HONOLULU, Hawaii – No. 3 Penn State saw its nine-match winning streak come to an end with a 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 15-10) loss to No. 2 UCLA in a non-conference men's volleyball match Thursday at Hawaii's Stan Sheriff Center. It was the opening match of the Outrigger Invitational.
The Nittany Lions fell to 15-2 overall with both losses coming to teams that were ranked in the top three in the AVCA Coaches Poll at the time of the match. The Bruins improved to 18-1 with their ninth straight win. Their lone loss of the season came to Penn State by a 3-1 score on Feb. 4.
Michal Kowal led a solid comeback attempt by Penn State with a team-high 13 kills on .393 hitting. He added seven digs and one ace. Brett Wildman joined him in double-digits with 10 kills and had a pair of aces. John Kerr came off the bench and finished with nine kills.
Owen Rose started strong for the Lions with five kills on his first five swings. He finished with six kills on .625 hitting and had four blocks. Fellow middle blocker Toby Ezeonu also had four blocks and hit .429 with seven kills.
Cole Bogner led the Lions in assists with 40, while Ryan Merk was tops in digs with eight.
UCLA's Ido David led all players with 21 kills on .390 hitting. Merrick McHenry hit .615 with nine kills and seven blocks.
Penn State played a nationally-ranked opponent for the eighth time this season and is now 6-2 in those matches. The Lions are 5-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the match.
Set 1
Penn State led 17-16 before UCLA scored nine of the final 12 points to get the 25-20 win in the opening set. Ethan Champlin recorded five kills on five swings to lead the Bruins.
Set 2
UCLA jumped out to a 13-6 lead, but Penn State put together a respectable comeback attempt. The Lions used a 4-0 run to get within two at 14-12. The Bruins pulled away again, going up 20-15, but the Lions clawed their way back to get within one at 22-21 following a kill by Ezeonu. The Bruins scored three of the final four points and capped the set with a kill by David to get the 25-22 win.
Set 3
Penn State rolled to a 25-16 win in set three behind four kills on .800 hitting by both Kowal and Wildman. Bogner tallied 13 assists and led the team to an impressive .737 hitting in the set. Rose showed his versatility with two kills on two attacks, four digs, and two blocks. Kerr had three kills, including the final two points for the Lions.
Set 4
Penn State hit just .161 but got a 25-21 win in set four thanks to four aces and four blocks. Kowal had four kills, giving him eight over the two sets that were won by the Lions. Wildman had a clutch ace to put the Lions up 21-18. Cal Fisher added another big ace to make it 24-20 and then came through with a kill to clinch the set.
Set 5
The teams traded the first 12 points to knot the score at 6-6 before Penn State took its first lead at 7-6 with a solo block by Wildman. The score was tied again at 8-8 following a kill by Rose. UCLA took over from there, going on 6-0 run to make it 14-8. Wildman and Will Kuhns had back-to-back kills to keep the match going before the Bruins secured the win with a kill by David.
Career Highs
Owen Rose – digs (6)
Up Next
No. 3 Penn State takes on No. 1 Hawaii at midnight ET on Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors are unbeaten at 16-0 after opening the Outrigger Invitational with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-13, 25-20) win over Purdue Fort Wayne.
