Game 9	#14 Penn State (6-4, 1-0 EIVA) at NJIT (4-4, 0-0 EIVA)
Date | Time	Friday, February 10, 2017 | 7p.m.
Location | Arena	Newark, NJ | Fleisher Athletic Center
Live Video | Live Audio	ESPN3, streaming telecast (WatchESPN app, www.WatchESPN.com) Ira Thor (play-by-play); Michael Ventola (color)
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
Social Media	@njithighlanders

NJIT (4-4, 0-0 EIVA) will host #14 Penn State (6-4, 1-0 EIVA) in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) men's volleyball action Friday night on ESPN3 in the Fleisher Athletic Center.

WATCH ON ESPN3
The game will be shown live on ESPN3 with Ira Thor on play-by-play with expert analysis from Michael Ventola.

NJIT will have one additional match streamed live on ESPN3.  The Highlanders will host George Mason on February 17 at 7pm.

LAST TIME OUT VS. PENN STATE
In their last match up on April 2, 2016, Penn State swept the Highlanders 3-0 in Newark, NJ.  The Highlanders took a set off Penn State on February 19, but the Nittany Lions held on for a 3-1 victory.

A LOOK AT NJIT
The Highlanders return 11 letter winners and four starters, including Division I-II honorable mention and second all-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America honoree Jabarry Goodridge.  Goodridge was co-winner of the 2016 Uvaldo Acosta Memorial Player of the Year and first-team selectee in the EIVA.

NJIT's Goodridge notched a match-best 17 kills, leading the Highlanders to a 3-0 sweep at Rutgers-Newark last week in non-conference action at the Golden Dome.  NJIT snapped a two-match skid, improving to .500 (4-4) with the straight set win.

Goodridge leads the Highlanders with 126 kills averaging 4.34 per set while hitting at a .315 clip.  Setter Ricardo Whitaker leads NJIT with 247 assist averaging 9.15 per set.

PRESEASON EIVA RANKINGS
Penn State, 18-time defending Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) champions, were selected as the preseason No. 2 as voted by the league's eight head coaches.

The Nittany Lions, who finished the 2016 season 19-10 advancing to the EIVA Semifinals, received 54 points and one of the eight first-place votes.

Princeton and NJIT were separated by one point as the Tigers earned 33 points to place fourth and the Highlanders secured 32 points to claim the fifth spot in the preseason poll.

The 2017 EIVA Championship Tournament will begin with semifinal action on Thursday, April 20th and the championship match will be on Saturday, April 22nd. The location of the tournament will be the home campus of the regular season champion.

PENN STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Penn State is currently ranked in the top-25 in five different team categories including top-10 rankings in digs per set - 9.00 (9th) and assists per set - 11.87 (10th).

Chris Nugent is ranked 21st in the nation in points per set (4.07) and 16th in the nation in kills per set (3.68), while Kevin Gear is 24th in the nation in blocks per set averaging 0.94.

Luke Braswell is eighth in the nation in assists per set averaging 10.50 and Royce Clemens is ranked fifth in the nation in digs per set averaging 2.63 per set. The Nittany Lions are very balanced as the only team to rank in the top-three of the EIVA in kills, digs and blocks as a team.

NITTANY LIONS 14th IN LATEST AVCA POLL
Penn State (6-4) is fresh off a week of volleyball that featured a Penn State sweep against 2016 EIVA tournament finalist Saint Francis U.

In his 23rd year at the helm of the program, head coach Mark Pavlik has amassed over 500 wins. Pavlik currently stands at 528-166 for his career.