This week's news and notes:
Penn State rose to No. 15 in the AVCA rankings after it delivered a 3-0 week against ranked opponents and strengthened its lead in the EIVA. The success was assisted in large part by the work of Players of the Week Sean Harvey and Owen Rose.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sean Harvey, R-So., OH, Penn State
Sean delivered plenty of offensive power for the No. 17 Nittany Lions in three victories against ranked opponents. The redshirt sophomore outside hitter began his week with a 20-kill outing on .472 hitting against No. 15 Ohio State on March 18, adding three digs and a block during the 3-1 win. Penn State followed with a pair of 3-0 sweeps of No. 19 NJIT on March 27 and 28. Harvey had 10 kills on .353 hitting with an assist, five digs and three blocks in the first match. He posted nine kills on .350 hitting with one ace, four digs and four blocks the following day. His total for the week saw 39 kills on .411 hitting with one ace, one assist, eight blocks, 12 digs and he was 53 for 58 in service receptions. Harvey leads the EIVA in hitting (.311), ranks third in kills per set (3.43) and third in points per set (4.07). Harvey has recorded at least nine kills in 17 of his 18 matches this season. This is the third EIVA weekly honor for Harvey for the season and his career.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Owen Rose, R-Sr., MB, Penn State
Owen notched three more solid outings at the net for Penn State in three wins against ranked foes. The redshirt sophomore had two kills on .333 hitting with an ace, a dig and four blocks in a four-set win against No. 15 Ohio State. In the first of two 3-0 wins against No. 19 NJIT, he had nine kills on an error-free 10 swings to hit .900, plus one assist and six blocks. It marked the sixth time this season Rose had at least five kills in a match while hitting over .600. In his second outing against the Highlanders Rose had four kills on .375 hitting with three aces, one assist, one dig and six blocks, one solo. Rose, who entered the weekend leading the nation in blocking at 1.328 per set, has recorded at least six blocks in a match six times this season. He totaled 15 kills on .619 hitting, four aces, two assists, two digs and 16 blocks. He also was 4 for 4 in service receptions. This is the sixth EIVA weekly honor of Rose’s career and second of the season.

2026 EIVA Weekly Award Winners

THIS WEEK IN THE EIVA

• With three weeks remaining in the regular season and mostly conference matches remaining on the schedules, there is still much to be determined. Penn State strengthened its lead atop the EIVA but is far from locking in, and mathematically all seven teams still have a chance to finish anywhere from first to seventh.
• The EIVA Championship Tournament bracket and a breakdown of head-to-head tiebreaker comparisons through last weekend can be found below.
• The Nittany Lions took a pair of 3-0 wins from NJIT, which had entered the weekend one game behind PSU in the loss column. The Highlanders were held to .165 and .160 hitting in the two matches, their lowest since Jan. 10 against Ball State. The Lions hit .361 on the weekend while finding success in other stat categories in each match. The first night PSU held a 24-14 edge in digs, while Match 2 saw a 9-2 edge in aces, a 7-14 margin in service errors and a 14.5-5 advantage in blocks. That helped push PSU to No. 1 nationally in blocking.
• The other two conference battles saw split weekends. Charleston and Princeton each won 3-0 in Dillon Gym, with the Tigers picking up their first EIVA victory of 2026. The Eagles won their match thanks to an offense that hit .411 and a defense that held the Tigers to .174. The next day the script was flipped, with Princeton hitting .444 and the Eagles .079.
• In the Pitt Center, Harvard and Sacred Heart each won 3-1. The Crimson earned their first road win of the season and the Pioneers picked up their first conference triumph.
• George Mason took a pair from Saint Francis in the Patriots’ final non-conference matches. The Red Flash, a former EIVA member which will drop to NCAA Div. III next season, played their final regular-season contest against an EIVA team. The Patriots extended their win streak to six and improved to 11-2 at home, winning their last eight. GMU survived a five-set battle in the opener, in which the teams combined for 297 swings, a 58-55 GMU edge in kills and 58-54 edge in digs. The Patriots had 24 errors and hit .228 in the match but hit 9-0-12 .750 in Set 5. SFU hit 8-1-13 .538 in the fifth. And yet the entire match had only six ties and one lead change (in the third set). Match 2, a 3-1 GMU win, had nine ties and one lead change in the first set alone, 28 ties and 10 changes in the match.
• Penn State also played its final non-conference match, dropping then-No. 15 Ohio State 3-1 at Pittsburgh’s Fitzgerald Field House.
• The Nittany Lions rose to No. 15 in the AVCA top 20, and are receiving votes in Off The Block’s media poll, while NJIT remained No. 19 in the AVCA list. GMU is receiving votes in the AVCA balloting.
• Charleston is No. 6 in OTB’s Div. II coaches’ poll.

