UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – The Penn State men's volleyball team opened its home schedule with a solid nonconference victory over North Greenville 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-17) Saturday evening at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions had eight different players register kills in the match, led by senior Matthew McLaren with seven on 11 attacks.
Redshirt juniors Jason Donorovich and Calvin Mende each pitched in five kills, a total that was also matched by freshman Brett Wildman.
The Nittany Lions had three different setters play in each set. Redshirt junior Luke Braswell started set one and had 11 assists. Freshman Cole Bogner took over for the second and reached double digits with 10 assists. Junior Nathan Smith came up with five assists in set three.
Penn State (1-1) doubled up North Greenville (1-3) in kills 32-16 for the match and ended up swinging at a .493 clip to the Crusaders' .093.
The Nittany Lions also tallied 13 service aces as a team, led by McLaren who had three.
Jackson Gilbert topped the Crusaders with five kills and hit a team-high .143.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
North Greenville came out strong with a 3-1 advantage early, but the Nittany Lions eventually took their first lead of the match 7-6 on a Luke Braswell service ace. Matt McLaren kept the service ace trend going for the Nittany Lions with two of them back-to-back, giving PSU a 10-7 advantage. Both teams traded points until the Nittany Lions handedly ended the set on a three-point run to take the frame by seven points.
Second Set
The Nittany Lions started the second set with a new lineup on the floor, but the team had a similar result carry over from the end of the first set. Kills from freshmen Brett Wildman and Sam Marsh gave the Nittany Lions a 5-3 lead in the frame. Jason Donorovich picked up his second ace of the night to put PSU ahead 10-6. Freshman setter Cole Bogner set up Calvin Mende for a kill for a 13-8 lead and forced an NGU timeout. Wildman came out of the timeout with an ace and Penn State built its lead to as high as nine, the same margin they ended the set on.
Third Set
Penn State's depth continued to put on a show in the final set and its 9-4 advantage early forced an NGU timeout. Six of the 13 Penn State aces came in the third set: two by Marsh, and one each for Cal Fisher McLaren, Canyon Tuman, and Wildman. Penn State never led its lead dip below three points for the remainder of the set and scored five of the last six points to close the match.
HEAR IT FROM COACH
Head Coach Mark Pavlik
- On mindset early in the season: "In January, we understand that no one in men's volleyball is playing their best volleyball right now. Everyone is trying to come up with their lineups, especially after the holiday break where some teams have only practiced maybe five days. January volleyball is a time where we are trying to get better each time out and also a time where we learn to win when we aren't at our best. We went into tonight with that mindset.
- On all five true freshmen getting extended playing time: "I wanted to get our young guys experience tonight because they are pretty good. I think we have to get the freshman up to speed for us and tonight was a good opportunity for them."
- On the team's overall mindset through two games: "I think we are still trying to find our personality and how we are going to take the court everyday at practice and in competition. We're not going to know that with this group for another six weeks or so."
MIKE ANDERSON MAN OF THE MATCH
Matt McLaren
McLaren only saw action in the first and third sets, but he put together a very solid overall offensive performance to lead the Nittany Lions. He had seven kills on 11 attacks with just one error for a hitting percentage of .545. His three aces were the most he's had in a match since the EIVA semifinals last season April 19 vs. Harvard
The Nittany Lions will be back in action at Rec Hall next Friday, January 18 when they host fifth-ranked BYU at 7 p.m.