UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior Jack Shampine hit .846 with 11 kills to lead the fourth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-13) win over Merrimack in a non-conference match Saturday night at Rec Hall.
Penn State improved to 4-0 with its second sweep in as many nights. Merrimack was playing its first official match in program history.
"This was their first official match and we're honored to be a part of that legacy for them," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said. "The best show of respect you can give them is to play your best and show them where they can and want to be. I tip my hat to coach Ray Lewis and the Merrimack team and wish them all the best this season."
Shampine's big night came in just two sets. He started the final two and didn't have an error on his 13 attacks. As a team, the Lions had just four errors on 54 attacks, two of which were blocks by Merrimack. Nine Penn State players had kills in the match, including five on five swings by setter Cole Bogner. John Kerr and Will Kuhns had four apiece, while Tim Herget and Owen Rose each had three. Cole Ignaszak made his collegiate debut and picked up his first career kill.
One night after guiding Penn State to a .467 hitting percentage in a sweep of Daemen, Bogner led the Lions to .556 hitting in the sweep of Merrimack. In addition to his perfect 5-for-5 night on the attack, he totaled 21 assists, seven digs, three blocks and one ace.
Bogner was one of six Penn State players that combined for 14 aces. Sam Marsh and Kuhns had four apiece, while Kerr had a run of three straight in the first set. Tim Herget and Shampine had one ace apiece.
Penn State started the season 4-0 for the second-straight season and upped its home regular season winning streak to 21 matches.
Set 1
Kerr helped Penn State pull away early with three straight aces to make the score 10-4. The Lions led by as much as nine numerous times in the set, including the final score of 25-16. They hit .474 behind nine assists from Bogner. Kerr and Merk had three digs apiece to help hold Merrimack to .100 hitting.
Set 2
Shampine started the second set and made the most of the opportunity with seven kills on .778 hitting. Bogner added eight more assists while Penn State hit .778 as a team. It was close early with Merrimack trailing by just two at 12-10, but Penn State scored 13 of the final 17 points for the 25-14 win.
Set 3
Shampine added four more kills on four swings in set three to help Penn State finish off the match with a 25-13 win. Kuhns had three aces during a 6-0 run that gave the Lions a 7-2 lead. Matt Cosgrove made his collegiate debut and recorded his first career block. The Lions held the Warriors to -.294 hitting.
Career Highs
Matt Cosgrove – blocks (1)
Tim Herget – assists (3)
Cole Ignaszak – kills (1), blocks (1)
John Kerr – aces (3)
Will Kuhns – assists (3), aces (4)
Owen Rose – assists (1)
Luke Snyder – assists (1)
Up Next
Penn State travels to Austin, Texas for the First Point Collegiate Challenge on Jan. 20-21. The Lions will play No. 5 Pepperdine on Friday at 4 p.m., and No. 8 Stanford on Saturday at 7 p.m.
