PRINCETON, N.J. – Penn State opened the EIVA Tournament with a 3-0 (25-23, 30-28, 25-15) sweep over Harvard in the first round Wednesday night at Princeton’s Dillon Gymnasium. The Nittany Lions improved to 12-15 overall and advanced to the semifinal round, while the Crimson close the season at 9-15.
Third-seeded Penn State now turns its attention to second-seeded NJIT, which it will play in a semifinal matchup Thursday at 7:30 p.m. That match is also at Dillon Gymnasium and will stream on ESPN+.
Penn State held Harvard to .175 hitting behind strong defense at the net and in the back row. Gaige Gabriel and Owen Rose were each in on four of the team’s eight blocks, while Matthew Luoma had three. Will Kuhns led the team in digs with eight, while Carter Dittman was right behind him with six. Ryan Merk did his part with an 18-for-18 mark on serve receptions, marking three straight matches the libero hasn’t allowed an ace.
Kuhns and Luoma led the team’s attack as each recorded double-digit kills. Kuhns finished with a team-high 11, while Luoma tallied 10. Rose was nearly perfect with seven kills and no errors on eight swings.
Penn State won the battle at the service line with seven aces compared to three for Harvard. Michael Schwob had three aces. Gabriel, Luoma, Rose, and Kuhns chipped in with one apiece. Matt Cosgrove didn’t put an ace on the scoresheet but had a key serving run late in the closely-contested second set.
Harvard was paced by Logan Shepherd with nine kills and Sawyer Nichols with seven.
Set 1
Kuhns had five kills, while Rose contributed three on just four attacks to help Penn State edge Harvard 25-23 in the opening set. The Nittany Lions used a 3-0 run to take their largest lead of the set at 18-14. The run started with a kill by Kuhns, continued with a block by Rose and Luoma, and finished with an ace by Gabriel. They still had a strong advantage with a three-point lead at 21-18 before Harvard scored three straight points to tie it up at 21-all. The teams were tied again at 22-22 before Penn State scored back-to-back points with a block by Schwob and Gabriel and a kill by Kuhns to set up an opportunity for set point. The Crimson stopped the first attempt with a kill by Nichols. Dittman came through with a kill on the team’s second chance.
Set 2
Luoma took over in set two with seven kills on .500 hitting to help Penn State outlast Harvard 30-28. This time the Nittany Lions found themselves down three at 20-17 before battling back to get within one at 21-20. They still trailed by one at 22-21 before going on a 3-0 run that included a kill by Luoma. An attack error foiled Penn State’s first chance at set point and a kill by Owen Woolbert stopped the second attempt while tying the score at 24-all. Woolbert went on to stop another chance at set point with a kill that knotted the score at 25-all, while Shepherd did the same to make it 26-26. Harvard’s lone chance at set point came with a 28-27 lead and was denied with a kill by Kuhns. The ball was initially ruled out but the call was overturned upon review. Schwob followed with an ace to make it 29-28. Gabriel and Luoma then teamed up for a block to finish the set.
Set 3
Penn State had just eight kills in the third set but was bolstered by four aces as it rolled to a 25-15 win. Schwob served for two of the aces, while Luoma and Kuhns notched one apiece. The Nittany Lions took advantage of seven Harvard attack errors, just one of which came on a block. Both of Schwob’s aces came during an early 5-0 run that put Penn State up 8-4. The Nittany Lions went on to lead by as much as 10 twice, the second of which was the final score after a Crimson attack error.