MUNCIE, Indiana – The Penn State men's volleyball team suffered another tough road loss thanks to a match-clinching run by Ball State in the fourth-and-deciding set in the Nittany Lions' 3-1 (25-23, 25-18, 25-21, 23-25) loss to the #15 Cardinals Saturday evening.
Penn State (8-12) was able to come out with a set win over a ranked opponent for the second night in a row but ended up dropping in both matches. The Nittany Lions had two set losses with 21 or more points.
Ball State (12-10) came out with its third-straight win while handing Penn State its fourth-consecutive loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Nittany Lions led for the majority of the first set, including holding a two-point edge at 19-17 after a Ball State service error.
The Cardinals quickly turned the score in their favor with three points to lead 20-19, but Penn State hung around and tied the game at 22 after a long review gave the Nittany Lions a point.
Henrik Falck Lauten and Brett Wildman closed the set with a kill apiece to allow the Nittany Lions to take the set.
The Nittany Lions avoided unforced mistakes and had just two attack errors in the set while swinging .400 as a team (14-2-30). Falck Lauten led the Nittany Lions with seven kills in the set without committing an error (7-0-12).
The Cardinals responded with a big second set where they led by as much as eight at several points. Ball State hit .448 in the second as a team while Penn State was held to a .161 clip.
The third set was much more competitive despite the Nittany Lions getting outhit .333-.036 in the frame. The largest lead early in the set was 7-4 Cardinals, but Penn State quickly erased that lead with a three-point run.
Neither team led for more than two points for most the set with Penn State leading 21-20 late. Ball State turned it on and rallied with five points in a row to win the frame behind a pair of kills, a block, and two Nittany Lions errors.
In the fourth set, Ball State held the early lead by as much as three, but the Nittany Lions managed to whittle into the lead to tie the score again. There were 14 ties in the fourth and seven lead changes, including Penn State seemingly taking hold of the game with a four-point run to lead 20-17.
A kill by Matthew McLaren put Penn State ahead 21-18 and that's when the Cardinals started their run. Ball State scored six of the next seven points to bring about their first match point at 24-22. Penn State held off the first match point, but Ball State converted on its second to win the match.
STAT STANDOUTS
- Luke Braswell finished the night with a double-double in assists (31) and digs (11). It's the second double-double of the season for Penn State (Falck Lauten at Loyola Chicago 2/2) and the second career double-double for Braswell (3/3 at Princeton).
- Henrik Falck Lauten tallied his fifth double-digit kill game in the last six outings with 14 kills at a .229 hitting rate (14-6-35). He set a new single-game best with two solo blocks.
- Matthew McLaren had his second-straight game with 10 kills while hitting .304 (10-3-23). He also had six digs.
- Penn State's middle blockers combined for an errorless night on the attack, with Jason Donorovich and Canyon Tuman combining for nine kills without an error.
- Ball State's Matt Szews led all players with 21 kills on 48 attacks (21-9-48, .250).
NEXT UP
- Penn State will have a quick turnaround with its final nonconference bout of the season set for Tuesday, March 19, against Ohio State at Rec Hall. First serve is set for 7 p.m.