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No. 7 Penn State Caps Weekend Road Matches With 3-1 Win Over Sacred Heart



1st2nd3rd4thFinal
#7 Penn State
212525254
Sacred Heart252223131
Box Score (HTML) |Box Score (PDF)PHOTO GALLERY
Penn State Statistical Leaders
- Kills: J. Penrose - 13 -.409 (13-4-22)
- Blocks: K. Gear -5
- Digs: R. Clemens- 8
- Aces: Two Tied - 1
Stat ComparisonPSUSHU
Kills5448
Hitting Pct..336.248
Assists
5146
Aces23
Digs2726
Blocks
9.56.5
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Feb. 13, 2016

FAIRFIELD, CT - No. 7 Penn State captured their eighth win of the season and moved to 3-0 in EIVA play Saturday night as they completed their first four-set match of the year defeating Sacred Heart (21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-13) in the William H. Pitt Center.

Jalen Penrose would lead the Nittany Lion offense racking up 13 kills off the bench, while Chris Nugent and Matthew McLaren would follow up Penrose's 13 kills adding 12 kills each. Taylor Hammond would lead the team in assist with 48; Royce Clemens would contribute on the defensive side of the ball totaling eight digs to go along with Kevin Gear's 5 blocks.

"There was sluggishness to our start, but what I like is the way the bench responded when we started to ask guys to go in and contribute," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "We had some great contributions tonight from the whole team; this was a real team effort."

Sacred Heart (1-8, 1-1) started the game off strong, taking a four point lead 6-2 right out of the gate forcing Coach Mark Pavlik to call the first timeout of the set to get the Nittany Lions on the same page.

Chris Nugent would score out of the timeout on a kill from Taylor Hammond to bring the game to within three trailing 6-3.

Sacred Heart would continue to pour on the points as Penn State would fall behind by as much as seven, down 13-6, before the Lions would rally to make it a three point game off a Pioneer attack error forcing Sacred Heart to call their first timeout of the set.

Out of the timeout Sacred Heart would continue to push the Nittany Lions around during a 4-2 run that would make it 22-17 before coach Pavlik called time for a second time in the set.

Penn State would battle back to make it a three-point game before a service error by the Lions capped the set for Sacred Heart, giving them the win 25-21 and taking a 1-0 set lead.

Winning sets two and three by a combined five points, Penn State would close out the game on a strong note winning the fourth and determining set 25-13 to move to 8-2 on the season and 3-0 in EIVA play.

Penn State has won seven-consecutive games following a 3-1 loss to defending national champion Loyola on Jan. 14 in Chicago.

The Nittany Lions will return to action Feb. 19 when NJIT comes to University Park for a 7 p.m. first whistle in Rec Hall followed by a Saturday match against Princeton in the lone game of the season in South Gym slated for a 4 p.m. start time.