COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penn State men’s volleyball season came to an end Thursday with a hard-fought 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23) loss to No. 2 Hawaii in the quarterfinal round of the National Collegiate Championship at Ohio State’s Covelli Center. The Nittany Lions, who made their 35th appearance in the national tournament, closed the season at 15-16.
Will Kuhns made the most of his last match as a Nittany Lion, hitting .421 with 11 kills, nine digs, and one ace. In his lone season as a full-time starter the graduate outside hitter led the team in kills (330) and aces (37). He ranked second on the team in kills/set (3.14), digs (140), and digs/set (1.33).
Matthew Luoma joined Kuhns in double-digits as he led all players in the match with 17 kills in addition to five blocks. Sean Harvey came off the bench and finished with eight kills.
Penn State held the prolific Hawaii attack to .238 hitting. That effort was fueled by Owen Rose with six blocks in addition to his five kills on .500 hitting. Michael Schwob contributed to the defense with his eight digs and two blocks.
Hawaii did find success setting its middles. Kurt Nusterer hit .571 with nine kills, while Justin Todd hit .800 with eight kills. The two combined for just one error on their 24 attacks.
Finn Kearney did a little bit of everything for the Rainbow Warriors. He was the leader on the team in kills (16), digs (10), and aces (4).
Hawaii, the champion out of the Big West, improved to 27-5 overall and will play third-seeded UCLA in the NC Semifinal on Saturday.
Set 1
Penn State started strong with a 6-0 run and led by as much as eight at 11-3 only to watch Hawaii storm back to get a 25-19 win in the opening set. The 6-0 run started with a kill by Kuhns, followed with three straight kills by Luoma, and ended with a kill by Rose. The Nittany Lions later took their eight-point lead after an attack error by Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors needed little time to erase the deficit as they went on a 9-0 run to go up 12-11. Kearney served for three aces during that stretch, including the go-ahead point. A service error ended the run, but Hawaii followed that with three straight points to take a 15-12 advantage. The Rainbow Warriors never trailed after that. Penn State did tie the score at 17-all after back-to-back kills by Luoma. Hawaii followed with another 3-0 run and controlled the rest of the set.
Set 2
Kuhns hit .667 with five kills to lead Penn State to a 25-21 win in the second set. Luoma added four kills on .500 hitting and was in on two blocks. The Nittany Lions trailed by three multiple times early in the set, including as late as 11-8. They later used a 4-0 run to go up 16-14. The run was fueled by three kills from Kuhns and one from Luoma. They further pulled away with a 4-0 run that put them up 21-16. That run was highlighted by a triple block from Luoma, Rose, and Harvey, and included multiple Hawaii attack errors. The Rainbow Warriors only got as close as three the rest of the way. Set point was scored on a kill by Luoma.
Set 3
Hawaii won a defensive battle in the third set, coming out on top 25-23. The Rainbow Warriors hit just .184 but held Penn State to a .216 clip. The set was tied eight times and saw four lead changes. Penn State led 12-10 after a kill by Schwob, but Hawaii responded with a 4-0 run and didn’t trail the rest of the way. The Nittany Lions nearly put together a late comeback, tying the score at 22-all with a 3-0 run. Kills by Gaige Gabriel and Harvey forced a Hawaii timeout. Luoma followed with a kill after the break. A Penn State attack error and an ace by Tread Rosenthal gave the Rainbow Warriors a chance at set point. The first attempt was stopped thanks to a block by Luoma and Gabriel. The second attempt was successful with a kill by Nusterer.
Set 4
Kuhns and Harvey had four kills apiece, but Hawaii used a balanced attack with six players combining for 13 kills to get another 25-23 win that closed the match. Penn State produced another quick start with a 3-0 lead after a run that was capped by a block from Rose and Luoma. The Nittany Lions later upped their lead to four at 5-1 with an ace by Luoma and again at 6-2 with a kill by Harvey. They still had a nice cushion with a three-point lead at 10-7 after another Harvey kill. The teams were even for most of the set. Hawaii didn’t take its first lead until going up 18-17 following back-to-back aces by Louis Sakanoko. Penn State took a slight edge late in the set, going up 22-21 with a kill by Rose and an attack error by Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors called timeout and came out of it with a 3-0 run to go up 24-22. Nusterer sparked that run with a kill. Hawaii’s first chance at match point was stopped with a kill by Kuhns. Miller Trubey subbed in for Penn State and came through with a nice serve, but the Rainbow Warriors were able to secure the win with a kill by Todd.
Final Notes
- After starting the season 0-7 with every loss coming to nationally-ranked opponents, Penn State went 15-9 the rest of the way.
- The Nittany Lions won five of their final six matches, all by sweep.
- Carter Dittman started the final six matches of his sophomore season.
- Ryan Merk has now started 92 straight matches at libero for Penn State.
- Gaige Gabriel started every match of his freshman season at middle blocker.
- Michael Schwob tallied 19 aces over the final seven matches. He had at least one ace in 13 of the final 14 matches.
- Owen Rose had at least five kills while hitting .500 or better in 10 of the final 14 matches.
- Matthew Luoma tallied double-digit kills in each of the final seven matches. He had double-digit kills in 11 of his final 13 matches of the season.
- Mark Pavlik completed his 31st season as the head coach of Penn State. His 694 wins rank fourth among all divisions in the history of NCAA men’s volleyball. He is 18 wins shy of tying Pete Hanson (Ohio State) for third.