UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In the end, Penn State did what it had to do and made sure the EIVA postseason road went through Rec Hall.
George Mason, however, made sure it was anything but easy.
The No. 15 Nittany Lions overcame a 2-1 deficit for the third straight match to edge the Patriots 25-16, 22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-6 on April 17.
The result ended George Mason’s 10-match win streak and secure the outright EIVA regular-season title. Penn State (19-7, 11-0), which has won eight straight matches, will host the EIVA Championship Tournament April 22-25.
With one day remaining in the regular season, the Nittany Lions holding the top seed and hosting is the only thing that’s definite. NJIT and George Mason (20-8, 8-3) are tied and will be either second or third. NJIT has the edge if both are tied Saturday night. Charleston and Sacred Heart have secured berths but their seeds are to be determined. Princeton edged Harvard 3-2 in the first of their two matches as they battle for the final berth.
Matthew Luoma and Sean Harvey paced the PSU offense by combining for 43 kills, with each posting four kills on five error-free swings in the fifth sets. The Lions as a team hit an error-free .750 in the fifth while the Patriots hit minus-.091.

Honoring Coach Pav
Dozens of PSU alumni were in the building as the school and program gave tribute to head coach Mark Pavlik, who is retiring after the end of his 32nd season leading the Lions. Fans and alumni also witnessed career win No. 713 for Pavlik, which moves him past former Ohio State coach Pete Hanson for No. 3 on the NCAA men’s volleyball all-time wins list.
Post-match comments from Pavlik
“Somehow this team loves to go into drama, go to Game 5s, but they’re not afraid of Game 5s. … This team kind of relaxes when they go into Game 5 which is good to see.”
“You ask the guys, ‘Keep the main thing the main thing.’ All of this was very nice and I’m very appreciative, very grateful for the people that thought it was important enough to come here, but the main thing was winning the match tonight.”
“That made it nice (having a big crowd), but whether there was this amount of people in or just one, we had to get it done. I didn’t want to have Mason have hope (Saturday).”
Stats
Kills: PSU 62, GMU 42
Hitting: PSU .308, GMU .162
Aces: PSU 4, GMU 1
Blocks: GMU 12, PSU 9
Digs PSU 45, GMU 43
GMU leaders
Aidan Weltin 12 kills, 12 digs
Alexander Lillie 7 kills, .667 hitting, 5 blocks
Georgie Zahariev 29 assists, 3 kills, .143 hitting, 5 blocks (2 solo), 8 digs
PSU leaders
Matthew Luoma 23 kills, .378 hitting, 9 digs
Sean Harvey 20 kills, .375 hitting, 5 blocks, 6 digs
Owen Rose 4 kills, .300 hitting, 5 blocks
Michael Schwob 41 assists, 2 aces, 1 kill, 2 blocks, 7 digs
Bennett Wilson 9 kills, 3 blocks, 9 digs
Ryan Merk 10 digs