UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 4 Penn State men's volleyball hit .467 on its way to a 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-22) sweep over visiting Daemen in a non-conference match Friday night at Rec Hall's South Gym. The Lions improved to 3-0 on the season, while the Wildcats dropped to 1-1.
Michael Valenzi led the way for Penn State, hitting .471 with 10 kills and four blocks. John Kerr was right behind him with eight kills on .500 hitting in addition to five blocks. Cole Bogner continued to lead an efficient offensive attack by the Lions, totaling 30 assists. He has helped the team hit .342 through three matches.
It was a balanced attack in the win. Michal Kowal hit .545 with seven kills, and Toby Ezeonu totaled six kills on .625 hitting and served for three aces. Ezeonu has five aces over the last two matches.
"They are a physical team, but we responded well," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said. "They did everything they could to knock us out of system, but for the most part Michael (Valenzi), Ryan (Merk), and Michal (Kowal) kept us in system really well."
The defensive effort was just as successful as the offense against Daemen. The Lions had 11 blocks and held the Wildcats to .050 hitting. Owen Rose was again dominant at the net with a career-high nine blocks and now has a team-high 23 on the season.
"Johnny (Kerr) and Owen (Rose) put up a wall out there," Pavlik said. "And anything that was hit clean around the block we dug. I liked our response to plays after we were successful and our response after we faced some challenges. We're getting better and better and we're still playing January volleyball right now."
Daemen, which was coming off a 3-1 win over Princeton in its season opener, was led by Cameron Milligan with eight kills. Henry Moffitt was perfect on his three attacks with three kills.
Penn State and Daemen played for the first time in program history. The Wildcats started their program in 2019.
The Lions have won 20 straight regular season home matches, going without a regular season home loss since Feb. 14, 2021.
Set 1
Rose, who was named the nation's Middle Attacker of the Week by Off the Block after posting seven blocks in each of a pair of wins last weekend, picked up right where he left off. He tallied five digs in the first set while leading Penn State to an easy 25-10 win. He added three kills on four swings. Valenzi got off to a hot start with four kills on .667 hitting. The Lions hit .611 as a team behind 10 assists by Bogner.
Set 2
Penn State used a 4-0 run to take a 13-10 lead. The run included an ace by Kowal and a kill by Valenzi off an assist from Ryan Merk. Daemen got back within two at 19-17 before the Lions went on a 4-0 run that included two kills by Valenzi and one by Kerr. The 25-19 set win was eventually clinched on a Daemen service error. Valenzi went off for six kills on .625 hitting in the set. Kerr hit .714 with five kills. Bogner had another 10 assists while leading the team to .500 hitting.
Set 3
Ezeonu had a great run at the line, serving for three straight aces to give Penn State an 11-8 lead. The Lions didn't trail the rest of the way and clinched the match with a kill by Ezeonu. He had three in the set on four swings. Kowal closed strong with four kills on five attacks. Kerr added three kills.
Career Highs
Toby Ezeonu – aces (3)
Tyler Herget – aces (1)
John Kerr – assists (2)
Owen Rose – blocks (9)
Michael Valenzi – blocks (4)
Up Next
Penn State hosts Merrimack on Saturday at 7 p.m. It is the first official men's volleyball match for Merrimack.
