COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 8 Penn State men's volleyball team saw its seven-match win streak snapped in a 3-1 (21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-19) nonconference loss to rival Ohio State Sunday afternoon at the Covelli Center.
The Nittany Lions (11-7) fell into a two-set hole before extending the match to a fourth game with a set-three win, but the Buckeyes (11-8) closed the match with a strong fourth game to sweep the regular-season series.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Ohio State started off hot and factor in a few unforced errors from the Nittany Lions and the Buckeyes led 7-2 and 19-11 later to force a pair of Nittany Lion timeouts.
Penn State found its footing with seven of the next ten points to pull back within four at 22-18 and later held off three sets points for the Buckeyes thanks to three-straight kills from Brett Wildman, but Ohio State managed to close the frame 25-21 on a Reese Devilbiss point.
The second had a tighter margin early until Ohio State went on a three-point run to lead 15-11. The Buckeyes defense enabled them to keep the play alive and convert several rallies into points. Despite the Nittany lions improving its team hitting percentage to .280 from .065 in the second game, the Buckeyes held PSU to a five-point margin to take the second set 25-20.
Penn State either trailed or was tied for the entire third set until a Cal Fisher service ace to put Penn State ahead 16-15 in the third set. Wildman followed with an ace shortly after to give Penn State the lead back a 18-17 and they wouldn't give it up from there.
Ohio State did manage to tie the score with a three-point rally at 21-21, but the Nittany Lions fired right back with a Falck Lauten kill and a Buckeye error to lead by two. Penn State traded points from there on out to take their first set of the match.
Ohio State led by four at 8-4 in the fourth game but the Nittany Lions showed some resiliency to crawl back within two at multiple points in the set. However, a four-point spurt from the Buckeyes gave them a 16-10 lead that proved just a bit too steep a hill to climb for Penn State.
The Buckeyes closed the match with three points in a row to win the third game 25-19.
NOTABLE STATS
- Ohio State had a 12.0-7.0 edge in team blocks and a 6-5 service ace advantage. Neither team was very efficient offensively with the Buckeyes hitting .180 (46-22-133) for the match while Penn State hit .097 (40-26-145).
- Wildman was back in the double-digit kill column tying a match high with 15. He also added six digs, his most since digging six against Princeton Feb. 14.
- Bantle's 16-dig total was the second highest of both the season and his career, trailing only the 19 he had against Lewis Jan. 18.
- Cal Fisher finished one kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and ten digs.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions head to California for a pair of Big West matches at UC San Diego Wednesday, March 11, and at UC Irvine Friday, March 13. Both matches start at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET).