UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A top-five men's volleyball battle lived up to the hype Wednesday night at Rec Hall, but fourth-ranked Penn State came out on the wrong end of a matchup with No. 3 Long Beach State. The Nittany Lions fell 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 27-25), dropping to 6-1 with their first loss of the season. The Beach remained unbeaten at 5-0.
Penn State played a top-10 opponent for the third consecutive match. The Lions were coming off wins over No. 5 Pepperdine and No. 8 Stanford at the First Point Collegiate Challenge. The loss ended their 21-match regular season home winning streak.
John Kerr had another strong performance against a nationally-ranked team, finishing with 17 kills on .382 hitting while adding six digs and two blocks. Against Penn State's four ranked opponents this season, Kerr is hitting .397 and is averaging 4.56 kills, 1.44 digs and 0.69 blocks per set.
Michal Kowal joined Kerr in double-digits with 12 kills. Ryan Merk led the team with nine digs, while Brett Wildman had seven in addition to his seven kills. Cole Bogner totaled 43 assists, six digs and four blocks. Owen Rose and Toby Ezeonu contributed six kills apiece.
Clarke Godbold had a team-high 17 kills for Long Beach State. Spencer Olivier was right behind him with 14 on .379 hitting. Simon Torwie was strong in the middle with seven kills on .700 hitting and eight blocks.
Penn State finished with a .295 hitting percentage compared to Long Beach State's .259. The Beach entered the match ranking first in the nation in aces/set (2.75), blocks/set (3.21), hitting percentage (.419), and opponent hitting percentage (.071).
Set 1
Penn State came out strong in front of a large student section, posting a .565 hitting percentage and was able to sideout at 89 percent on its way to a 25-18 win. Bogner racked up 13 assists. Ezeonu and Kowal were the main recipients with four kills apiece. The Lions pulled away with a 5-0 run to go up 16-11. The run included three kills by Kowal.
Set 2
Set two was the first of three-straight two-point losses for Penn State. The Lions went up 21-18 on a kill by Kerr before Long Beach State responded with a 4-0 run. Another kill by Kerr tied the score at 22-22 and the teams were tied again at 23-23 after a Beach service error. The Beach took the lead on a Penn State service error and closed the set with a triple block.
Set 3
Penn State again led late as it went up 21-17 on a kill by Kerr, but Long Beach State quickly closed the gap with a 3-0 run that included a pair of Penn State attack errors. The Beach used another 3-0 run to go up 23-22 before the set was tied on a service error. The Lions took the lead on a Beach attack error. The Beach bounced back with three straight points to end the set, including a kill by Spencer for the final point.
Set 4
It was Penn State's turn to make a comeback attempt in the final set, but it eventually came up short in a 27-25 defeat. The Lions were down 17-12 before they started to chip away at the deficit. They used a 3-0 run to get within two at 17-15, and eventually got within one at 18-17. They tied the score at 20-20 and then took their first lead of the set with a kill by Rose that made it 23-22. Penn State led 24-23 but it's one chance at set point was stymied by a service error. Kerr helped the Lions stay alive with a kill to tie it up at 25-25. The Beach took the set and the match with kills by Spencer for each of the final two points.
Up Next
Penn State hosts two more top-10 opponents for the Big Ten Pac-12 Challenge on Feb. 3-4. The Lions will play No. 10 USC on Friday and No. 2 UCLA on Saturday. Ohio State will also compete against the two Pac-12 teams at the event.
