SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE
• Long Beacn State, the defending national champion, is ranked second in the nation after starting 11-2 overall. Both losses came to undefeated and top-ranked UCLA.
• The Beach are coming off back-to-back wins over Concordia Irvine.
• Long Beach State ranks first in the nation in aces/set (2.71) and fourth in the nation in hitting percentage (.372).
• The Beach have the top two individual spots in the nation in aces/set. Skyler Varga (0.78) ranks first, while Alex Kandev (0.75) ranks second.

IN THE POLL
• Penn State was ranked No. 16 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll and has been ranked in each of the first nine polls of this season.
• The Nittany Lions have appeared in the Coaches Poll for a total of 617 of the 652 weeks since the rankings debuted in 1986. That stands as the fifth most of any program in the nation.

CAREER HIGHS SET LAST WEEK
vs. Merrimack – Friday
Kyle Fagan – kills (2), assists (1)
Bennett Wilson – kills (4), assists (1), digs (3), blocks (1)

CONFERENCE LEADERS
• Penn State leads all EIVA teams in aces/set (1.42), blocks/set (2.86), hitting percentage (.276), winning percentage (.733), and opponent hitting percentage (.194).
• Individually, Ryan Merk ranks first in the EIVA in digs/set (2.35). Owen Rose ranks first in blocks/set (1.37), and Sean Harvey ranks first in hitting percentage (.293).

RECORD FOR ROSE
• Owen Rose needed just three sets to a set a program record with 14 blocks, including four solo, in a sweep over Harvard on Feb. 20.
• Rose’s 14 blocks broke the previous record of 13 accomplished by Kevin Hourican against Rutgers Newark during the sideout scoring era in 1995, Keith Kowal against Princeton during the rally scoring era in 2005, and Nate Meerstein vs. UC Irvine during the rally scoring era in 2006.
• Rose ranks first in the EIVA this season and second nationally in blocks/set (1.37).