UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 6 Penn State men's volleyball earned a similar result in its second match of the season with a second straight-set sweep of No. 6 BYU, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 26-24) at Rec Hall Saturday evening.
The win for Penn State (2-0) capped off a straight-sets sweep in the series for the Nittany Lions who took down the Cougars (0-2) 3-0 Thursday evening.
"Our passers did a phenomenal job of keeping us in system tonight and making their servers feel they had to put forth a little more effort than they could," said head Mark Pavlik. "I think we've got a team that for the first time this season, in game six [of the weekend], we were down 22-21 and you looked out on the court and you didn't see anything change in demeanor.
"This is a group that loves to compete and a group that loves to be pushed. It's going to be real interesting to see them develop of the next three or fourth months."
Penn State had a balanced offensive performance with senior outside hitter Brett Wildman leading the way with 10 kills at a .444 clip (10-2-18). Senior opposite Cal Fisher demonstrated his devastating serve with six service aces to go with seven kills and six digs.
It marked the second win in a row for Penn State against BYU after the Cougars won the previous 10 in a row dating back to 2007.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game one was bookended by three Fisher service aces, two to begin the set and one to win the frame for Penn State 25-21. Fisher also had a kill in the middle of the set that gave Penn State a 15-11 lead and forced a BYU timeout.
Penn State wound up swinging .571 without an error (12-0-21) in the opening frame to overcome a rough start at the service line with nine service errors. Sam Marsh and Wildman each scored four kills without an error in the opening set as well.
In the second set, BYU used a four-point run to take a 11-10 lead, but that's when it ended as a Cougars' service error gave the serve back to Fisher. Fisher ripped three aces in a row to give Penn State the 14-11 advantage, a lead the Nittany Lions never relinquished.
Fisher and Wildman scored a point each to end the set 25-19 in Penn State's favor, giving Penn State the commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
PSU's balanced and deep offensive attack was on display in the third set with five different players recording a kill and doing so with the Nittany Lions' down in the frame. BYU manufactured a 15-11 lead after back-to-back blocks, but then Penn State went to work.
Wildman and Michal Kowal responded with a pair of kills and then Kowal teamed up with Sam Marsh a few points later for a momentum-swinging block. That was followed by a Cole Bogner-Marsh block and a Wildman kill to give Penn State the lead right back at 18-17.
BYU wouldn't go quietly, though, as senior All-American Davide Gardini aced two serves to cap a four-point run and put the Cougars in front 22-21.
Penn State's even-keeled manner allowed them to stay within themselves and forced BYU to make plays, but they made four errors instead to give Penn State the 26-24 set-three win.
MIKE ANDERSON MAN OF THE MATCH
Cal Fisher's six service aces each came at critical points in the first and second sets and along with his seven kills, allowed the Pittsburgh native to give PSU a big boost to victory.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions will host another Thursday-Saturday series at Rec Hall next week, Jan. 13 & 15, when ninth-ranked Grand Canyon comes to town. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.
