COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 17 Penn State Men’s Volleyball was back in action Friday after nearly a two-week break as it opened the B1G Challenge with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-22, 25-15) loss to No. 3 UCLA at Ohio State’s Covelli Center.
The Nittany Lions dropped to 0-5 with all five losses coming to nationally-ranked opponents, including two to two-time defending national champion UCLA. The Bruins improved to 5-1.
Will Kuhns led Penn State with 11 kills, giving him double-digits in four of the first five matches. Matthew Luoma tallied seven kills.
Penn State showed improvement at the service line with five aces, including two from Michael Schwob. Kuhns, Gaige Gabriel, and Owen Rose chipped in with one ace apiece.
UCLA’s Cooper Robinson was the standout player in the win for UCLA with 15 kills on .565 hitting. Zach Rama totaled 10 kills, while David Decker hit .583 with eight kills and two of the team’s six aces.
Set 1
Penn State nearly pulled off a great comeback after trailing 20-14, but UCLA came out on top with a hard-fought 28-26 win in the opening set. Penn State’s comeback attempt started with a 3-0 run to get within three at 20-17. The Nittany Lions later went on a 5-0 run to go up 23-22. The run included an ace by Gabriel that tied the score and two kills by Kuhns, the second of which gave his team the lead. They still led by one at 24-23 but were unable to convert on their only chance at set point. UCLA later closed the set with kills by Rama and Robinson, both coming off sets from Andrew Rowan.
Set 2
Luoma tallied four kills on six attacks for Penn State, but UCLA took the set with a 25-22 win. This time it was Penn State that took a good-size lead as it went up 13-8 on a UCLA service error and still led by four at 15-11 following a kill by Luoma. From there, the Bruins quickly erased the deficit, tying the match at 17-all and later taking the lead at 22-21 with a kill by Decker. Back-to-back kills by Rama put the Bruins up 24-22 before the set ended with a service error.
Set 3
Set three was all UCLA as it rolled to a 25-15 win. Cooper hit .517 with five kills, while Decker hit .500 with four kills.
Career Highs
Matthew Luoma – digs (5)
Up Next
No. 17 Penn State wraps up play at the B1G Challenge with a match against No. 6 USC on Saturday at 4 p.m.