ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The No. 14 Penn State men's volleyball team didn't let two-set deficit deter them from winning the final three sets in a 3-2 (22-25, 36-38, 25-14, 25-20, 15-12) comeback victory over fifth-ranked Lewis on the road Saturday evening.
Penn State (2-2) rallied from two sets down for the first time since the 2017 season to take down its second-straight ranked opponent on the road. It was also the first time in program history that the Nittany Lions took down both Lewis (3-3) and Loyola Chicago in the Windy City in the same season.
The Nittany Lions had four hitters with double-digit points, led by Bobby Wilden with 20 points from 16 kills, three service aces, and two block assists.
Brett Wildman added 17 kills and hit .364 (17-5-33) and Calvin Mende also hit above .300 (.306, 16-5-36) with three aces, all which came right in a row in the third set.
Libero Will Bantle set a personal single-game high with 19 digs and a perfect 22-22 on serve receive while Cole Bogner had 51 assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn State led for the majority of the first set with its largest lead being three points at multiple points. Lewis chipped away and eventually took the lead at 19-18 and never gave it back, winning the set by three in the end.
Set two proved to be a doozy that lasted 74 points with 15 ties and four lead changes that all occurred after both teams reached 25. Penn State was down six at 17-11, but managed to tie the score 21-21 in what seemed like only the start of a lengthy frame between the two teams.
Penn State fended off Lewis' first set point at 24-23 and the two teams locked into a battle from there. The Nittany Lions swung the serve back in their favor at 27-26 and had six total set points, but Lewis got the two-margin it needed after a kill and a block.
Despite the emotionally charged set that ended in a loss for the Nittany Lions, Penn State came out of the intermission and dominated the third set early and did not look back. Multiple scoring rallies by the Nittany Lions and an efficient attack at .556 (12-2-18) led to their 11-point win in the third game.
While closer than the third, Penn State also hit well as a team at .444 (15-3-27) in the fourth and pulled away late to take the set. The Nittany Lions finished the fourth on a 7-2 run that included a five-point rally to set up the deciding final set.
Lewis took a two-point edge at 6-4 in the fifth, but Penn State rattled off four-straight points to retake the lead that was highlighted by a Bogner-Jason Donorovich block and a Donorovich kill.
The Flyers did manage to tie the score 9-9 and then later at 12-12, but Wilden's kill at 13-12 gave Penn State the final lead it needed. He ended the match at 15-12 with his 16th kill.
HEAR IT FROM THEM
Head Coach Mark Pavlik
- "This was a match that our resiliency was a big factor, especially building off our effort at Loyola yesterday. I think our passers matched up exceptionally well with their servers and to not finish with an receiving error in a five-set match against a talented team like that is outstanding. "
- "I thought Cole Bogner made great decisions at setter running the offense and we're also beginning to see our offense evolve into a pretty solid unit."
- "We felt pretty good about our last 12-14 points in the second set and we preached to the guys to keep at it. Lewis was coming off an emotional match last night against Hawaii and we thought the longer we hung around, the better off we'd be and that's how it played out."
GAME NOTES
- Penn State's victory from behind was its first comeback win after trailing by two games since Feb. 11, 2017 at Princeton.
- The win over No. 5 Lewis was Penn State's first win over a top-five team since March 28, 2017 in a five-set win over No. 1 Ohio State and the first on the road since March 3, 2010 at No. 3 Ohio State.
- Penn State did not allow Lewis to record a service ace for the entire match with a perfect 1.000 serve reception percentage (81-81) while conversely adding nine service aces.
- The 74-point second set was the longest set played by the Nittany Lions since the 2016 season on March 4 at home against UC Northridge (37-39).
- Wilden reached 10 digs to record his first career double-double and received all 22 serves sent his way. Brett Wildman was most targeted by Lewis servers, but received all 35 serves at him.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions will host the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge featuring four matches with Ohio State, UCLA, and USC. Penn State faces UCLA Friday, Jan. 24 and USC Sunday, Jan. 26.