UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 8 Penn State Men's Volleyball celebrated Senior Night with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15) win over No. 16 George Mason in an EIVA match Saturday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 21-6 overall and completed their third-straight unbeaten regular season in the conference with a 10-0 record.
Penn State upped its EIVA regular season winning streak to 38 consecutive matches, which is a program record and is believed to be a conference record. The Nittany Lions' last EIVA regular season loss came at George Mason on April 3, 2021.
With the regular season title in hand, Penn State earned the right to host the six-team EIVA Tournament on March 17-20. The Nittany Lions have a bye in the opening round and await the winner of fourth-seeded NJIT and fifth-seeded Harvard for a semifinal match.
All five Penn State seniors contributed to Saturday's win, starting with setter Luke Snyder. He guided the team to .389 hitting with his 41 assists and nearly recorded a double-double with nine digs. John Kerr received a big chunk of the sets from Snyder and made the most of it with 20 assists on .361 hitting in addition to his six digs, five blocks, and two aces. Michal Kowal also reached double-digits with his 10 kills on .444 hitting and added five digs and four blocks.
Also contributing to the senior group effort were Michael Valenzi with eight kills and seven digs and Toby Ezeonu with six kills and five blocks. Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Owen Rose had another big night, hitting .636 with eight kills and five blocks.
Omar Hoyos and Jack Bolz each tallied 11 kills for George Mason, who will be the second seed in the EIVA Tournament after posting a record of 17-9 overall and 6-4 in the conference. Colin Heath hit .400 with nine kills.
Set 1
Valenzi and Kerr had five kills apiece as Penn State rolled to a 25-16 win in the opening set. The team hit .500 behind 11 assists from Snyder as all five seniors were in the starting lineup. The Nittany Lions trailed 8-6 before going on a 7-0 run. Valenzi was at the service line for the run and had a pair of aces. Kerr and Kowal contributed two kills apiece. Penn State led by at least four the rest of the way. Ezeonu closed the set with a kill.
Set 2
Kerr dominated the second set with 10 kills on .769 hitting to help Penn State squeak out a 25-23 win. The Nittany Lions trailed 20-18 before closing the set with a 7-3 advantage. Kerr accounted for five of those final seven points with four kills and a block alongside Ezeonu on set point. Snyder had 15 assists as the team hit .519. Rose helped that hitting percentage with four kills on four swings.
Set 3
Set three was the only one in which Penn State hit under .500 as the Nittany Lions hit .103 in a 25-22 loss. Despite an inefficient attack in the set, they still had a chance as they took an 18-17 lead with a 4-0 run. It started with kills by Rose and Ezeonu and finished with a pair of blocks, the first by Ezeonu and Kerr and the second by Ezeonu and Kowal. George Mason responded with a 5-0 run to go up 22-18. Penn State got within two at 23-21 after a kill by Kowal, but the Patriots finished the set with two of the next three points.
Set 4
Penn State made sure it didn't go five sets for the second-straight night, hitting .533 in a 25-15 blowout. Kowal was a perfect 3-for-3 on the attack. The Nittany Lions distanced themselves with a 6-0 run that put them up 17-9. Kerr had a kill and an ace during the run. Match point was later scored on an ace by Rose.
Up Next
As the top seed, Penn State earned a bye into the semifinal round of the EIVA Tournament, where they will play the winner of fourth-seeded NJIT and fifth-seeded Harvard.
