UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State closed the regular season on a high note with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-22) win over No. 19 Princeton in an EIVA match Saturday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions enter the postseason at 11-15 overall and 8-4 in the conference while the Tigers dropped to 14-10, 10-2.
As the regular season champion, Princeton is the top seed and will host the six-team EIVA Tournament on April 23-26. The Tigers earned one of the two byes into the semifinal round. Penn State, which isn’t hosting the conference tournament for the first time since 2019, earned the three seed and will play six-seeded Harvard in the first round on Wednesday.
Penn State hit .368 in Saturday’s win, doing so behind 36 assists from Michael Schwob. Miller Trubey finished with a career-high 15 kills on .300 hitting, matched Schwob for the team high with three aces, and added five digs, which matched Sean Harvey for the most on the team. Harvey was the other top offensive threat for the Nittany Lions with 10 kills on .769 hitting. Owen Rose hit .545 with seven kills, while Carter Dittman chipped in with five kills and no errors on seven attacks.
The Nittany Lions dominated the serve-receive portion of the match, totaling 11 aces compared to just two for the Tigers. Joining Trubey and Schwob with aces were Gaige Gabriel with two and Dittman, Harvey, and Will Kuhns with one apiece. Dittman and Merk did the work in the back row to help limit Princeton’s aces. Dittman was a perfect 18-18 on serve receptions, while Merk was unblemished with a 9-9 mark.
Both teams rested some of their top players. Usual starter Matthew Luoma didn’t play for Penn State, while Kuhns, the team’s most prolific offensive option, only appeared in the first set. Princeton was without Ryan Vena, Henry Wedbush, Mason Rice, and Nyherowo Omene.
Stepping up for Princeton was Andrew Werner with 12 kills on .455 hitting, four digs, and three blocks. Jameson Vaccaro also contributed 12 kills.
Set 1
Trubey went off in the opening set, hitting .700 with eight kills, three aces, and two digs to lead Penn State to a 25-18 win. The Nittany Lions trailed 17-15 before going on an 8-0 run. Trubey, who was at the service line for seven of those points, started the run with a kill and followed it with three straight aces. He later ended the set with his eighth kill.
Set 2
It was Harvey’s turn to go off in the second set, hitting .875 with seven kills and two digs in Penn State’s 25-22 win. Schwob tallied 14 assists as the Nittany Lions hit .538. The Nittany Lions again had a late run to take control, scoring three straight points to go up 22-19. Following a kill by Princeton, the Nittany Lions closed the set with another 3-0 run that included a kill by Trubey and an ace by Schwob for set point.
Set 3
Four aces helped Penn State win 25-22 in the final set. The set was highlighted by a pair of Nittany Lions coming through with their first-career kill. Nate Egerstrom’s first kill put them up 20-13, while Blainey Jones bounced one for his first kill to make it 21-13. Princeton fought back to get within two at 24-22, but Penn State finished off the sweep with a kill by Harvey.
Career Highs
Carter Dittman – blocks (3)
Nate Egerstrom – kills (1)
Blainey Jones – kills (1)
Miller Trubey – kills (15)
Up Next
Third-seeded Penn State plays sixth-seeded Harvard in the EIVA First Round Wednesday at Princeton.