NEWARK, N.J. – The fourth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team endured a great test on the road in conference action with a 3-2 victory (23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 16-25, 15-13) at NJIT Saturday evening at the NJIT Wellness and Events Center.
With the win, Penn State (12-3) remains unbeaten in EIVA action with a perfect 7-0 record despite their consecutive-sets-won streak coming to end against the Highlanders (8-4, 4-2 EIVA).
There were blocks galore in the five-set thriller with Penn State recording a season-high 15.5 blocks as a squad. NJIT also had 14.5 blocks. As a result, both teams hit well below their season averages, with Penn State picking up the win with just a .150 team hitting percentage compared to NJIT's .214.
Brett Wildman provided clutch plays for the Nittany Lions throughout the match, but especially in the fifth set when he scored three of his 15 kills and ripped two aces to set up match point.
Toby Ezeonu also had three kills in the fifth, including the match clincher. He finished the evening with eight kills and seven blocks.
Sam Marsh was also effective on defense with six blocks, including two solo stuffs. When the ball did get through, Will Bantle and Cal Fisher were there to collect with nine digs apiece. Bantle was also errorless on serve-receive at 35-35 while Fisher aced four serves and added 13 kills.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn State uncharacteristically struggled to find the court in bounds in the first set as the Nittany Lions only hit .065 with nine hitting errors in the first set. NJIT, a rock-solid blocking team, did have four blocks in the game to alter the Nittany Lion attack.
Despite trailing by five at one point at 17-12, Penn State was able to bring it all the way back to trail by just one on a Fisher ace at 22-21, but the Highlanders earned their final three points on two kills and a block to break the Nittany Lions' set-win streak at 18 in row. NJIT took the first game 25-23 to take the early edge in the match.
A hot start by the Highlanders in the second game didn't faze the Nittany Lions as the visitors managed to erase an early deficit and take a two-point edge, 10-8, on back-to-back Fisher aces. The margin remained between 2-3 points throughout the competitive set, until Penn State used back-to-back blocks for a 21-16 edge.
NJIT rallied with four in row to close the gap to one before Wildman put down a kill. Needed three points to clinch the frame, Ezeonu took over in the middle. He started with a quick kill to side out and then blocked the next two NJIT attacks to win the set 25-21 in PSU's favor, tying the match 1-1.
Penn State's defense, particularly at the net, turned it up a notch in the third set as the Nittany Lions posted 6.0 team blocks in the game. Two blocks by Sam Marsh on back-to-back points followed by a Wildman kill and Fisher service ace capped a big 5-0 run that gave PSU the 17-10 lead.
The Nittany Lions never wavered from there as they comfortably closed game three 25-18 to take the 2-1 lead in the match. Thanks to their six team blocks in the set, Penn State held the Highlanders to a .040 hitting percentage in the frame. Wildman closed the set with a kill.
The Highlanders would not go quietly as they had a strong start in the fourth set that was tough for Penn State to overcome. A block by the Highlanders gave them a 9-3 edge early in the third set, and from there, Penn State never got the margin smaller than four. NJIT evened the match at 2-2 thanks to a 25-16 win, setting up a fifth-and-deciding set.
It was fitting that the fifth set featured a battle between two teams trading points back-and-forth. Bantle made an excellent dig in the middle of the frame to set up Wildman for a kill to tie the score 7-7.
Both teams continued to trade points until Wildman stepped to the service line with the score tied 12-12. He placed his first serve perfectly in the back left corner of the court for an ace, only to follow up with a second one on a great change-of-pace serve to give the Nittany Lions two chances at match point.
On the second chance, Wildman gave Cole Bogner a perfect pass to set up the quick middle attack from Ezeonu who pounded the ball to the floor for the Nittany Lions to win 15-13 in the set and 3-2 in the exciting match.
MATCH NOTES AND STATS
- Penn State's 15.5 team blocks are its most in a match since recording 16.5 back on Jan. 26, 2020 against USC.
- The Nittany Lions had an 8-2 edge in service aces in the match, including a 3-0 edge in the fifth set.
- Wildman is averaging 12.75 kills a match in his last eight matches.
- NJIT's Julian Meissner had a match-high 16 kills for the Highlanders.
- Penn State's active eight-match win streak is the second longest in the country, just one behind Hawaii's nine.
NEXT UP
Penn State wraps up the first half of its EIVA schedule with a single-match weekend next Friday, March 4, against Charleston. That match will be in Rec Hall's South Gym.