LONG BEACH, Calif. – Penn State Men's Volleyball's 34th appearance in the NCAA Tournament came to an end Tuesday with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-19) loss to fourth-seeded UC Irvine in the quarterfinal round at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid.
The Nittany Lions, who earned an automatic bid and the fifth seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the EIVA title, closed the season at 23-7 overall. The Anteaters improved to 20-10 and will play top-seeded UCLA in the semifinal round.
All five departing seniors saw time for Penn State, led by John Kerr with a team-high 14 kills. Toby Ezeonu tallied eight kills and five blocks, Michal Kowal finished with six kills and an ace, Michael Valenzi contributed two kills and four digs, and Luke Snyder took over at setter for the third set and totaled 10 assists and an ace.
UC Irvine was led by Hilir Henno with 15 kills and five blocks. The Anteaters held the Nittany Lions to .188 hitting thanks in large part to 10 blocks over three sets.
Set 1
Kerr had seven kills in the opening set, but Penn State came up just short in a 26-24 loss. The Nittany Lions trailed 24-22 following a kill by Henno, but bounced back by scoring the next two points on a service error and attack error by UC Irvine. The Anteaters followed with the final two points to secure the set win. Both points were scored on kills by Akhil Tangutur.
Set 2
Hilir's six kills helped UC Irvine cruise to a 25-16 win in set two. The Anteaters jumped out to a 7-2 lead and went on to lead by as much as 10 at 24-14.
Set 3
Penn State again trailed big early, going down 9-4, but fought back to tie it at 10-10 thanks to a 4-0 run that was capped by a kill from Kerr. The Nittany Lions again went down five but only got as close as two the rest of the way.
Season Highlights
- Penn State won the EIVA regular season title with a perfect 10-0 record, upping its EIVA regular season winning streak to 38 matches.
- The Nittany Lions won their second-straight EIVA Tournament title with four-set wins over Harvard and George Mason.
- John Kerr was named the EIVA Player of the Year and was joined on the All-EIVA Team by teammates Toby Ezeonu, Ryan Merk, Owen Rose, Michal Kowal, and Michael Valenzi.
- Mark Pavlik was named the EIVA Coach of the Year.
- Kerr was selected as a first-team All-American. Ezeonu and Merk made the second team, while Rose was an honorable mention.
- Penn State posted two wins over the No. 1 ranked team in the nation during the regular season, beating Ohio State twice in one week.