AUSTIN, Texas – No. 7 Penn State Men's Volleyball wrapped up the First Point Collegiate Challenge with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-15) loss to No. 1 UCLA on Saturday night at the Austin Convention Center. The Nittany Lions fell to 4-2 on the season, while the defending national champion Bruins improved to 5-1.
UCLA, which hit .354 behind 25 assists from Andrew Rowan, used a balanced attack with four players finishing with at least five kills. Alex Knight led the way with nine kills on .412 hitting.
Will Kuhns put together a solid outing for Penn State as he came off the bench and finished with a career-high nine kills on .400 hitting. Toby Ezeonu hit .500 with five kills.
Set 1
Penn State's two middles, Ezeonu and Owen Rose, each had two kills on two swings, but UCLA countered with four kills on five attacks by Sean McQuiggan in a 25-20 win. The Bruins started to pull away with a 4-0 run that put them up 14-8. They went on to lead by as much as eight at 22-14.
Set 2
Kuhns and Ezeonu each had three kills on four attacks for Penn State, but UCLA again received a big individual performance to get a 25-19 win. This time it was Knight with five kills on .625 hitting. The Nittany Lions were within three at 20-17 following a UCLA service error, but the Bruins responded with a 3-0 run that was capped by a Knight kill. Set point was eventually scored on a Penn State attack error.
Set 3
Kuhns, whose previous career high in kills in a match was seven, had six in the third set alone. Zach Rama also had six kills for UCLA as the Bruins finished off the match with a 25-15 win.
Career Highs
Will Kuhns – kills (9)
Up Next
No. 7 Penn State travels to play No. 4 Ohio State on Thursday at 6 p.m. The teams then play again at Rec Hall on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Buckeyes are 6-0 following wins over UCLA and USC at the First Point Collegiate Challenge.