Last Week's Top Performers

• Owen Woolbert (Jr., MB, HARV) hit 20-4-33 .485 for the weekend with one assist, four digs and nine blocks, two solo. In Match 1 vs. SHU he hit 12-2-16 .625.
• Zach Berty (Sr., OH, HARV) had 27 kills, two aces, one assist, 16 digs and two blocks, one solo. He had 13 kills and 12 digs in Match 1 vs. SHU.
• Sawyer Nichols (So., OH, HARV) had 27 kills, two assists, one ace, 16 digs and four blocks, one solo.
• Aidan Weltin (So., OPP, GMU) had 33 kills, one ace, 22 digs and six blocks, one solo. He had double-doubles in both matches vs. SFU, with 20 kills and 11 digs in Match 1 and 13 kills and 11 digs in Match 2.
• Robert Evangelista (Jr., OH, GMU) had 30 kills, three assists, three blocks, nine digs and was 37 for 39 in service receptions.
• Matthew Luoma (R-Jr., OPP, PSU) had 31 kills, four aces, one assist, 11 blocks and 19 digs.
• Alex Heins (Fr., MB, NJIT) had identical lines of seven kills on .600 hitting with four blocks in each match vs. PSU.
• Jaron Popp (Jr., OH, SHU) had 16 kills on .464 hitting, two aces, one assist, seven digs and seven blocks, one solo.
• Petr Beranek (Jr., OH, SHU) had 27 kills, two assists, 15 digs and five blocks, two solo.
• Aleksa Mandic (Jr., OH, SHU) had 29 kills on .308 hitting, five aces, one assist, one block and five digs.
• Owen Mellon (Sr., PIN, PRIN) had 26 kills on .409 hitting with one assist, two blocks and eight digs.
• Lucas Torres (Sr., OH, UCWV) had 24 kills, two aces, four blocks and nine digs.
• Braxton Francis (So., MB, UCWV) had nine kills, four aces, nine blocks and three digs.

EIVA Standings
EIVA Schedule
EIVA Statistics

EIVA RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS

AVCA Top 20 (Non EIVA)	3-25
Big West	1-11
Conf. Carolinas	7-2
ECC	11-3
GLVC	0-0
IVA	7-3
MIVA	4-13
MPSF	2-7
NEC	18-3
SIAC	2-0

