UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Toby Ezeonu was perfect with 10 kills on 10 swings to lead No. 6 Penn State Men's Volleyball to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-19) sweep over Central State in the season opener for both teams Thursday night at Rec Hall.
"In an opening match where you're wondering what this team will be like after losing nine guys, I thought there were glimpses of what this team could be," head coach Mark Pavlik said. "The fact that we had the opportunity to get some people in that have never been in uniform playing in Rec Hall when it counts I thought was beneficial for us. And those guys got the job done."
Ezeonu became just the fourth player in program history to hit 1.000 with a minimum of 10 attacks, joining Norm Keil (10-0-10) vs. Rutgers in 2002, Zeljko Koljesar (11-0-11) vs. Springfield in 2002, and Max Holt (12-0-12) vs. Harvard in 2009.
Penn State hit an impressive .508 as a team in the win behind 22 assists from freshman setter Michael Schwob and seven from Luke Snyder. John Kerr hit .600 with seven kills, Michal Kowal hit .750 with six kills, Will Kuhns hit .333 with six kills, and Owen Rose hit .667 with five kills.
The Nittany Lions were strong from the service line with 10 aces, which came from seven different players. Kowal led the way with four, including a stretch of three straight in the second set. Snyder, Kerr, Schwob, Matthew Luoma, Kuhns, and Ezeonu chipped in with one ace apiece.
Ryan Merk led the defensive effort with a match-high eight digs.
Set 1
Penn State jumped out to a 13-2 lead on its way to a 25-14 win in the first set of the season. Ezeonu had five kills on five swings, and Schwob was perfect on his three attacks while also guiding the team to .500 hitting with his nine assists. Merk did his part with four digs.
Set 2
Schwob's 13 assists led to Penn State hitting .722 as it rolled to a 25-17 win in set two. This time it was Kerr who was a perfect 5-for-5 on the attack. Rose had three kills on three swings, while Kowal and Ezeonu each had two kills on their two attacks.
Set 3
The third set was the most competitive of the night before Penn State pulled away for a 25-19 win. Central State led 15-13 following a 5-0 run. The Nittany Lions called timeout before responding with a 6-0 run that included an ace by Luoma and two kills by Ezeonu. The second of those was Ezeonu's 10th kill of the night and put Penn State up 19-15. Central State only got as close as three the rest of the way.
Career Highs
Toby Ezeonu – hitting percentage (1.000)
Matthew Luoma – kills (1), aces (1)
Michael Schwob – kills (3), assists (22), aces (1), blocks (1)
Luke Snyder – assists (7), aces (1), digs (2)
Up Next
No. 6 Penn State hosts No. 16 Lewis at Rec Hall on Saturday at 6 p.m.
