COLUMBUS, Ohio – John Kerr hit .545 with 21 kills to lead the shorthanded fourth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 25-21) road win over No. 13 Ohio State in a non-conference match Saturday night at the Covelli Center.
The Nittany Lions improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Buckeyes dropped to 1-1. Both teams opened the season with a win over Central State.
It was a breakout performance for Kerr. His previous high in kills was just six, which was set the previous night in the win over Central State. The senior opposite hitter also had five blocks, four digs and an ace.
"If you go back to a play in set three, he was on the left side. There was a bad pass. Everyone in the gym knew the ball had to go to him. There were three blockers, and he went up and over all three blockers. And that's the way he played all night long," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said about Kerr.
It was a team effort that helped Penn State nearly sweep a ranked team despite being without three star players in Cal Fisher, Sam Marsh and Brett Wildman. Cole Bogner finished with 42 assists while guiding the team to .347 hitting, including a .600 mark in the final set. Ryan Merk played a key role in that success with his serve receive and passing in addition to his defensive play with six digs. Michael Valenzi was second on the team with nine kills, while Michal Kowal chipped in with six kills and four blocks.
The Lions were strong in the middle for the second-straight night, including another standout performance from sophomore Owen Rose. Making his second career appearance, he had seven blocks for the second-straight night and contributed four kills on .571 hitting. Toby Ezeonu had seven kills and three blocks while helping hold Ohio State to .213 hitting.
"There's a lot of different ways to win in this game, but the one unifying thread through every way to win is you need everybody on the same page and doing what they need to do," Pavlik said. "I thought tonight our passers passed extremely well, Cole (Bogner) did a real nice job getting balls to hitters at the right time, Toby (Ezeonu) and Owen (Rose) did enough in the middle to draw attention, and Ryan Merk continues as a first-year player to pass the ball really well and get some key digs. Everybody did their job."
Penn State put the pressure on Ohio State with a solid night at the service line. The Lions finished with six aces, including two from Ezeonu. Kerr, Kowal, Bogner and Gabe Hartke had one apiece.
Ohio State was led by Ben Braun with six kills on seven swings. Jacob Pasteur had a team-high 13 kills.
Penn State improved to 79-39-31 all-time against Ohio State with its fifth-straight win in the series.
Set 1
Kerr got rolling early with five kills on .571 hitting to lead Penn State to a 25-20 win in set one. Ezeonu broke a 7-7 tie with back-to-back aces and the Lions led the rest of the way. Bogner had 11 assists in the set.
Set 2
Penn State held Ohio State to -.105 hitting on its way to a 25-17 win in set two. Meanwhile, Kerr continued to dominate with five more kills on .500 hitting. The Buckeyes scored the first point only to see the Lions respond with six of the next seven to take an early four-point lead. Valenzi was at the service line for four points during that stretch. Hartke gave the Lions their largest lead of the set at 15-7 with an ace. They later matched that eight-point gap with a set-clinching kill by Valenzi.
Set 3
Penn State looked poised to get the sweep over a nationally-ranked opponent, but Ohio State erased a 23-20 deficit with a 5-0 run to secure the 25-23 win in set three. Kerr had six kills on .556 hitting. Bogner had 13 assists while leading the Lions to .333 hitting as a team.
Set 4
Kerr put the finishing touches on a career performance with five kills on .556 hitting to lead Penn State to a 25-20 win in the final set. Bogner added 10 more assists, while Rose came through with three blocks. The Lions opened the set with back-to-back kills by Kerr with assists from Bogner and led the rest of the way.
Career Highs
Toby Ezeonu – aces (2)
John Kerr – kills (21), digs (4), blocks (5)
Michal Kowal – blocks (4)
Owen Rose – digs (2)
Up Next
Penn State is home for a pair of matches next weekend. The Lions host Daemen on Friday at 7 p.m., and Merrimack on Saturday at 7 p.m.
