LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 9 Penn State Men's Volleyball opened its four-match California trip with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-14, 24-26, 25-14) loss to No. 2 Long Beach State on Friday night at Walter Pyramid. The loss ended a four-match winning streak as the Nittany Lions dropped to 12-4. The Beach, which spent four weeks as the top team in the country until being passed by Grand Canyon this week, improved to 14-1.
John Kerr did his best to give Penn State a chance in a tough road match, hitting .300 with a match-high 18 kills, three digs and one ace. But the Nittany Lions were held to .132 hitting. against the top blocking team in the nation. The Beach finished with 15 blocks.
Penn State's Ryan Merk led all players with 13 digs. Will Kuhns chipped in with seven.
Sotiris Siapanis and Skyler Varga were a formidable duo for Long Beach State. Siapanis hit .394 with 17 kills, seven digs, three blocks and two aces. Varga hit .444 with 14 kills 10 digs, four blocks and five aces. The Beach had 12 aces as a team.
Friday night's match featured two teams that played in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Set 1
Varga and Clarke Godbold had four kills apiece as Long Beach State hit .500 in a 25-17 win in the first set. It was a one-point score at 9-8 before the Beach went on a 4-0 run to make it 13-8. Penn State only got as close as three the rest of the way.
Set 2
Long Beach State used five blocks and three aces to get a 25-14 win in the second set. The Beach started to pull away early with a 4-0 run that put them up 13-7. They later used a 5-0 run to make it 22-11.
Set 3
John Kerr impressed in set three with nine kills on .692 hitting while leading Penn State to a 26-24 win. Luke Snyder had 10 assists as the Nittany Lions hit .375. The score was tied 16 times and there were four lead changes in the set. A kill by Owen Rose gave Penn State its first chance at set point but it was followed by a service error. Kerr's ninth kill of the set made it 25-24. The set was won on an attack error by the Beach.
Set 4
Long Beach State bounced back strong in set four, hitting .458 on its way to a 25-14 win. Siapanis had five kills on .833 hitting, while Varga and Godbold contributed three kills apiece.
Up Next
No. 9 Penn State plays at No. 16 CSUN on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. The Matadors are 9-7 following a 3-0 win over Charleston on Friday.
