UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The fifth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team picked up its second win of the weekend to begin the 2022 season 2-0 in EIVA conference play with a straight-sets win over George Mason (25-16, 25-16, 25-23) Saturday night at Rec Hall.
With the win, the Nittany Lions (7-3) remain undefeated at home to begin the 2022 season at 6-0 and have won six of their last seven matches against the Patriots (3-4, 0-2 EIVA).
Penn State was led by senior pin hitters Brett Wildman and Cal Fisher, who combined for 32 kills with just seven errors between them to hit .455 as a duo.
Michael Valenzi had an impactful night from the service line a single-game best five service aces to go with a handful of big service runs for the Nittany Lions.
Cole Bogner paced Penn State's offense to a .379 hitting percentage with 38 assists and had three service aces, all coming in the second set.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Nittany Lions were plagued by service errors throughout the night, with nine of their 22 in the match in the first set. Some of those service errors allowed George Mason to keep the score close as evident by the 13-12 lead for the Patriots midway through the first game.
However, Cal Fisher put down three kills in a row to force a Patriots' timeout with Penn State ahead 15-13. The Nittany Lions weren't done there, as three more points went PSU's way with a Fisher and Toby Ezeonu block and Wildman kill adding to the six-point run for the Nittany Lions. During the run, Wildman had four serves hit 70-plus miles per hour on the Rec Hall radar gun.
Fisher put down the last two points of the frame to total seven kills on 10 swings in the first game as Penn State handedly won 25-16. The Nittany Lions hit .481 in the frame compared to Mason's -.063.
Much like the first set, a run in the middle of the second game brought the Nittany Lions back from an early deficit to take the lead. Trailing 10-8, Penn State pieced together 5-0 scoring run, a spree that included two aces by Cole Bogner, to take the advantage and they never gave it up.
Wildman had six kills with just one error on nine attacks in the set to lead the Nittany Lions. Bogner had three aces in the game and Valenzi added two of his own in another 25-16 set win for PSU.
George Mason showed some fight in the third game as they led by as much as four at three different instances and held a 20-17 advantage late in the game. Penn State was given the serve back on a GMU service error, and Valenzi stepped to the service line.
The Boca Raton, Fla. native had already had five service aces to this point in the match, but his service run with Penn State trailing by two late in the third all but clinched the match for the Nittany Lions. PSU went on a 5-0 run to take a 22-20 lead.
During the run, Wildman, Sam Marsh, and John Kerr each had a kill and Marsh and Kerr teamed up for a big block to bring Penn State into the lead. From there, the teams traded sideout chances with pin hitters Wildman and Fisher combining for the last three Penn State points to win the game 25-23 and close the match three sets to none in Penn State's favor.
MIKE ANDERSON MAN OF THE MATCH
Michael Valenzi's career-high five service aces and 12 points won on his serves were pivotal in the match for the Nittany Lions. He also had six digs and was a perfect 23-23 on serve-receive.
MATCH NOTES AND STATS
- Penn State had an 8-1 advantage in service aces, but also had 22 errors from the line compared the George Mason's 10.
- Penn State hit .379 for the match while holding George Mason to just 19 kills in the match at a .119 clip.
- Wildman hit .500 with his 17 kills and now has 44 kills in his last three matches.
- Penn State's middle blocker duo of Ezeonu and Marsh had 10 kills and four blocks between them. Marsh hit .833 with a 5-0-6 attack line.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions take their New England-road trip with a pair of matches at Harvard and Sacred Heart Feb. 11-12.