AUSTIN, Texas – No. 14 Penn State Men’s Volleyball started strong but came up short in the end in a 3-1 (23-25, 30-28, 25-20, 25-19) loss to No. 11 Stanford on Saturday night at the Austin Convention Center. The Nittany Lions are 0-4 on the season following the conclusion of their two matches at the First Point Collegiate Challenge.
Penn State had the upper hand with a 1-0 lead in the match and an 18-11 advantage in the second set, but Stanford stormed back to get the win and tie the match. The Cardinal went on to take the final two sets to improve to 3-1 overall.
Will Kuhns and Matthew Luoma reached double-digits with 10 kills apiece for Penn State, which played its fourth-consecutive nationally-ranked opponent to open the season. Owen Rose hit .429 with seven kills and led all players with seven blocks. Sean Harvey and Gaige Gabriel finished with six and five kills, respectively.
Kuhns was also the team’s leader in digs with nine, just missing his first career double-double. Ryan Merk was right behind him with eight digs.
Theo Snoey carried the offensive load for Stanford with 15 kills on .323 hitting. He added seven digs. Evan Porter led the defensive effort with 15 digs.
Set 1
Luoma hit .400 with five kills to lead Penn State to a 25-23 win in the opening set. Rose had two kills on two swings and was in on all three of the team’s blocks as the Nittany Lions held the opposition to .050 hitting. Penn State broke an 11-11 tie with a 4-0 run that was fueled by a kill and a pair of block assists by Rose. The Nittany Lions kept the lead the rest of the way, but Stanford did get as close as one numerous times, the last of which came at 24-23. The Nittany Lions put an end to the comeback attempt with a kill by Harvey for set point.
Set 2
Penn State looked to be in control with a big lead in the second set before Stanford stormed back to win 30-28 and tie the match. The Nittany Lions started fast with a 4-0 run and later took an 11-4 lead after going on a 3-0 run that included a kill by Rose and an ace by Kuhns. The Nittany Lions still led by seven at 18-11 following a kill by Luoma. Stanford started to chip away at its deficit, but Penn State was still in a solid position with a 24-21 lead after a kill by Gabriel. Stanford responded with a 4-0 run to take its first lead of the set at 25-24. Overall, Penn State had three chances at set point and it took Stanford until its fifth chance before scoring the final point on an ace by Ryan DuRoss.
Set 3
Stanford held Penn State to -.100 hitting as it took the third set 25-20. It was the Cardinal again who ended the set with a fury. The Cardinal led by just one at 20-19 before scoring five of the final six points. Set point was scored on a Penn State attack error.
Set 4
Stanford rolled to a 25-19 win in the fourth set behind four kills from Snoey and a pair of aces by Moses Wagner. The Cardinal led by as much as eight in the set. Match point was eventually scored on a kill by Snoey.
Career Highs
Gaige Gabriel – blocks (4)
Sean Harvey – aces (1), blocks (3)
Will Kuhns – digs (9)
Matthew Luoma – kills (10), digs (3)
Josh Rosenblum – assists (7)
Up Next
No. 14 Penn State plays a pair of matches against No. 13 Ohio State next week. The Nittany Lions host the Buckeyes on Thursday at 7 p.m., and then travel to Columbus for a match on Sunday at 3 p.m.