FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The No. 12 Penn State men's volleyball team put forth a strong offensive showing on the road in a 3-0 sweep of Sacred Heart in EIVA action Saturday evening.
Penn State (7-2, 4-1 EIVA) hit .441 as a team, thanks to a combination of solid passing and 34 assists from junior setter Cole Bogner.
Junior opposite hitter Cal Fisher had 14 kills hitting .478 (14-3-23) for the Nittany Lions. He also tied redshirt junior libero Will Bantle with a team-best seven digs.
The Nittany Lions had four hitters convert at a .400-or-higher rate, with junior Canyon Tuman and freshmen Michael Valenzi and Michal Kowal joining Fisher on that list.
In game one, the Nittany Lions scampered to a 9-5 lead on a four-point run highlighted by kills from Fisher and Sam Marsh as well as the duo pairing up for a block.
Both teams traded rallies for the next few points until kills by Valenzi and Fisher caused SHU to take a timeout with Penn State leading 18-13.
Kowal ended the set on a service ace to give Penn State a 25-16 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Fisher set the tone in a dominant second set for Penn State as his service run won seven points in a row to put PSU comfortably in front 15-6. Fisher aced two serves and put the Pioneers out of system on multiple occasions during the spurt.
Penn State hit .611 in the set while forcing Sacred Heart into a negative hitting percentage at -.028 to win by an 11-point margin at 25-14.
Another mid-set scoring run by Penn State gave the Nittany Lions the advantage it needed to take the third and sweep the match. After the score was tied 11-11, PSU rattled off 11 of the next 13 points, which included a pair of kills for both Valenzi and Kowal, to hold a firm 22-13 edge.
Bogner finished the match with a highlight one-handed solo block to win the frame 25-15.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- Penn State improved to 7-0 on the season when Fisher reaches double-digit kills in a match.
- The Nittany Lions had 31 digs to SHU's 16, a large reason why Sacred Heart struggled to find an offensive rhythm and ended with more attack errors than kills on the night (-.028 team hitting percentage).
- Kowal and Valenzi have combined for 47 kills and a .393 hitting percentage in the last three matches, all of which they were in the starting lineup together.
- Tuman is averaging 4.8 kills in his last five matches.
NEXT UP
Penn State runs it back against Sacred Heart Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.