PROVO, Utah – The No. 15 Penn State men's volleyball team hung tight throughout the entire match but couldn't come out with a set win in a 3-0 loss (19-25, 22-25, 21-25) to No. 3 BYU Saturday evening at Smith Fieldhouse.
Penn State (0-2) struggled with service errors and the BYU defense at the point of attack as the Nittany Lions dropped their second match of their opening weekend on the road.
BYU (4-0) has defeated all ranked teams to begin its 2020 schedule.
HOW IT HAPPENED
BYU had a scorching start in set one to lead 6-1, but Penn State immediately closed the gap on service from Cal Fisher. Fisher had three service aces and forced an overpass on another serve and enabled PSU to tie the score at six.
The Nittany Lions wound up with five service aces in the opening set, but despite winning the battle at the line, BYU dominated at the net defensively. The Cougars finished with 7.0 team blocks in the first set alone to keep Penn State at bay. BYU took the first frame by six.
Penn State had a much better start to the second set thanks to back-to-back kills early by Sam Marsh. Marsh later teamed up with Cole Bogner for Penn State's first block of the match to give Penn State the 9-6 advantage.
Despite holding the lead early, the score slowly started getting away from Penn State as BYU chipped into the lead. Another Cougars block allowed BYU to take the lead at 16-15 and then back-to-back kills later in the set put them ahead by two 18-16.
Penn State hit .281 in set two compared to .038 in the first frame, but BYU found the plays it needed down the stretch to take the second set by three, including two kills from Gabi Garcia Fernandez.
Another decent start for Penn State in the third set gave them an early advantage. A kill from Fisher gave Penn State a 6-4 edge, but the Cougars immediately responded with three points to take the 7-6 lead.
Neither team led by more than two in the set until three-straight errors by the Nittany Lions put BYU up 21-18 late in the set. That dug a hole a little too big for Penn State to crawl out of as BYU took the third and final set by four.
GAME NOTES
- The Nittany Lions had three new starters from their season opener, with redshirt junior Bobby Wilden getting his first career start at outside. Sophomore Sam Marsh also started and middle blocker and sophomore Cal Fisher got the start at opposite hitter.
- Fisher led all players with four service aces and Will Bantle led all players with seven digs.
- BYU's advantages in team blocks (13.0-3.5), hitting percentage (.328-.210) and sideout percentage (70.3-58.9) were all keys to the Cougars coming out on top.
- Despite leading 7-4 in service aces for the match, Penn State had its struggles at the line with 22 service errors. BYU had 10.
NEXT UP
- Penn State heads to Illinois next weekend, Jan. 17-18, to face off with Loyola-Chicago and Lewis.