FAIRFAX, Virginia – The No. 8 Penn State men's volleyball team battled its way to an 11th-straight victory with a 3-0 sweep of No. 15 George Mason Friday evening at EagleBank Arena.
The Nittany Lions' (17-2, 14-1 EIVA) magic number drops to just one more win to clinch the EIVA regular season title and the number-one seed and hosting honors for the EIVA Tournament.
Cal Fisher led Penn State with 11 kills in what proved to be a scrappy match. His 11 kills and three aces were both match highs.
Outsides Brett Wildman and Michal Kowal combined for 11 kills, two aces, and 13 digs. Wildman had eight digs and five blocks.
Middle blocker Sam Marsh made his presence known with six blocks and four kills.
Both teams traded points early in game one before the Nittany Lions broke through with the first run of the match. After a Mason service error tied the score at nine, Michal Kowal scored a kill followed by a Cal Fisher service ace to spark a 7-1 run for the Nittany Lions to lead 15-10.
Penn State did not allow the Patriots to shrink the margin any smaller than three points. Sam Marsh had three blocks in the opening frame and Penn State won the first game 25-19.
Errors plagued both teams in the second set and forced both teams to scrap together points any way they could. The Nittany Lions trailed by as much as five at 17-12, but multiple errors at the service line and net by the Patriots allowed PSU to quickly close the gap and tie the score 19-19.
A Hayden Wagner kill put Mason in the drivers' seat leading 23-21, but a resilient Nittany Lion bunch mounted a run. Another Fisher ace followed by a Canyon Tuman and Kowal block capped a 3-0 spurt to put Penn State at match point, 24-23.
Penn State eventually found the two-point margin it needed to win the second set after a Fisher kill, his seventh of the set, and a block by Tuman and Wildman to win 27-25 and lead 2-0 in the match.
With the score tied 11-11 in the third set, a kill from Wildman followed by two Mason errors put Penn State in front by three. The Nittany Lions worked to that same margin at 19-16 as Fisher toed the service line.
The Nittany Lions notched off the next six points in a row to win set three 25-16 and sweep the match. Tuman and Jon Kerr teamed up for a block during the run, Tuman put down a kill, and Fisher notched an ace and the match-clinching point with the kill to give Penn State an important EIVA road win.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- When Cal Fisher reaches double-digit kills this season, Penn State is undefeated at 14-0. He also has at least one service ace in 16 of his starts this season.
- Marsh's six blocks were his most since Feb. 20 at Sacred Heart (8). He leads Penn State with 51.0 blocks this season.
- Penn State's 25-straight sets won are its most since winning 29 back in 2012. Its 11 match victories in a row is its longest win streak since 2014 (12).
NEXT UP
Penn State and George Mason meet against Saturday evening at 7 p.m.