FORT WAYNE, Indiana – The Penn State men's volleyball team found itself in a nonconference battle Friday evening at Purdue Fort Wayne but was unable to come up with the points it needed in a close fourth set to drop a 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 23-25) decision to the Mastodons on the road.
Penn State (8-11) sees its losing skid extend to three games. The #13 Mastodons improved to (12-7).
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- Purdue Fort Wayne sped out to a 6-1 lead before Henrik Falck Lauten picked up his second kill to put the run to a halt for Penn State.
- Penn State was able to close the gap to about five points but the Mastodons didn't let the Nittany Lions get any closer in the middle of the set.
- Penn State mounted a comeback down 18-13 with three points in the row after Matthew McLaren picked up a kill and a block with Jason Donorovich.
- Falck Lauten ended up tying the score 21-21 with a kill, but PFW rattled off four in a row and took set one.
- Set Score: Purdue Fort Wayne 25-21
- Match Score: Purdue Fort Wayne leads 1-0
Second Set
- Both teams traded three-point rallies in the second set before going sideout for sideout to bring the score to an 11-11 tie.
- After a Donorovich kill gave Penn State its 12th point of the set, the Nittany Lions benefitted from three-straight Mastodon errors to lead 15-12.
- Luke Braswell picked up a service ace to give Penn State a 20-16 lead and Penn State rode a scoring wave to the end of the set.
- Calvin Mende and Falck Lauten scored twice and teamed up with Canyon Tuman for block before McLaren finished the set with a kill.
- Set Score: Penn State 25-18
- Match Score: Match Tied 1-1
Third Set
- Purdue Fort Wayne took the initial lead in the set and ended up not giving it up for the remainder of the frame.
- Donorovich and Braswell picked up a block to pull Penn State within one at 10-9 and Falck Lauten had a kill to make it 11-10, but that would be the closest the Nittany Lions would get.
- The Mastodons ran off six of the next seven points capped by a service ace before a triple block by Penn State ended the run.
- Penn State made things interesting by pulling within three points at 22-19 on a Mende swing, but Fort Wayne scored three of the next five to take its second set of the match.
- Set Score: Purdue Fort Wayne 25-20
- Match Score: Purdue Fort Wayne leads 2-1
Fourth Set
- The fourth set was tightly contested throughout as neither team led by more than two the entire duration of the frame.
- Penn State trailed 14-12 but swung the score around with a pair of blocks and a kill to lead by one.
- Falck Lauten tied the score at 23 and McLaren followed by tying the score at 23 on a pair of kills.
- Purdue Fort Wayne scored the next point to bring up match point. After a Penn State timeout, Pelegrin Vargas finished the match with a game-clinching kill.
- Set Score: Purdue Fort Wayne 25-23
- Match Score: Purdue Fort Wayne wins 3-1
STAT STANDOUTS
- Henrik Falck Lauten had a game-high 13 kills for the Nittany Lions while hitting at a .310 clip (13-4-29). It was the fourth time in the last five matches he has had double-digit kills. He also had 17 serve receptions without an error.
- Matthew McLaren had 10 kills with a .333 hitting percentage (10-3-21) while tying Will Bantle for the team lead in digs with eight.
- Canyon Tuman had a team-best seven blocks while chipping in five kills and a .444 hitting percentage.
NEXT UP
- Penn State plays its final nonconference road match of the season Saturday evening at #15 Ball State.