UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 10 Penn State Men's Volleyball defeated Saint Francis in five sets for the second time in two days, beating the Red Flash 3-2 (25-15, 23-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-7) on Sunday afternoon at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions upped their record to 15-6 overall, adding Sunday's five-set win over Saint Francis to the five-set win they recorded over the same opponent Saturday in Loretto. The Red Flash fell to 12-8.
Penn State trailed 2-1 before turning to Luke Snyder at setter to provide a spark for the team's attack. The senior came through in the clutch, tallying 17 assists while leading the team to .486 hitting in the two set wins. The Nittany Lions had eight kills and no errors on 12 attacks in the final set.
John Kerr was the go-to player for Penn State as he led the team with 16 kills on .387 hitting in addition to his nine digs, two blocks and one ace. Michael Valenzi had a strong match, hitting .429 with nine kills and four digs. Middles Toby Ezeonu and Owen Rose chipped in with seven and five kills, respectively. Ezeonu also led the team at the service line with three aces.
The Nittany Lions finished with 45 digs while holding the Red Flash to .186 as a team. Ryan Merk paced the effort with 10 digs, Kerr was right behind him with nine, and Will Kuhns contributed a career-high eight.
Nathan Zini wrapped up an outstanding weekend individually for Saint Francis, hitting .321 with 23 kills and three aces. Over the two matches against Penn State, the junior hit .344 with 43 kills and four aces.
Set 1
Penn State was able to side out at 93 percent on its way to a 25-15 win in the opening set. The Nittany Lions started to pull away early with a 4-0 run to go up 12-8. Rose started the run with a kill, while Michal Schwob capped it with an ace. After Saint Francis put an end to that run, the Nittany Lions started a new one with five straight points to take a 17-9 lead. Kerr had two kills during that stretch. The Red Flash didn't get closer than seven the rest of the way.
Set 2
Penn State was held to .138 hitting as it dropped the second set 25-23. The Nittany Lions had a nice comeback attempt at the end of the set but came up one point short of extending it. Trailing 24-19, they went on a 4-0 run that was capped by a solo block from Kerr. Andrew Deardorff put an end to the run and won the set for the Red Flash with a kill.
Set 3
Saint Francis, which entered the match as the third-ranked team in the nation in aces/set, found its groove from the service line in set three. The Red Flash tallied six in a 25-19 win, led by Ryan Parker with three. They led by as much eight on their way to an easy set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set 4
Penn State's switch to Snyder at setter paid off immediately as it opened the fourth set with a 5-0 run that started with kills by three different players. Snyder finished the set with 12 assists and the Nittany Lions hit .400 in a 25-22 win. Five players combined for 13 kills, led by Valenzi, Kerr and Ezeonu with three apiece. Despite an 8-2 advantage to open the set, Penn State had to battle to get the win. Saint Francis fought all the way back to take a 15-14 lead on a kill by Zini. The Nittany Lions responded with a 3-0 run to take a 17-15 advantage and led the rest of the way. Rose started the go-ahead run with a kill and followed that with a block alongside Michal Kowal. Snyder capped it with an ace. The Red Flash got within one as late as 20-19. The Nittany Lions scored the next two points on kills by Kerr and Valenzi. A kill by Ezeonu later made it 23-20, and the final two Penn State points were eventually scored on Saint Francis service errors.
Set 5
Penn State left little doubt in the fifth set as it rolled to a 15-7 win, hitting .667 with eight kills. Kerr had four of those kills as he was perfect on his four attacks. He also added an ace, which was a part of a 4-0 run to open the set. Snyder had five assists on the Nittany Lions' eight kills, while the other three came from Merk.
Career Highs
John Kerr – assists (4)
Will Kuhns – digs (8)
Up Next
Penn State returns to the EIVA portion of its schedule when it hosts Harvard for a pair of matches on March 29-30 at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions lead the EIVA at 4-0, while the Crimson sit in second place at 3-1.
