UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 4 Penn State men's volleyball team improved to 3-0 and still have not dropped a set in the young 2022 season after a three-set victory over sixth-ranked Grand Canyon (25-17, 25-21, 25-22) Thursday evening at Rec Hall.
Penn State had two reach double-digit kill totals in seniors Brett Wildman (match-best 14 kills) and Cal Fisher (10). Wildman had just one error on the evening with a .684 hitting percentage on 19 swings. He also had two aces and four blocks.
Senior middle blocker Sam Marsh added seven kills with a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage. Redshirt senior libero Will Bantle totaled nine digs with Fisher adding seven.
Senior setter Cole Bogner had 35 assists while pacing the Nittany Lions to a .463 hitting percentage as a team.
"I thought we showed some pretty good composure tonight," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "Offensively, we were clicking…but our passers were just battling their butts off to make sure we were in system, and I thought that's what was the separation."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Three separate 3-0 runs by the Nittany Lions quickly built the lead for the home team 10-4, with the 10th point coming on an ace by Wildman. Wildman and Fisher later went back-to-back with a kill each to double up the Lopes at 16-8.
Penn State was very efficient offensively in the first set with a .579 hitting percentage. Will Bantle had four digs in the set that allowed PSU to transition to winning points. Wildman clinched the set 25-17 with his fifth kill of the match to give Penn State the 1-0 edge for the match.
The second set was played very closely with the largest lead of the set's first half being 13-11 for the Nittany Lions. That lead was quickly erased by the Lopes with a three-point run that included two of GCU's six aces for the match.
Another ace by GCU's Camden Gianni allowed the Lopes to take a 19-18 lead in the game, but Penn State roared back with a 4-0 run. That run included two kills by Wildman and a block by Wildman and Sam Marsh to swing the set in Penn State's favor. Toby Ezeonu put down the set-clinching point at 25-21, giving PSU a 2-0 lead in the match
Penn State's resiliency was on display again in the third set which saw the Lopes take an early three-point lead that kept as the margin for a good while.
With GCU leading 16-13, Penn State used another 4-0 run to speed back in front. The run featured three errors by the Lopes and a great rally that was won by PSU which featured two digs from Bantle and big swing by Fisher to retake the lead. Both teams traded points back and forth from there, but the next big play of the set came with the score tied at 19-all.
Michael Valenzi won joust at the point of attack to register a block to give Penn State the lead 20-19 and the Nittany Lions proceeded to rattle off five of the next eight points, including the match-clinching point on an ace by Wildman to take the third set 25-22 and the match 3-0.
MIKE ANDERSON MAN OF THE MATCH
- Senior libero Will Bantle had nine digs and was 9-10 on serve receive for the evening to go with two assists offensively. Several of Bantle's passes set up big plays in transition for the Nittany Lions.
MATCH NOTES AND STATS
- This was the first all-time meeting between Penn State and Grand Canyon.
- Grand Canyon had a 6-4 edge in service aces, but timely blocks proved pivotal for the Nittany Lions, who had seven blocks to the Lopes' four.
- Wildman's .684 hitting percentage was the second-best mark of his career in matches with at least 10 kills, trailing only his .714 (10-0-14) performance at Charleston April 9, 2021.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions and Lopes will do battle again this Saturday at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.