UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The second-ranked men's volleyball team rallied back from a two-set deficit to force game five, but ultimately came up short in a 3-2 loss to Princeton in the EIVA Tournament semifinal round Thursday night at Rec Hall.
With the loss, Penn State (23-4) saw its 19-match win streak snapped and also suffered their first defeat at home in the 2022 season (13-1).
Princeton (14-12) advances to the EIVA Championship match to face NJIT Saturday evening at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.
Cal Fisher had a team high 17 kills on 29 swings for the Nittany Lions along with two aces and eight digs. Brett Wildman added 16 kills and Toby Ezeonu tacked on 10.
Michael Valenzi was one kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs for Penn State. Will Bantle led Penn State's defense with 13 digs and added a rare libero kill in the fifth set.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Thanks a quick start in the first game, Princeton built up a 15-11 lead that forced Penn State to take its first timeout. However, the Tigers kept putting on the pressure out of the timeout to continue building its lead to 20-13. Penn State took its second timeout trailing by seven.
Princeton's serve put Penn State off balance in the first frame and the Nittany Lions' passing wasn't crisp. Princeton ripped a pair of aces in a row to end the frame and handed Penn State just its second set loss of the season at home, 25-16.
Princeton's momentum continued early in to the second game where they built an 8-4 advantage, but Penn State battled back bit by bit before a 5-1 run capped by a big Wildman kill put Penn State in front 19-17.
The Penn State rally was immediately quelled by Princeton who closed the gap and stopped a Penn State set point to force extra points. Another ace by the Tigers flipped the score back in their favor.
The Nittany Lions stopped two Tiger set points before Princeton scored back-to-back kills to take set two 28-26 and lead 2-0 in the match.
In game three with its backs against the wall, the Nittany Lions made the winning plays it has been so accustomed to do all season long to dig themselves out of the whole. Trailing 23-22 late, Penn State came out of a timeout and iced the server into a service error to tie the score and take the serve.
Michael Valenzi put down a kill followed up by a huge block by Wildman and Sam Marsh to close the set 25-23 in Penn State's favor and put Penn State on the board in the games won column, 2-1.
A big service run in game four by Cal Fisher allowed Penn State to create a five-point margin at 14-9. Fisher had an ace in the run while Toby Ezeonu had a pair of kills with Valenzi adding another.
That margin proved to be enough for the Nittany lions to extend the match with a 25-17 set win on a Valenzi service ace to send the match to a fifth-and-deciding set.
In the fifth set, a rare libero kill by Bantle along with a kill by Fisher and a Princeton error gave Penn State a 9-6 edge, prompting a timeout from the Tigers. A switch flipped for the visitors after the timeout as they managed to score six of the next seven points to put Penn State on the ropes at 12-10.
A kill from Wildman pulled Penn State back within one, but the Tigers rallied to score three of the next four points, two of them on kills, to upset the Nittany Lions 3-2.
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