UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 4 Penn State men's volleyball wrapped up a 2-0 weekend in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge with a huge 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 25-17) win over No. 2 UCLA on Saturday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 8-1 overall while handing the Bruins (9-1) their first loss of the season.
Saturday's match wrapped up a stretch of five straight top-10 opponents for Penn State. The Lions went 4-1, including wins over then-No. 5 Pepperdine, then No. 8 Stanford, and No. 10 USC. The win over the Trojans came by a 3-1 score on Friday.
Cal Fisher had another strong performance in his first weekend back from an injury, hitting .367 with 15 kills, six digs, three aces and two blocks. In the two wins combined, Fisher hit .397 with 28 kills, five aces, 15 digs and four blocks.
Penn State's middles dominated both offensively and defensively. Toby Ezeonu racked up a match-high seven blocks, while Owen Rose tallied seven kills on nine attacks for a .778 hitting percentage.
The back row helped get the offense started for the Lions, allowing just three aces. Michal Kowal was perfect on his 24 serve receptions and contributed 10 kills and six digs. Ryan Merk's passing was strong, especially in the final two sets. He also led the team with seven digs.
"I was really proud of the way our passers were able to settle down, because it felt like a heavyweight fight out there," Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik said. "I think Ido (David) may have hit 73 on a serve at one point and Brett (Wildman) hit 71. (Cal) Fisher had it up in the 60s. It really felt like a heavyweight prizefight from where I sat and I was real pleased with how our guys stepped up."
Cole Bogner led the team to .317 hitting with his 38 assists. Brett Wildman chipped in six kills and had two of the team's five aces.
J.R. Norris IV paced UCLA, hitting .600 with 11 kills. Ido David had 12 kills on .304 hitting.
With the win, Pavlik, who is in his 29th season, moved into fourth on the Division I-!! all-time wins list with 636.
Set 1
Penn State improved to 9-0 in the first set this season with a 25-21 win. The Lions trailed 19-18 before going on a 3-0 run on a UCLA service error and two attack errors. Two more errors by UCLA, one on a serve and one on an attack, eventually gave the Lions a 24-21 advantage. Rose and Fisher clinched the set, bringing the more than 2,400 fans to their feet with a block. Kowal had three kills in the set. The Lions were able to side out at 81 percent.
Set 2
UCLA bounced back with a 25-18 win in set two behind a team effort that saw the Bruins hit .500 and have seven different players contribute at least one kill. The Bruins took the lead for good after going up 5-4 on a kill by Alex Knight.
Set 3
Penn State posted a .480 hitting percentage and was able to side out at 95 percent while taking set three 25-19. Six Lions had multiple kills, including three apiece by Kowal, Rose, and Ezeonu. Bogner totaled 12 assists and added a pair of kills. The Lions pulled away with a 3-0 run that put them up 20-15. Bogner and Ezeonu had kills during that stretch. Wildman eventually ended the set with an ace.
Set 4
Fisher took over in the final set to help clinch the match with a 25-17 victory. He hit .538 with seven kills and three digs. Rose was perfect with three kills on his three swings. The Lions never trailed in the set. They distanced themselves with a 7-1 run to go up 16-8.
Up Next
Penn State heads to Loretto to take on Saint Francis on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. The Red Flash are 1-7 following a 3-0 win over Alderson Broaddus.
