MB, PSU) hit 11-3-19 .421 with two aces, one assist, two digs and 14 blocks, one solo. In Match 1 vs. Princeton he had a career high 10 blocks, and during a 6-0 fifth-set Lion run he had three blocks and a kill.
- Owen Rose (R-Sr., MB, PSU) hit 10-2-18 .444 with two aces, two assists and 12 blocks, two solo. In Match 2 vs. Princeton he hit 6-0-9 .667 with an ace and seven blocks.
- Wiktor Nowak (So., OPP, NJIT) continues to post big numbers with 35 kills on .310 hitting, three aces, nine digs and five blocks vs. Harvard. He has double digits in kills in his past five matches and 9 of his last 10.
- Bruno Figueiredo (So., S, NJIT) had 93 assists, one kill, one ace, nine digs and nine blocks while guiding the Highlanders to .302 hitting.
- Alexander Lillie (So., MB, GMU) was a perfect 7 for 7 in his swings in Match 2 vs. Charleston, adding two aces, an assist, a dig and four blocks, two solo.
- Xander Bomert (So., OPP, UCWV) hit 9-0-11 .818 in Match 2 vs. George Mason.
- Max Nissen (So., OH, UCWV) had 21 kills, two assists, three blocks and six digs over two matches vs. GMU.
- Aleksa Mandic (Jr., OH, SHU) had 18 kills on .412 hitting with one ace, two assists, one block and six digs.
- Harryzen Soares (So., L, SHU) had 14 digs with no errors in service receptions.
- Nolan Kelly (Jr., S, PRIN) had a pair of double-doubles with 43 assists, two aces, one block and 13 digs in Match 1 vs. PSU; 28 assists, one ace, two blocks and 10 digs in Match 2.
- Ambrose Engling (So., PIN, PRIN) had 24 kills, three digs and five blocks.
EIVA Standings
EIVA Schedule
EIVA Statistics
EIVA RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
| AVCA Top 20 (Non EIVA) |
1-19 |
| Big West |
0-9 |
| Conf. Carolinas |
3-1 |
| ECC |
6-1 |
| GLVC |
0-0 |
| IVA |
4-1 |
| MIVA |
2-11 |
| MPSF |
2-5 |
| NEC |
13-1 |
| SIAC |
1-0 |
EIVA IN NCAA TOP 20 STAT RANKINGS
Div. I-II Team Leaders
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 16)
Aces Per Set: 1. LBSU 2.94; 17. Harvard 1.43
Assists Per Set: 1. UCLA 13.31; 17. Penn State 11.57
Blocks Per Set: 1. Tusculum 3.111; 5. Penn State 2.714; 19. Charleston 2.256; 20. Princeton 2.250
Digs Per Set: 1. King (TN) 10.64; 16 Penn State 9.36; 20. Charleston 8.98
Hitting Percentage: 1. UCLA .427; 18. Sacred Heart .281; 20. Penn State .280
Kills Per Set: 1. UCLA 14.03; 15. Penn State 12.38
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 1. N Greenville .119; 18. Penn State .229
Team Attacks Per Set: 1. King (TN) 31.95
Div. I-II Individual Leaders
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 16)
Aces Per Set: 1. Skyler Varga (LBSU) .879; 13. Quinn Bishop (HARV) .517
Assists Per Set: 1. Andrew Rowan (UCLA) 11.86; 19. Yotam Briger (UCWV) 9.38; 20. Bruno Figueiredo (NJIT) 9.34
Attacks Per Set: 1. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 10.70; 7. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 8.94
Blocks Per Set: 1. Ryan Geraci (Barton) 1.600; 13. Owen Rose (PSU) 1.167; 20. Austin Buchanan (SHU) 1.083
Digs Per Set: 1. Nelson Castellanos (SW Bap) 3.16; 12. Ryan Merk (PSU) 2.38
Hitting Percentage: 1. Trevor Clark (UC Irvine) .583
Kills Per Set: 1. Dillon Klein (USC) 4.34; 3. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 4.96; 18. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 3.69
Points Per Set: 1. Cole Hartke (Pep) 5.42; 10. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 4.52
NATIONAL RANKINGS
AVCA Div. I-II Coaches’ Poll
Feb. 16
| Rank |
School [first-place votes] |
Pts. Adj. |
Rec. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
UCLA [24] |
499 |
11-0 |
1 |
| 2 |
Long Beach State [1] |
471 |
9-1 |
2 |
| 3 |
Hawai‘i |
447 |
12-1 |
3 |
| 4 |
UC Irvine |
424 |
12-1 |
5 |
| 5 |
Southern California |
408 |
8-1 |
4 |
| 6 |
Pepperdine |
374 |
7-2 |
6 |
| 7 |
BYU |
348 |
11-2 |
7 |
| 8 |
Ball State |
311 |
12-1 |
9 |
| 9 |
Loyola Chicago |
304 |
8-4 |
8 |
| 10 |
UC San Diego |
268 |
6-4 |
10 |
| 11 |
Lindenwood |
243 |
9-2 |
13 |
| 12 |
McKendree |
186 |
6-6 |
12 |
| 13 |
Ohio State |
176 |
7-4 |
11 |
| 14 |
UC Santa Barbara |
169 |
6-5 |
T-15 |
| 15 |
Lewis |
158 |
7-6 |
14 |
| 16 |
Penn State |
153 |
8-4 |
T-15 |
| 17 |
CSUN |
116 |
7-4 |
17 |
| 18 |
Stanford |
106 |
3-8 |
18 |
| T-19 |
Lincoln Memorial |
33 |
7-3 |
19 |
| T-19 |
NJIT |
33 |
8-5 |
20 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Purdue Fort Wayne 12; Princeton 5; Concordia 4; Belmont Abbey 2
One team mentioned on only one ballot for three points.
Dropped out: None
OFF THE BLOCK Media Poll
Feb. 17
| Rank |
School |
Rec. |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
UCLA |
11-0 |
130 (13) |
1 |
| 2 |
Long Beach State |
9-1 |
115 |
2 |
| 3. |
UC Irvine |
12-1 |
95 |
3 |
| 4 |
Hawai’i |
12-1 |
92 |
4 |
| 5 |
USC |
8-1 |
82 |
5 |
| 6 |
Pepperdine |
7-2 |
60 |
6 |
| 7 |
Ball State |
12-1 |
54 |
8 |
| 8 |
BYU |
11-2 |
45 |
7 |
| 9 |
Loyola |
8-4 |
19 |
9 |
| 10 |
Lindenwood |
9-2 |
13 |
10 |
Also receiving votes: UC San Diego 7; Belmont Abbey 3
Dropped out of rankings: Lewis
OTB Div. II Coaches Poll
Feb. 11
| Rank |
School |
Rec. |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
McKendree |
6-4 |
135 |
3 |
| 2 |
Lewis |
6-5 |
127 |
1 |
| 3 |
Missouri S&T |
5-3 |
105 |
2 |
| 4 |
Lincoln Memorial |
5-3 |
89 |
4 |
| 5 |
Concordia |
3-5 |
68 |
6 |
| 6 |
Charleston |
5-5 |
58 |
5 |
| 7 |
Mount Olive |
3-3 |
55 |
10 |
| 8 |
Belmont Abbey |
3-0 |
54 |
8 |
| 9 |
Rockhurst |
4-7 |
48 |
7 |
| 10 |
Vanguard |
3-5 |
16 |
9 |
Also receiving votes: Daemen 4; Barry 3; Fort Valley State 2; St. Thomas Aquinas 2; Tusculum 2; Jessup 1; Roberts Wesleyan 1
Dropped out: N/A