| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | #6 Penn State
| 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 | | Charleston | 15 | 14 | 13 | 0 |
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| Penn State Statistical Leaders | | - Kills: C. Nugent - 8 - .583 (8-1-12) | | - Blocks: M. Seifert - 3 | | - Digs: R. Clemens- 6 | | - Aces: Four Tied - 2 |
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| Stat Comparison | PSU | UC | | Kills | 33 | 25 | | Hitting Pct. | .397 | .095 | Assists
| 31 | 24 | | Aces | 10 | 0 | | Digs | 23 | 20 | Blocks
| 6.0 | 3.0 |
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Feb. 26, 2016
Post-Game Notes
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sixth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball (11-2, 6-0) stormed past Charleston (4-11, 0-6) in straight sets (25-15, 25-13, 25-14) Friday evening at Rec Hall.
"In a match like this sometimes where the rhythm and the physicality level is so varied and different from what our guys see every day in practice it can be fuel for a letdown," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "To their credit, I think they everyone up and down the roster that was on the court did a great job tonight, we really didn't let our standard of play drop off at all."
Penn State used a balanced offensive attack to take down the Golden Eagles as seven different Nittany Lions had at least two kills in the win. Chris Nugent led the way with eight kills on .583 hitting, while also tallying two aces and three digs.
Matthew McLaren tallied seven kills after entering the game in the second set, hitting .500 with three digs to earn Mike Anderson Penn State Player of the Match honors. Andrew Roberts and Jalen Penrose added four kills each, while Lee Smith notched three.
Taylor Hammond dished out 11 assists in the first set before Zack Parik took over to finish with 16 assists, three digs and one block.
From the service line, the Nittany Lions owned a 10-0 advantage, helped out by two aces from Smith, Nugent, Roberts and Kevin Gear.
Defensively, libero Royce Clemens finished first on the team with six digs while Matt Seifert posted a team-high three blocks.
Penn State and Charleston opened the match trading points to keep it close. With the Nittany Lions leading by only one point, 9-8, a kill and a pair of aces from Nugent lifted Penn State ahead by as many as four, 12-8. The Eagles looked to cut off the momentum with a kill, 12-9, but the Nittany Lions responded with a 7-2 scoring streak to bolster the lead to as many as eight, 19-11.
Charleston called timeout looking to slow the rhythm, but Penn State closed out the first set on a 6-4 stretch, capped off by kills from Nugent, Smith and Callaway to take the first set, 25-15.
The Nittany Lions switched up the lineup in the second set, as Parik, Gear, McLaren and Penrose all stepped on to the court to replace the opening starters. Penn State shot out to a 7-1 start to take control of an early lead. The two teams briefly traded service errors before the Eagles used a 6-5 run to narrow the gap to five, 12-7.
Penrose quickly responded with a kill to spark an 8-3 streak that sent the Nittany Lions surging ahead by as many as 10, 20-10. The Eagles attempted to halt the run with a kill, 20-11, but a kill from McLaren opened up a 5-2 run that carried the Nittany Lions to a 25-13 win in the second set for a 2-0 lead at the intermission.
The Nittany Lions moved out to another fast start in the third set, using a 10-5 run to cause Charleston to use an early timeout. An Eagle attack error out of the break made it 11-5, but UC followed with a kill to trim the deficit to five, 11-6. Penn State followed with a 14-8 stretch to close out the third set with a 25-14 win to complete the sweep.
Next up, Penn State welcomes George Mason to Rec Hall for another EIVA conference matchup. First serve between the Nittany Lions and the Patriots is set for 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.
