LA JOLLA, Calif. – The No. 10 Penn State men's volleyball team ran into a hot-hitting UC San Diego team and lost its ranked nonconference match 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-21) Wednesday evening.
Penn State (11-8) had another tough night offensively with a .092 team hitting percentage, but Brett Wildman led the team with 10 kills at a .319 clip and two aces.
Meanwhile, the sixth-ranked Tritons (13-5) hit .315, including a .407 mark in the second set, and also had 11.0-4.0 edge in total blocks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first run of the game went UCSD's way when the Tritons scored six in a row on a spurt that included three kills, a block, and an ace to lead 13-7 in set one.
A kill from Jason Donorovich on an overpass quickly followed by a Cal Fisher ace brought PSU back within as close as three, but the Tritons immediately sprung back to re-extend the lead to six at 17-11 and force Penn State's second timeout of the set.
UCSD gradually widened its advantage from six to a set-ending nine to win the first game, 25-16.
The Tritons continued their run in the second set by speeding out to a 12-6 advantage as the Nittany Lions struggled to find an offensive groove.
Penn State shrunk the margin to four with a kill by Luke Braswell, a block by Braswell and Donorovich, and a Wildman ace to make it 14-10, but the Tritons would cruise from there until set point when Penn State rattled off four in a row to make it 24-21. After a UCSD timeout, the Tritons finished the second 25-21.
The third set looked to be more of the same as the Tritons led early, but the Nittany Lions made some substitutions that sparked the offense. Braswell had an ace, followed by a block from Canyon Tuman and Calvin Mende to tie the set 13-13. The margin remained close until UCSD scored three-straight points to lead 19-16.
Penn State pulled within two as late as 23-21 in the set, but UCSD notched the last two points to clinch the third set and the match.
NOTABLE STATS
- Brett Wildman's 10-kill performance was his 15th match with 10-or-more kills this season and his third in the last four outings.
- After Wildman, four Nittany Lions had three kills each: Cal Fisher, Henrik Falck Lauten, Bobby Wilden, and Calvin Mende.
- Luke Braswell entered in the second set as the primary setter and led the team with 15 assists.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions head to also-sixth-ranked UC Irvine for another ranked nonconference showdown Friday evening at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET).