BEHREND, ALTOONA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL EARN POSTSEASON BIDS
The Penn State Behrend men's volleyball team will travel to Springfield, Massachusetts to take on the top-ranked Springfield Pride in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday at 4 p.m.
The Lions (22-7) are making their first-ever appearance in the 16-team tournament, earning the automatic bid after winning their second Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship with a 3-1 win over Geneva on Saturday.
The No. 1 Pride will host one of the four four-team NCAA Regionals with the other first-round match including No. 6 SUNY New Paltz (20-6) vs. Marymount (23-8) at 6:30 p.m.
Friday's winners will play in the second round on Saturday with the Final Four slated for April 22-23.
The Springfield Pride are four-time NCAA Champions and two-time NCAA Runner-Up since 2012. Springfield last won the national championship in 2018. The Pride finished the regular season 26-1 overall and ranked first in the AVCA Division III National Coaches Poll.
The Behrend Lions and Springfield Pride are meeting for the first time in program history.
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The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team also achieved a program first on Monday, when the Lions received a berth to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Championship Tournament.
The ECAC announced its five-team tournament field on Monday, following the NCAA Division III Tournament selection earlier in the day. Penn State Altoona men's volleyball was chosen to compete in the ECAC tournament as the number four seed, marking the first time program history that the team was selected to an ECAC postseason tournament.
As the four seed, the Lions will receive a first-round bye and enter the tournament in the semifinal round on Saturday, April 16, when Penn State Altoona will face number one seed New Jersey City University for an 11:00 a.m. match. The winner of that match will advance to the ECAC championship later that day at 5:00 p.m.
The semifinal and championship matches will be hosted at Ramapo College.
Penn State Altoona men's volleyball has a 15-12 overall record this season, including going 11-5 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference to earn fourth place in the league's regular season standings. The Lions picked up a win in the first round of the AMCC Tournament on Tuesday, April 5, posting a 3-0 sweep of Thiel College. Penn State Altoona was eliminated from the conference tournament last Friday, April 8, when it suffered a 3-1 loss to top seed and eventual champion Penn State Behrend.
New Jersey City went 22-9 overall this season with an 11-3 mark in the Skyline Conference. The Gothic Knights earned the number two seed in the Skyline Tournament, defeating three seed Ramapo 3-0 in the semifinal round before falling 3-2 to top seed St. Joseph's College in the conference championship.