EIVA IN NCAA TOP 20 STAT RANKINGS
Div. I-II Team Leaders
(via ncaa.com through March 29)
Aces Per Set: 1. LBSU 2.49
Assists Per Set: 1. UCLA 13.03; 16. George Mason 11.44
Blocks Per Set: 1. Penn State 2.806; 14. Charleston 2.253
Digs Per Set: 1. N Greenville 11.00; 17. George Mason 9.22; 20. Charleston 9.08
Hitting Percentage: 1. UCLA .393
Kills Per Set: 1. Hawai’i 13.78; 8. George Mason 12.55
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 1. Barry .159; 15. Penn State .214; 16. Charleston .215
Team Attacks Per Set: 1. King (TN) 30.60; 16. George Mason 28.11
Div. I-II Individual Leaders
(via ncaa.com through March 29)
Aces Per Set: 1. Zach Solomon (Linden-wood) .689; 12. Aleksa Mandic (SHU) .491
Assists Per Set: 1. Andrew Rowan (UCLA) 11.67; 13. Georgi Zahariev (GMU) 9.86; 14. Yotam Briger (UCWV) 9.76
Attacks Per Set: 1. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 9.97; 10. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 8.72
Blocks Per Set: 1. Owen Rose (PSU) 1.366; 17. Tristan Whitfield (PRIN) 1.020; 20. Alexander Lillie (GMU) 1.014
Digs Per Set: 1. Bobby Clapp (Barry) 2.92; 16. Ryan Merk (PSU) 2.31
Hitting Percentage: 1. Morgan Makovec (Tusculum) .529
Kills Per Set: 1. Cole Hartke (Pep) 4.33; 5. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 4.01; 12. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 3.78
Points Per Set: 1. Cole Hartke (Pep) 5.32; 5. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 4.65; 12. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 4.37
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
AVCA Div. I-II Coaches’ Poll
March 30

Rank	School [first-place votes]	Pts. Adj.	Rec.	Prev.
1	UCLA [25]	500	20-0	1
2	Hawai‘i	473	21-3	2
3	Long Beach State	442	16-4	3
4	Southern California	419	14-3	4
5	UC Irvine	404	15-3	5
6	Pepperdine	387	17-4	6
7	Ball State	335	20-3	7
8	UC Santa Barbara	308	11-9	8
9	Loyola Chicago	286	15-6	10
10	BYU	281	17-8	9
11	Lindenwood	254	18-4	11
12	McKendree	207	15-8	12
13	UC San Diego	198	11-9	13
14	Stanford	178	9-10	14
15	Penn State	151	14-7	17
T-16	Lewis	123	14-11	16
T-16	Ohio State	123	12-10	15
18	CSUN	94	12-8	18
19	NJIT	33	13-8	19
20	Purdue Fort Wayne	24	9-10	20

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Belmont Abbey 18; George Mason 9
3 teams mentioned on only one ballot for 5 points.
Dropped out: None
OFF THE BLOCK Media Poll
March 31

Rank	School	Rec.	Pts.	Prev.
1	UCLA	20-0	130 (10)	1
2	Hawai’i	21-3	116	2
3	Long Beach State	16-4	90	3
T-4	USC	14-3	84	4
T-4	UC Irvine	15-3	84	5
6	Pepperdine	17-4	75	6
7	Ball State	20-3	57	7
8	Lindenwood	18-4	23	8
9	Loyola	15-6	20	RV
10	UC Santa Barbara	10-9	15	10

Also receiving votes: BYU 13; McKendree 5; Penn State 2; Ohio State 1
Dropped out of rankings: BYU
OTB Div. II Coaches Poll
March 25

Rank	School	Rec.	Pts.	Prev.
1	McKendree	14-7	80 (8)	1
2	Lewis	14-10	72	2
3	Lincoln Memorial	11-6	63	3
4	Belmont Abbey	13-4	52	4
5	Missouri S&T	10-5	41	T-5
6	Charleston	12-9	39	T-5
7	Rockhurst	12-10	35	7
8	Concordia	5-14	20	8
9	Mount Olive	9-7	17	9
10	Barry	14-5	12	10

Also receiving votes: Maryville 5; Vanguard 2; Daemen 1; Roosevelt 1 
Dropped out: Maryville
NCAA RPI
March 17

Rank	School
1	UCLA
2	Hawai’i
3	Ball State
4	Long Beach State
5	UC Irvine
6	Southern Cal.
7	Lindenwood
8	Loyola Chicago
9	McKendree
10	Ohio State
	EIVA TEAMS
13	Penn State
18	George Mason
20	NJIT
29	Charleston
35	Harvard
39	Princeton
56	Sacred Heart