PRINCETON, N.J. – The Penn State men's volleyball team locked into an instant classic with Princeton in the EIVA Championship match, ultimately falling in five sets to the Tigers (26-28, 25-22, 18-25, 25-20, 13-15) Saturday evening at Princeton's Dillon Gymnasium.
It was the first EIVA Championship match to be decided in five sets since 2002 when the Nittany Lions took down Rutgers-Newark.
The Nittany Lions (15-15) conclude their 2019 season just shy of another EIVA Championship, but complete the season at .500 after being 8-12 in mid-March.
The Tigers (17-12) win their second EIVA title in program history and their first since 1998. They advance to the NCAA Tournament via automatic bid.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Princeton held a one-or-two-point advantage for the early portion of the first set until a Brett Wildman kill followed by a solo block from Cole Bogner tied the score 12-12. The Tigers bounced right back with six of the next eight points capped by a George Huhmann service ace to force a Nittany Lion timeout.
Penn State mounted a furious rally down 21-16 by scoring eight of the next ten points to set up a game-point opportunity, 24-23. Princeton did what it needed to flip the rally back in its favor, and though Penn State thwarted two set points, the Tigers eventually scored on their third to take the first set 28-26.
The second set was just as close as the first set with neither team leading by more than one until another Huhmann service ace gave Princeton a 16-14 advantage. Penn State immediately responded with the next three points, including a Matthew McLaren kill and a Brett Wildman service ace.
Another three-point spurt by the Nittany Lions put them in great position to close the set with a 22-19 lead. Penn State did just that, courtesy of a kills by Jason Donorovich and Wildman plus a Tiger service error to tie the match at a game apiece.
The Nittany Lions had to catch up Princeton for much of the third set. The Tigers led 8-5 and 12-9 early in the frame and kept Penn State from making a comeback. Errors plagued Penn State in the set, as the Nittany Lions hit just .133 with seven attack errors.
The fourth set was a mirror image of the third with Penn State slowly building on an early lead resulting in a five-point set win. A Bogner kill followed by a Donorovich and Henrik Falck Lauten block with another Wildman kill put Penn State up 17-12. Penn State coasted to close the set and force a fifth game for the EIVA title.
The energy intensified in Dillon Gymnasium for the fifth set and the result was an epic finish. Both teams went point-for-point in the first half of the set with Princeton being the first to eight thanks to a block.
Princeton took the next two points to extend its lead to 10-7, but the Nittany Lions wouldn't go away easily and took the following pair of points. The Tigers countered with four of the next five points capped by Kendall Ratter's kill and an ace to put Princeton at match point.
With their backs against the wall, the Nittany Lions dug deep to fend off two championship points. McLaren was set up for a kill and then aced his next serve to pull the score to 14-13, but Princeton's Huhmann scored the 15th point to give Princeton the match and the EIVA title.
HEAR IT FROM THEM
Head Coach Mark Pavlik
- "Tonight, I couldn't have been more proud of our guys. If you would have said to me in February that we'd be tied 8-8 in game five of the EIVA Championship, I would have jumped on it. This team has been through so much this year with injuries and different lineups. Their resiliency and desire to create a true team atmosphere has really for us, certainly this week."
- "I think there's a big future for this team. The future is bright."
- "This may have been the most fun match I've ever had on the bench. These guys were locked in to what we wanted to do strategically. They were locked in competitively. You looked out there and you saw a team out there. You didn't see six individuals."
Matthew McLaren
- "I've been in a lot of matches, but to be in the match that close and that competitive was amazing."
- "To go out in a match like that where we kept battling it out and didn't back off was amazing and I wouldn't want to go out any other way."
Brett Wildman
- "We'll miss the seniors this year like no other. We've learned so much from them, not just in volleyball but in general."
GAME NOTES
- Brett Wildman followed up his career night Thursday evening in the semifinals with arguably an even better performance in the title match. Wildman had 24 kills on 50 swings, both career highs, while also hitting .300 for the match. Wildman was named to the EIVA All-Tournament Team after recording 46 kills and hitting a combined .367 for the weekend. He also had six digs and a pair of service aces in the title match.
- Henrik Falck Lauten was Penn State's other representative on the EIVA All-Tournament team after posting 11 kills and eight digs in the title game to bring his tournament totals to 25 kills and 16 digs.
- Matthew McLaren ended his Penn State career with a 17-kill performance and added seven digs and two service aces. He had 26 kills and hit .282 for the tournament.
- Cole Bogner had another 50+ assist effort with 52 assists to bring his tournament total to 109. He also posted 11 digs, marking the third double-double recorded by a Nittany Lion this season.
- Jason Donorovich posted eight kills for the second-consecutive match on 16 swings and led Penn State with three block assists.
- Penn State had more kills (66-59) and aces (7-6) than Princeton, but the Tigers held a significant edge in team blocks (12.0-5.0) and had 10 less errors (25-15).