University Park, Pa. — A strong NCAA performance by the men's tennis and a national championship by the men's volleyball squad picked up additional points for Penn State in the first spring standings of the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup, released today by NACDA. Penn State sits in fourth place in the overall standings with 912 total points, 24.5 points ahead of fifth place Texas.
This first release of the spring standings included the sports of women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's tennis, men's volleyball and women's water polo.
The men's volleyball team captured the program's second national championship with a 3-1 victory over Pepperdine back on May 3. The Nittany Lions were just one loss away from a perfect season in doing so, going 30-1 and 11-1 in the EIVA. The 20008 season also saw the program capture its 10th consecutive EIVA Championship and its 20th overall. Junior Matt Anderson was named the EIVA Player of the Year while freshman Dennis Del Valle was named the conference's Freshman of the Year. Five Nittany Lions were named AVCA All-Americans while head coach Mark Pavlik earned AVCA National Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.
The men's tennis team grabbed a bid to the NCAA Tennis Championships for the third consecutive year and fifth time overall after finishing 38th in the ITA rankings with a 16-12 record. The Nittany Lions picked up just the second NCAA Championship win in school history with a first-round sweep of VCU. Senior Michael James, who was an All-Big Ten selection for the second-straight year, was selected as the Senior Player of the Year in the ITA Northeast Region, while assistant coach Dan Holman was named ITA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year and freshman Eddie Bourchier garnered ITA Northeast Region Rookie Player of the Year.
The final Director's Cup standings will be released following the completion of the remaining spring championships, which include the sports of men's golf, men's and women's outdoor track and field, softball and baseball.