NEWARK, N.J. – The No. 9 Penn State men's volleyball team came out on top in the first of two matches featuring the EIVA's top-standing teams with an impressive 3-0 sweep of No. 11 NJIT on the road Friday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions (13-2, 10-1 EIVA) extended their active win streak to seven matches in a row while snapping NJIT's (11-4, 11-2) win streak at nine games.
Penn State was able to clutch up at key moments in all three sets, including winning an extended first frame 33-31 followed up by 25-23 and 25-21 set wins to win the competitive conference battle.
"This was a slugfest," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "We knew this match was going to be close throughout and especially late in games. I was proud of the way our whole team, not just one guy, stepped up and made plays in those critical moments when we needed them."
Junior setter Cole Bogner had 37 assists, his most helpers in a three-set match this season. Freshman outside Michael Valenzi put down 15 kills at a .370 rate and junior opposite Cal Fisher
NJIT looked to be in control of the first set with a 19-16 lead that forced a Nittany Lion timeout, but PSU quickly closed the gap with three of the next four points to tie the score at 20-20.
At that point, the extended battle for set one began. Penn State fended off NJIT's first set point with a kill by Valenzi and then a big block by substitution John Kerr and Canyon Tuman put Penn State in the driver's seat with their first set point.
Both teams battled back and forth to extend the first set with NJIT holding off five set points for Penn State before a kill by Cal Fisher finally gave the Nittany Lions the winning point in the opening set, 33-31.
Penn State established itself earlier in game two thanks to a seven-point run capped by a Fisher service ace to lead 13-9. The Nittany Lions kept its margin up to that point and got a big solo block from Sam Marsh to lead 22-19.
However, the Highlanders scrapped together a three-point run to knot the score 22-22. But another Fisher kill along with a couple of errors from NJIT clinched game two for the Nittany Lions, 25-23.
Set three volleyed back and forth with the score tied 19-19 late in the frame before a Wildman point put the Nittany Lions ahead 20-19. That started a critical 4-0 spurt for PSU that included a bad set by NJIT, a block from Marsh and Wildman, plus an emphatic kill by Marsh on a free ball to force a Highlander timeout at 23-19, Penn State.
A Bogner kill plus a Highlander service error closed the match in favor of the Nittany Lions.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- After hitting .116 and .200 in the first two sets, the Nittany Lions found its offensive groove with a .387 team clip in the third game.
- Penn State's net presence defensively was evident throughout the match with Penn State compiling 8.0 team blocks, its most since posting 10.0 at Sacred Heart Feb. 20 in a 3-1 win.
- Fisher's 10 kills and 19 digs marked his second career double-double (23 kills, 10 digs at Sacred Heart 2/21/20). 19 digs are also the second most in a three-set match this season in the entire country, trailing only Edwin Montaruli's 20 (Barton).
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions and Highlanders face off again Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. to conclude their regular-season series against each other.