LOS ANGELES – The No. 3 Penn State men's volleyball team got off to a hot start, but second-ranked UCLA rallied back to come out on top in the Nittany Lions' 3-1 loss (25-17, 26-28, 22-25, 19-25) Saturday evening at Pauley Pavilion.
The Nittany Lions (4-2) had another double-double effort from senior opposite Cal Fisher, who had 16 kills and 11 digs. Senior outside Brett Wildman tacked on 10 kills and nine digs.
Penn State had an off night offensively as they hit just .155 as a team. UCLA hit .261 and was led by Ethan Champlin with 18 kills.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn State did not play its cleanest offensive set in the first game and benefitted from a handful of errors by the Bruins, but the Nittany Lions pieced together three separate three-point runs that proved important for Penn State to win the first set.
With the score tied 7-7, the Nittany Lions rattled off three points in a row, followed by runs to lead 16-11 and 21-14 later in the frame to extend the advantage to win the first set 25-17.
Penn State had 11 attack errors in the second set that allowed the Bruins to hold the advantage for most of the set, but Penn State showed resilience on the road and came back to take the lead 22-21 on a Michal Kowal kill.
PSU was primed to win the second set leading 25-24, but UCLA ended up making the winning plays late in the frame to take the extended set 28-26 and tie the match 1-1.
Set three was another closely contested affair with the Nittany Lions leading as late as 20-19. However, much like the previous game, it was the Bruins rallying late to put away the winning points. UCLA ended the third set on a 6-2 run to win 25-22 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Penn State's offense couldn't find its groove to extend the match and force a fifth set, as they had seven kills and seven errors in the fourth game. UCLA held PSU between a 3-5 point advantage for much of the set and led by as much as eight at its first match point at 24-18.
Penn State continued to battle and stopped four match points for the Bruins, but the deficit was just a bit too much and UCLA clinched the match with a 25-19 win to win in four sets.
NEXT UP
Penn State continues its stretch of matches out in California in the Battle of the Bigs next weekend. The Nittany Lions travel to UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State Jan. 28-29.
