CHARLESTON, W.Va. – No. 9 Penn State Men's Volleyball served for another 10 aces in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 30-28) sweep over the University of Charleston on Saturday at the Wehrle Innovation Center. The Nittany Lions completed the weekend sweep of the Golden Eagles, totaling 19 aces over the two matches.
The Nittany Lions are 19-6 overall and 8-0 in the EIVA. They enter the final weekend of the regular season with a two-match lead over George Mason, which they play at Rec Hall on Friday and Saturday. If they win either of those two matches, they clinch the regular season title and hosting rights for the EIVA Tournament.
Michal Kowal returned to the court after a one-match absence and paced the serving effort with four aces. Michael Schwob was one behind him with three, giving him six over the two-match series. Owen Rose tallied two aces, while Michael Valenzi chipped in with one.
Kerr led all players with 14 kills to record his 18th double-digit kill match of the season. Valenzi also reached double-digits with 10 kills in addition to five blocks. Middles Toby Ezeonu and Rose each finished with seven kills. Ezeonu did it on .500 hitting and added five blocks, while Rose hit .308 and had three blocks.
Kowal finished with a team-high five digs, with Ryan Merk and Schwob coming in behind him with five digs apiece. Schwob led the team to .297 hitting with his 35 assists.
Charleston, which fell to 11-14 overall and 2-6 in the EIVA, was held to .167 hitting. Cole Duncanson was a bright spot for the Golden Eagles with eight kills on .600 hitting and four blocks.
Penn State stayed unbeaten at 19-0 in the all-time series with Charleston.
Set 1
Penn State racked up six aces in the first set alone as it rolled to a 25-14 win. Schwob had three of those aces, Kowal tallied two, and Rose chipped in with one. All three of Schwob's aces came during a 6-0 run that gave the Nittany Lions a 12-9 lead. Kowal's aces came back-to-back and put the team up 15-10. Rose's ace came during a 4-0 run that saw the Nittany Lions go up 21-11. The final point of the set was scored on a kill by Kowal.
Set 2
Penn State hit .368 compared to -.050 for Charleston in a 25-19 win in the second set. Valenzi stepped up with three kills and was in on four of the team's six blocks, including two solo. Ezeonu was in on three blocks. The set started on a strong note for the Nittany Lions as Kowal had two aces during a 5-0 run. They would go on to lead by as much as eight at 16-8 after a solo block by Valenzi.
Set 3
Both teams found their groove offensively in the final set with Penn State hitting .350 and Charleston hitting .368, but it was the Nittany Lions that pulled out the 30-28 win. Valenzi came through in the clutch with back-to-back kills to close the match. Prior to that Kerr had taken over with seven kills in the set. Valenzi totaled four kills, two blocks and one ace. Penn State looked like it had the sweep wrapped up with little drama to be had as it took a 24-21 lead following a kill by Kerr, but Charleston came alive with a 3-0 run with kills by three different players to tie it. The Nittany Lions never trailed during the extra play, taking leads on kills by Valenzi, Ezeonu, Rose and Kerr. They prevailed despite finding themselves out of system on each of the final two points. Kerr set Valenzi for the go-ahead kill, and Kowal set him for the match-clinching kill.
Career Highs
Michael Valenzi – blocks (5)
Up Next
No. 9 Penn State hosts No. 16 George Mason with the EIVA regular season title on the line. The teams play at Rec Hall on Friday at 7 p.m., and then again on Saturday at 4 p.m.
