UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 10 Penn State men's volleyball team was up to the task in its first match against a ranked opponent in EIVA play this season with a 3-1 victory over George Mason Friday evening at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions (9-2, 6-1 EIVA) topped the Patriots in the first of two showdowns between the top teams in the EIVA standings entering the weekend thanks in large part to its defense and the team's ability to side out more consistently as the match went on.
"This what we expected a Mason-Penn State match to be like," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "We liken it to a heavyweight fight where we're going to come out and trade blows. I think in game one and game three it came to that. The biggest thing I was pleased about was our defense. We dug 42 balls in a four-set match. In the men's game, when you're digging 10-per, you're doing a good job defensively."
Penn State picked up wins in sets one (26-24) and two (25-20) before George Mason (7-2, 4-1 EIVA) battled back in the third set to win 26-24. Pavlik did notice a positive trend in his Nittany Lion squad despite the game-three loss that contributed to the 25-16 win in game four.
"The real turning point despite the loss in game three was I thought we got into a great side-out rhythm…I think we were hitting .000 at one point in game one and to finish hitting .325 for the match and .542 in game four, it just allowed our offense to roll and didn't allow [Mason] to close any gap whatsoever."
Penn State juniors Cal Fisher and Brett Wildman each led the scoring charge with a combined 33 kills between them. Fisher hit .385 and pieced together a few of his signature serving runs to rack up the score in favor of Penn State.
Wildman had 18.5 points in his first match back after sitting out the last four matches with an injury and was named the Mike Anderson Man of the Match.
Mason led as late as 20-19 in the first set, but a four-point run by the Nittany Lions flipped the script and gave PSU the lead. The Patriots fought right back to tie the match 23-23, but after a timeout, the Nittany Lions clutched up with three of the next four points to win set one 26-24.
In game two, Penn State slowly built its lead to as high as three at 12-9 before a Wildman kill and three errors by the Patriots extended the margin to seven at 18-11 in favor of PSU. Mason only closed that gap to as little as four, but another Wildman kill followed by a point from Sam Marsh provided additional insurance for Penn State as it cruised to a 25-20 win in the frame.
The EIVA heavyweights traded haymakers in the third game with Penn State taking a four-point spurt to lead 19-18. Mason hung around to keep the score close before finally retaking the lead at 24-23. After fending off the first set point for the Patriots, Penn State was unable to thwart a second as GMU won the third to extend the match.
Fisher's serve instantly gave PSU an advantage in the fourth game as Penn State scored seven points in a row to begin the stanza. The Nittany Lions did not allow Mason to close the gap to less than six at any point in the game as Penn State's offense fired on all cylinders hitting .542 (14-1-24) in the set.
Points by Bogner, Fisher and Wildman late clinched the match for the Nittany Lions with a strong 25-16 showing in the final game.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- Freshman Michael Valenzi set a season-high for any Nittany Lion with 14 digs to lead Penn State's defensive efforts. He was also 24-26 on serve receive.
- Redshirt junior Will Bantle was perfect receiving serves on the night at 20-20.
- Penn State had nine service aces to Mason's four for the match. Six different Nittany Lions tallied at least one ace, with Fisher, Wildman, and serving-sub Michal Kowal each posting two.
- Penn State's 42 team digs tied its season high (2/6 vs Saint Francis and 2/20 at Sacred Heart). The Nittany Lions forced the Patriots to hit a season-low .207 for the match.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions and Patriots rematch Saturday evening at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.