SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 4 Penn State men's volleyball team dropped in a road battle to UC Santa Barbara in straight sets (25-13, 25-21, 25-21) Friday evening at Rob Gym.
The loss marked the third in a row for the Nittany Lions (4-3) on their California road stretch early on in the 2022 season.
Cal Fisher paced the Nittany Lions again with 15 kills plus a team high seven digs. Libero Will Bantle was 21-21 on serve-receive with six digs.
The Gauchos (3-3) had a more efficient night offensively with a .471 hitting percentage and limited any Penn State rallies with an 85.9 percent sideout rate.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set one was all Gauchos from the beginning as they quickly sped out to a 9-4 lead to force a Penn State timeout. UCSB used another four-point run later to lead 15-7 and cruised from there with a perfect 14-14 mark on sideout chances to win the opening frame 25-13.
The Nittany Lions hit just .217 in the first game compared to the Gauchos .625.
Set two was much more competitive as the Nittany Lions found their footing offensively. Fisher had six of his kills in the second set and the score was tight with Penn State leading 13-12 after an Ezeonu kill.
However, the Gauchos scored three points in a row to retake the lead and did not give it up for the rest of the frame. UCSB once again hit above .600 in the second-straight set at .667 in set two. Penn State did improve its hitting at a .400 clip in the game, but it wasn't enough firepower to overcome UCSB's impressive performance as the Gauchos took set two 25-21.
Both defenses were front and center in the third game as a few impressive rallies ensued between both teams with both ending up on the winning ends of a couple of them early on. Fisher had an early solo block and Toby Ezeonu teamed up with Michael Valenzi and Wildman on couple different occasions for blocks to provide the Gauchos a tougher look.
Fisher and Wildman also had five digs each in the third set and the score was deadlocked as late as 17-17. But once again, it was UCSB coming up with the big points it needed. The Gauchos rallied for five points in a row to take control. They won the third 25-21 to sweep the match.
NEXT UP
Penn State heads to No. 3 Long Beach State Saturday evening at 10 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. PT to conclude its four-match California stretch.
