UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 14 Penn State men's volleyball team heads to Illinois for a pair of nonconference matches against ranked opponents Loyola Chicago and Lewis out of the MIVA Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17-18.
The Nittany Lions head to the No. 12 Ramblers Friday evening at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT before playing the No. 5 Flyers in Romeoville Saturday evening at the same time.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
No. 14 Penn State (0-2, 0-0 EIVA) vs. No. 12 Loyola Chicago (1-3, 0-0 MIVA)
Date: Friday, Jan. 17
Time: 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT
Live stream: ESPN+ (Subscription required)
Live stats: StatBroadcast
Penn State vs. No. 5 Lewis (3-1, 0-0 MIVA)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 18
Time: 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT
Live stream: GLVC Sports Network
Live stats: Sidearm
Game notes: Penn State game notes
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE RAMBLERS AND FLYERS
Loyola Chicago leads the all-time series 15-12 and have won the last two. The two teams last matched up last season on Feb. 2 with Loyola taking a 3-1 win (21-25, 25-16, 31-29, 27-25).
Penn State leads the all-time series against Lewis 21-15. Lewis has won the last four matchups, including last year's matchup on Feb. 1, 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-12).
LAST TIME OUT: AT NO. 3 BYU
Penn State opened the season with a pair of straight-set losses against the Cougars in Provo, Utah. In match one, sophomore Brett Wildman led the team with 11 kills hitting .421 (11-3-19). PSU held leads in both the first and third sets and nearly took both from the Cougars, but BYU rallied to take match one.
In the second match, Penn State switched up the starting lineup with three new starters, including redshirt junior Bobby Wilden at outside hitter getting his first starting nod. He recorded a team-best 10 kills and found a rhythm in the second and third sets, swinging .467 (8-1-15) in the last two frames. BYU's defense at the net proved to be the deciding difference, as they had a 13.0-3.5 advantage for the match in team blocks.
SERVE-RECEIVE SOLID
Penn State's serve-receive game in its two matches at BYU was very solid, as the Nittany Lions finished 114-121 (.942) against the Cougars. Senior outside hitter Henrik Falck Lauten went a perfect 22-22 in match one and redshirt sophomore libero Will Bantle went 18-18 in the second match with a 34-36 mark for the weekend.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions return to State College for their home openers in the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge featuring Penn State, Ohio State, UCLA, and USC. PSU will face UCLA Friday, Jan. 24 and USC Sunday, Jan. 26.
