UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 8 Penn State Men's Volleyball clinched the EIVA regular season title and hosting rights to the conference tournament with a come-from-behind 3-2 (22-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-18, 15-13) win over No. 16 George Mason on Friday night at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions improved to 20-6 overall and remained unbeaten in league play with a 9-0 record. It was their 37th-consecutive EIVA regular season win. The Patriots, who secured the second seed in the conference tournament with Princeton's loss to Charleston on Friday, dropped to 17-8, 6-3. The Patriots entered the weekend with an 11-match winning streak.
John Kerr had yet another huge match for Penn State, hitting .524 with 23 kills, seven digs, four blocks and one ace. His final kill clinched the 15-13 win for the Nittany Lions in the fifth set. Kerr has reached double-digit kills in 13 consecutive matches.
While Kerr provided the spark from the right side, it was Owen Rose and Toby Ezeonu who dominated in the middle. Rose finished with a career-high 13 kills while hitting .600 and led all players with seven blocks. Ezeonu hit .706 with 13 kills, three blocks and one ace.
Michael Schwob dished out 48 of the teams 55 assists as Penn State hit .418 as a team. He also had one of the team's seven aces. Adding aces for the Nittany Lions were Michael Valenzi with two and Michal Kowal and Carter Dittman with one apiece.
Kowal was the team leader in digs, while Ryan Merk was right behind him with 10. Merk was a perfect 20-of-20 on serve receptions.
George Mason's Jack Bolz proved tough to stop, hitting .302 while recording a double-double with 19 kills and 10 digs. The Patriots, who hit .252 for the match, had two sets above .400. They hit .407 with 16 kills in the opening set and .417 with 10 kills in the fifth.
Set 1
Penn State dropped the first set 25-22 despite seven kills on .583 hitting by Kerr and four kills on .800 hitting by Ezeonu. George Mason hit .407 with Troy McDonald assisting on all 14 of the team's kills. The Patriots used a 3-0 run to go up 18-14 and led by at least two the rest of the way.
Set 2
Penn State hit .600 and had three aces in a dominant 15-13 win in the second set. Ezeonu had four kills, while Kowal tallied three. Rose was in on three of the team's four blocks. Penn State started to pull away early, breaking a 3-3 tie with a 5-0 run. Rose had a pair of blocks during that stretch, while Ezeonu chipped in with an ace. The Nittany Lions later went on a 7-0 run to make it 18-5. Rose had two kills during the run, while Kowal recorded a kill and a solo block.
Set 3
George Mason took back the momentum with a 25-23 win in the third set despite Penn State holding a .312-.267 advantage in hitting percentage. Omar Hoyos played a role in that with three aces in the set. The Nittany Lions tied the score at 22-22 with a kill by Rose, but the Patriots responded with the next two points on a service error and a kill by Hoyos. Another Rose kill brought the Nittany Lions back within one. Bolz then closed the set with a kill for the Patriots.
Set 4
Rose was perfect with four kills on four swings and Penn State hit .409 behind 10 assists from Schwob in a 25-18 win in set four. Merk helped hold George Mason to .065 hitting with his six digs. The Nittany Lions trailed 12-11 before going on a 3-0 run and kept the lead the rest of the way. Rose scored the first and last points of that run with kills. Dittman later came up with a big ace that put Penn State up 17-14. The Nittany Lions distanced themselves with a 4-0 run to go up 21-15. Ezeonu highlighted that run with a solo block.
Set 5
Kerr took over in the fifth set with five kills on seven attacks as Penn State clinched the match and the regular season title with a 15-13 win. Ezeonu added three kills on four swings. Penn State started strong as a kill by Rose made it an 8-4 lead as the team's switched sides. Kerr and Ezeonu had two kills apiece up to that point. George Mason got within two at 9-7 and 11-9 before finally getting it to one at 13-12 thanks to a kill by Bolz. Kerr followed with a kill, but the Nittany Lions' first chance at match point was thwarted by another kill from Bolz. Match point came on the next rally as Schwob set Kerr for his 23rd kill of the night.
Career Highs
Michal Kowal – digs (11)
Owen Rose – kills (13)
Up Next
Penn State and George Mason wrap up the regular season with another match at Rec Hall on Saturday at 4 p.m. Penn State seniors Luke Snyder, Michael Valenzi, Michal Kowal, John Kerr, and Toby Ezeonu will be honored prior to the match.
