NEWARK, N.J. – The Penn State men's volleyball team took down a tough NJIT squad in a four-set battle 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 26-24) Friday evening clinch its 20th consecutive season with double-digit wins in EIVA play.
Penn State (14-13) improves to 10-3 in the EIVA and can finish as high as second in the conference standings at the end of the regular season.
NJIT (9-14) saw its two-game win streak come to an end and dropped to 4-9 in conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite a very efficient frame by Penn State's hitters, the first set was a close battle until the very last point. The Nittany Lions hit .500 in the frame compared to the Highlanders .194, but Penn State needed a Canyon Tuman kill and a pair of NJIT errors to close the set.
Matthew McLaren and Henrik Falck Lauten paced the Nittany Lions' scoring with four kills each in the frame. Brett Wildman hit .600 with three kills and posted a pair of blocks in the set.
In the second set, the Highlanders used a four-point run to lead 16-11 and led by as much as six at 19-13. Penn State was able to make things interesting after Falck Lauten picked up a kill to pull Penn State within two at 23-21, but NJIT was able to pick up the next two points to tie the match at a game apiece.
NJIT was able to take the second set thanks to an errorless frame on the attack and a .550 hitting percentage as a result. Penn State wasn't far behind with a .481 clip, but its four errors proved costly in the four-point set loss.
Penn State not only continued its solid offensive play in the third, but the Highlanders also struggled to score inside the lines with eight attack errors to allow the Nittany Lions to take the third set handedly. While the Highlanders edged Penn State in kills 8-7, Penn State managed a .308 hitting percentage while using three blocks to keep NJIT at .000 for the frame.
NJIT took a 5-2 edge early in the fourth set before it was quickly erased by three Nittany Lions points, including two Falck Lauten kills. Neither team was able to separate by more than three points for the rest of the frame.
With the score tied at 21, another Falck Lauten kill and a Highlander error gave Penn State a 23-21 advantage, but the Highlanders roared back with the next three points to set themselves up for match point.
After a timeout, the Nittany Lions were handed the next two points thanks to a service error and an attack error to reverse the score in Penn State's favor. On match point for the Nittany Lions, Brett Wildman put home the set from Cole Bogner for his 13th kill of the night to clinch the match.
GAME NOTES
- Henrik Falck Lauten and Brett Wildman were heavily featured in the match both offensively and defensively for the Nittany Lions. Falck Lauten had a team high 14 kills with a .375 hitting percentage (14-2-32). He also had eight digs, a pair of blocks, and a service ace. Wildman hit .500 (13-1-24) with two aces, two blocks, and six digs.
- Cal Fisher made several nice defensive plays with 11 digs and receiving 26 of 27 serves successfully. His 11 digs mark the highest by a Nittany Lion libero in a match this season despite it being just Fisher's third start at the position.
- Matthew McLaren joined Falck Lauten and Wildman in double digits with 11 kills.
- Cole Bogner had 34 assists, his most in a match since posting 26 back on Feb. 2 at Loyola Chicago. He also added four digs and a block.
- Penn State will be able to finish as high as second in the conference after Princeton defeated Saint Francis 3-1 to clinch the EIVA regular season title. The Tigers will host the EIVA Tournament April 18-20.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions will take on Princeton in their regular season finale Saturday night starting at 7 p.m.