FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Penn State men's volleyball team extended its win streak to a season-high four games with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-20) victory at Sacred Heart Saturday evening.
Penn State gets back to .500 overall on the season at 12-12 and improves to 8-2 in EIVA action with just four conference matches remaining. The Nittany Lions sit alone in second place behind Princeton (9-1).
Sacred Heart (3-12) falls to 1-8 in EIVA play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams ended up hitting above .400 in the first set, but it would ultimately be the Nittany Lions taking the 1-0 lead with a 25-19 set win. Penn State grabbed hold of the frame early behind back-to-back aces by Jason Donorovich and by scoring six of seven points to lead 14-7, including another service ace by Matthew McLaren.
Sacred Heart managed to work its way back to as close as five, but the Nittany Lions kept the Pioneers from making any sort of extended run. Both McLaren and Brett Wildman were perfect in the first set on the offensive end with four kills on four swings each.
Penn State asserted dominance in the second set with a 10-point win much in part to the Nittany Lions great pass and serve game. Through two sets, the Nittany Lions had nine service aces and did not have a reception error. Penn State never trailed in the frame and hit .348 (12-4-23).
In the third set, Penn State once again used an early lead to put the Pioneers' backs to the wall. Another McLaren service ace put Penn State up 10-6 followed by a Canyon Tuman kill at 11-7.
Sacred Heart used a 5-2 scoring run to pull back within one at 14-13, but the Pioneers immediately gave three points back on attack errors. Both teams put together an impressive rally with the score at 18-16, but Penn State capped the rally with a big swing from Wildman to go back up by three.
Cal Fisher had a pair of kills in the final stretch of the match and Calvin Mende and Donorovich also pitched in with a block and kill each to help Penn State win the final set by five.
GAME NOTES
- Brett Wildman led all player with 11 kills while hitting .300 for the match (11-5-20). He also had three service aces, four digs, and a block. His three ace total ties a career best last achieved March 19 against Ohio State.
- Jason Donorovich added seven kills at a .357 clip (7-2-14), marking the 15th time this season he has hit .333 or better.
- Matthew McLaren hit .714 with six kills and tied Wildman with three aces. He now has five matches with three aces this season.
- Cal Fisher had a nice effort off the bench with five kills on ten attacks. It's the tenth time this season he has had at least five kills in a match.
- Libero Will Bantle had four digs for Penn State before suffering an injury in a nasty collision with a teammate at the start of the third set. Henry Payne replaced Bantle in the third and came up with a pair of digs.
- The Nittany Lions dominated the serve-and-pass game with 11 service aces versus just one reception error. The 11 aces are the second highest total by PSU this season (13, Jan. 12 vs. North Greenville) while its one reception error is the lowest single-game mark of the year.
- The Nittany Lions are now 11-2 this season when outhitting their opponent. Penn State had a .343 (37-14-67) to .224 (25-12-28) edge in this match.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions host their final two home matches of the season against Charleston and George Mason next Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, at Rec Hall. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.