UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Michael Valenzi hit .526 with 11 kills to lead No. 10 Penn State Men's Volleyball to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-18) sweep over visiting Harvard in an EIVA match Friday night at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions improved to 16-6 overall and 5-0 in the conference while giving themselves a two-match lead in the standings. The Crimson, which entered the night in second place, fell to 11-7 overall and 3-2 in the EIVA.
Penn State upped its EIVA regular season winning streak to 33 matches and its Rec Hall winning streak to 14 matches.
Valenzi had a strong overall performance, adding two aces, three digs and two blocks. He has seen success against Harvard during his career, hitting .568 while averaging 3.11 kills/set over three matches against the Crimson.
Penn State dominated the serve-receive battle, finishing with 10 aces thanks in large part to a career-high five from Michal Kowal. John Kerr had two aces, while Owen Rose chipped in with one. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions allowed just one ace by Harvard.
John Kerr led all players with 12 kills in the win. He did it while hitting .320. Toby Ezeonu chipped in with seven kills.
Ryan Merk led Penn State in the back row with eight digs. He was also a perfect 15-15 on serve receive. Kowal also contributed to the passing with a 14-for-14 mark on serve receive.
Penn State improved to 24-3 in the all-time series with Harvard, including a perfect 14-0 record at Rec Hall.
Set 1
The first set was closely contested with the teams being tied as late as 14-14 before Penn State pulled away for a 25-20 win. It started with a 3-0 run that included an ace by Kerr and a solo block by Rose to put the Nittany Lions up 17-14. A kill by Harvard's Zach Berty ended that run, but Penn State followed up with the next four points to go up 21-15. Ezeonu, Valenzi, and Michael Schwob all had kills during that run. Valenzi eventually added his fourth kill of the set to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead in the match.
Set 2
Penn State dominated the second set, holding Harvard to just five kills on -.062 hitting in a 25-15 win. Kerr hit .833 with five kills, while Kowal had three aces. The first ace came during a 4-0 run to start the set, while the next two came during a 5-0 run that put the Nittany Lions up 18-9.
Set 3
Penn State continued to dominate in the third set, this time holding Harvard to just three kills on -.056 hitting. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions received four kills from both Valenzi and Kerr and three kills from both Rose and Ezeonu. Schwob had 10 assists while leading the team to .321 hitting. Penn State never trailed in the set. Match point was scored on an ace by Kowal.
Career Highs
Michal Kowal – aces (5)
Up Next
Penn State and Harvard are back at Rec Hall on Saturday at 4 p.m.
