FAIRFAX, Virginia – The No. 8 Penn State men's volleyball team forced a fifth-and-deciding set thanks to a comeback win in the fourth frame, but ultimately fell 3-2 to No. 15 George Mason on the road in a great EIVA battle Saturday night at EagleBank Arena.
The Nittany Lions (17-3, 14-2 EIVA) saw their 11-match win streak snapped in the loss but remain in control of their own destiny in terms of securing the number-one seed in for the EIVA postseason with two matches remaining in the regular season.
Cal Fisher was Penn State's go-to option for the match, especially in sets 3-5, finishing with 21 kills and a .404 hitting percentage (21-2-47) plus three aces. 15 of his kills came in the last three sets, including nine in the fourth set alone.
Brett Wildman had 13 kills and was 38-39 on serve receive. Will Bantle had 19 digs and Michal Kowal put down 10 kills with three aces.
George Mason took advantage early in the first set by speeding out to a 10-5 lead and matched a five-point edge at 18-13, but the Nittany Lions strung together four points in a row with a Wildman kill and back-to-back aces by Fisher to trail by just one.
From there, however, it was all Patriots as they completed the set on a 5-1 run to take the opening set 25-20, ending Penn State's set-win streak at 25 in a row and handing the Nittany Lions their first set loss since Feb. 26.
The Nittany Lions found an early groove in the second game with four kills in a row, including three by Wildman, to grab the first extended lead of the set, 9-5. PSU added a three-point run with a pair of kills from Kowal to double Mason's score at 12-6.
After hitting just .179 in the first set, Penn State's offensive hummed to a .565 team hitting percentage in the second set. That led to multiple scoring runs for the Nittany Lions, including a 6-1 run at the end of the frame to win the frame by a dominant 13-point margin.
Set three began with a three-point run for Penn State including an emphatic solo block by Kowal to set the tone, but Mason fired right back with a 5-1 run to tie the set at 10-10 a few points later.
Mason's momentum snowballed as the Patriots used a couple serving runs to build a lead as high as six at 22-16. Fisher and Kowal put down back-to-back kills to shrink the margin to four, but Mason won the last two points to take a 2-1 lead in the match with the 25-19 set three win.
The Patriots were in a great position to take the fourth set when leading 17-13, but the resilient Nittany Lions quickly erased the deficit thanks to three kills by Fisher plus another by Marsh to tie the score. Mason built the lead back up to 22-20, but Penn State was able to find an answer again to flip the script.
After a Mason serving error, Kowal ripped back-to-back aces to give Penn State a 23-22 lead, and Wildman and Fisher capped the set with a point each to complete the late comeback, 25-23, and send the match to a fifth set.
The Patriots immediately took command with a 6-1 advantage in the fifth to put Penn State in a hole early, but PSU eventually cut the margin to only three after a Fisher ace made it 13-10. The rally was just a bit to late for the Nittany Lions however, as Mason closed the match with a 15-11 set five win.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- Fisher's 20+ kill match was his first of the season and the third of his career.
- Bantle's 19 digs tied a career high last set at Lewis Jan. 18, 2020.
- In PSU's two set wins, the Nittany Lions hit over .500 as a team. They hit under .200 in all three set losses.
NEXT UP
Penn State is scheduled to play Charleston to finish the regular season April 9-10.