UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – The Penn State men's volleyball team had three players in double-digit kills and had several individuals set season-best offensive numbers in a four-set win (25-23, 16-25, 25-16, 25-23) over EIVA opponent NJIT Saturday evening in the Rec Hall South Gym.
Penn State improves to 8-8 on the season and 5-2 in conference play while the Highlanders fell to 4-8 overall and 0-5 in the EIVA.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- NJIT started out with the early advantage at 10-7 before Calvin Mende and Jason Donorovich teamed up for a big block to bring the Nittany Lions back within two.
- Matthew McLaren gave the Nittany Lions the lead with back-to-back service aces at 12-11.
- NJIT responded with four points in a row to force a Nittany Lions timeout.
- McLaren came up big again with back-to-back kills and Mende added another big swing to cap an extended rally to give the Nittany Lions a 19-18 edge.
- The Nittany Lions scored three-straight on a pair of Henrik Falck Lauten kills and an NJIT error to take the set.
- Set Score: Penn State 25-23
- Match Score: Penn State 1-0
Second Set
- The Highlanders once again got off the better start in the second set with a 12-9 lead and led by four points at 14-10 before Penn State called timeout.
- NJIT extended its lead to six at 17-11 after a couple of over passes from the Nittany Lions led to Highlander points.
- Offensively, NJIT hit .750 (16-1-20) while the Nittany Lions hit just .294 (9-4-17). The Highlanders were nearly perfect on their sideout opportunities at 16-for-17 (94%).
- Set Score: NJIT 25-16
- Match Score: Match tied 1-1
Third Set
- Penn State flipped the script early on in set three to lead 5-3. Falck Lauten had Canyon Tuman each had a pair of kills.
- Mende added two more kills to bring the score to 15-11 in Penn State's favor.
- After Will Bantle came up with an impressive dig, Falck Lauten connected McLaren on the left side with a set from the back line for a kill to give Penn State the 17-12 lead.
- The Nittany Lions closed the set on four-straight points. Mende finished an NJIT overpass followed by a Falck Lauten kill, a block by Mende and Tuman, and a kill by Tuman.
- Set Score: Penn State 25-16
- Match Score: Penn State 2-1
Fourth Set
- NJIT had a 4-1 advantage early but the Nittany Lions stormed back to take a 6-4 lead with five points in a row on Luke Braswell's serve.
- Both teams exchanged the lead and traded points back and forth to tie the score in the middle the set. Penn State took a two-point edge 18-16 when Donorovich punished an overpass and NJIT missed the mark on an attack.
- Penn State closed the set on its second match point on the 18th kill of the night by Falck Lauten. The Nittany Lions hit .450 in the fourth set (13-4-20) to win the match.
- Set Score: Penn State 25-23
- Match Score: Penn State wins 3-1
STAT STANDOUTS
- Mike Anderson Man of The Match: Henrik Falck Lauten had a season-best 18 kills, the most by a Nittany Lion in a match this season. He also hit .538 (18-4-26) while also tying Will Bantle for the team lead with eight digs.
- Luke Braswell also set a season high with 47 assists and added six digs.
- Penn State had three players with double-digit kills, as Matthew McLaren (15) and Calvin Mende (13) joined Falck Lauten. Between the trio, they hit .458 (36-13-72).
- Canyon Tuman also had an effective night with seven kills on eight swings (.875) while tying Mende with the team lead with three blocks.
- Penn State's .415 hitting percentage (57-18-94) as a team was its second-highest total of the season after they hit .439 Jan. 12 versus North Greenville.
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions make their second trip of the season to California for the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge. Penn State takes on USC Friday, March 8 and UCLA Saturday, March 9.