PRINCETON, N.J. – No. 9 Penn State Men's Volleyball opened EIVA play with a 3-1 (20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 25-23) win at No. 15 Princeton behind a dominant showing from Toby Ezeonu on Friday night at Dillon Gymnasium. The Nittany Lions moved to 9-3 overall and 1-0 in the conference, while the Tigers dropped to 6-6, 0-1.
Ezeonu, who entered the weekend with the best hitting percentage in the nation at .529, racked up 11 kills on .846 hitting while adding three aces and five blocks in the win over Princeton. He had just one kill on one swing in the opening-set loss before adding 10 kills on 12 attacks over the three sets won by Penn State.
Ezeonu combined with Owen Rose to give Penn State a formidable 1-2 punch in the middle. Rose hit .467 with 10 kills and five blocks. The Nittany Lions were strong defensively at the net with 10 blocks in the match. John Kerr matched Ezeonu and Rose with a team-high five.
Senior setter Luke Snyder led a balanced attack for Penn State with his 48 assists. Kerr had 10 kills, while Michal Kowal and Michael Valenzi were right behind him with nine kills apiece. All five Nittany Lions' starting hitters and blockers were between nine and 11 kills as the team hit .344.
Princeton was held to .215 hitting but did receive a big night from Nyherowo Omene. He hit .371 with 20 kills and three aces.
Penn State upped its EIVA regular season win streak to 29 matches.
Set 1
Omene and Ben Harrington had four kills apiece to lead Princeton to a 25-20 win in the first set. The Tigers got the five-point win despite hitting just .167. They pulled away with a 5-0 run that put them up 16-10. Penn State only got as close as three the rest of the way.
Set 2
Penn State went to extra points in the second set for a third-consecutive match as it came out on top 27-25 behind five kills on six attacks from Valenzi. The Nittany Lions held a fairly comfortable 20-16 lead before Princeton fought back to get within one at 22-21. Penn State followed with the next two points, including an ace by Ezeonu, but Princeton battled back again and denied the first three chances at set point to tie the score at 24-24. A kill by Rose put the Nittany Lions back up one at 25-24, but the Tigers stopped set point for the fourth time. Rose then combined with Kowal for a kill, and the Nittany Lions finished the set on their fifth chance on an attack error by the Tigers.
Set 3
Rose carried the momentum from his strong finish to the second set into the third with three kills on three attacks as Penn State went up 2-1 in the match with a 25-22 win in set three. The Nittany Lions never trailed in the set but also never really gained a huge lead either. Starting at 15-13, the Tigers had nine chances to pull within one but never got the clutch play to make it happen as Penn State was able to side out at 78 percent in the set. It was still just a two-point differential at 24-22 before a Princeton service error finished off the set.
Set 4
Snyder tallied 12 assists while leading Penn State to .500 hitting in a 25-23 win in the final set. Much of the success came from the middle as Ezeonu was perfect on his five attacks and Rose added three kills on four swings. Despite the close score, the Nittany Lions were in control most of the way after taking the lead for good at 9-8. They held a four-point lead at 22-18 before Princeton went on a 3-0 run to get within one. Princeton had chances to tie the match at 23-22 and 24-23, but both attempts were thwarted by Rose kills.
Up Next
Penn State and Princeton finish the weekend series with a match in Dillon Gymnasium on Saturday at 5 p.m.
