FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The No. 9 Penn State men's volleyball team completed its second reverse sweep of the season to remain perfect in EIVA play with a 3-2 win (25-27, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15, 15-11) over Sacred Heart Friday evening.
The Nittany Lions (7-6, 3-0 EIVA) had a huge offensive performance from sophomore opposite hitter Cal Fisher, who posted 29.0 points and his first career double-double in the win.
Sacred Heart (4-5, 0-4 EIVA) won the first two games but ultimately fell victim to 13 Penn State service aces, five of which came from Fisher, tying his career high.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first set was very close throughout, but the Pioneers made the first significant run with four in a row to lead 15-12 and Penn State called timeout. The Nittany Lions responded to tie it at 18 before two kills from Brett Wildman gave PSU leads of 19-18 and 21-20.
However, it was Sacred Heart who mustered a set-clinching run of four-of-five points to end win the frame 27-25.
Penn State was in good position to take the second set after a Cole Bogner and Jason Donorovich block gave the Nittany Lions a 21-18 lead, but Sacred Heart rallied late again to take four-straight points for a 22-21 lead. The Pioneers wouldn't give up that advantage, taking the second set 25-23.
Down two games to none, the Nittany Lions needed a big spark to bring them back into the match, and they found their spark in Fisher. The Pittsburgh native had a pivotal three-point run on his own with a kill and two aces to give PSU the 19-14 edge in the third set. That run gave Penn State the margin it needed to win its first set of the match 25-18.
Penn State's offense also got a lift from Bobby Wilden off the bench, like last Friday's match against Princeton. After hitting .545 as a team in the third game, PSU had another strong offensive output at .452 in the fourth game.
Penn State ran off a five-point run from 16-12 to 21-12 which included a big block from Marsh and Fisher after an extended volley back-and-forth. Sacred Heart had no answer for the big deficit as Penn State took the game by a margin of 10, sending the match to a fifth and deciding set.
Sacred Heart started off the fifth set hot with a 6-3 lead, but the Nittany Lions managed to take four of the next six points to trail by one as both teams switched sides.
The Nittany Lions then rattled off the most important run of the match with five points in a row. Wildman started the run with a kill, proceeded by a Bogner kill, Fisher service ace, a block from Donorovich and Wildman, and then one more Bogner kill. The Nittany Lions' 13-9 lead was more than enough for Penn State to trade points and win the match with a 15-11 fifth frame.
NOTABLE STATS
- Cal Fisher's career night included a team-best 23 kills at a .476 clip (23-3-42), five service aces, and 10 digs for his first career double-double. Fisher has set career high kill numbers in back-to-back matches after his 13-kill performance against NJIT last Saturday.
- Cole Bogner tied his career high with 57 assists, a mark he initially set in last season's EIVA semifinal match against George Mason. He also had eight digs plus his crucial two kills in the five-point run late in the fifth game.
- Brett Wildman had his third career 20-kill performance with 22 while hitting .306 (22-7-29). He also tacked on three blocks, two aces, and five digs.
- Bobby Wilden had just one attacking error versus eight kills (.538) in his four sets of action. He along with Sam Marsh and Jason Donorovich had two aces each, marking five Nittany Lions with multiple service aces.
- Penn State had a season-high 13 service aces in the match while allowing just three aces for the Pioneers.
- The Nittany Lions last won via the reverse sweep this season Jan. 18 against then fifth-ranked Lewis.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions head to Cambridge, Mass. to face Harvard tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. in another EIVA conference match.