LORETTO, Pa. – No. 20 Penn State Men’s Volleyball made it two sweeps in a row as it went on the road to beat Saint Francis 3-0 (30-28, 25-17, 26-24) in a non-conference match Friday night at DeGol Arena. The Nittany Lions head back to Happy Valley at 2-7 overall, while the Red Flash dipped to 1-9 on the season.
Penn State needed just 29 kills to get the win thanks in large part to 26 Saint Francis service errors. The balanced attack was led by Matthew Luoma with nine kills. Setter Michael Schwob, who finished with 26 assists, found efficiency with his middles as Gaige Gabriel hit .778 with seven kills and Owen Rose totaled four kills on just five attacks.
The Nittany Lions hit .279 compared to .229 for the Red Flash. Ryan Merk fueled that effort with his nine digs. Rose, the EIVA leader in blocks/set, was strong at the net with his six blocks, while Gabriel and Matt Cosgrove chipped in with four blocks apiece.
Andrew Deardorff carried the Saint Francis attack, hitting .378 with 20 kills. But it wasn’t enough as the rest of the team combined to for 24 kills on .136 hitting. The Red Flash were held to just two aces. They appeared to target Cosgrove, who came through with a perfect 21-for-21 mark in serve receive.
Set 1
Penn State opened the match with a 30-28 win in a back-and-forth first set. It featured 20 ties and six lead changes. The largest lead by either team was three, which Saint Francis held at 11-8 and 16-13. The Red Flash had the first two chances at set point but followed with service errors both times. Rose gave Penn State its first chance at set point with a kill to put his team up 26-25, but Saint Francis responded with a kill by Sam Lane. The Nittany Lions’ next two chances were also thwarted. Finally, after a kill by Deardorff to tie the score at 28-all, Kuhns gave the Nittany Lions the lead with a kill and Gabriel followed with a solo block to secure the set win.
Set 2
Penn State hit .429 behind 10 assists by Schwob as it rolled to a 25-17 win in the second set. Luoma did a large chunk of the offensive work with six kills on .667 hitting. Rose had an ace in addition to his three blocks. The Nittany Lions trailed 7-4 before going on a 5-0 run that that started with a kill and a solo block by Rose. They later used another 5-0 run to go up 17-12. Gabriel, Luoma, and Cosgrove all had kills during that stretch. Gabriel later added a solo block for set point.
Set 3
The Nittany Lions overcame 10 kills by Deardorff to get a 26-24 win in the third set. They did so with just six kills, scoring 11 points on Saint Francis service errors two on aces by Luoma, and four on blocks. Luoma’s aces came back-to-back and capped a 4-0 run that put Penn State up 22-18. The Nittany Lions later upped their lead to 24-21 but had to stave off one last comeback attempt by Saint Francis. The Red Flash scored three straight points to knot the score at 24-all. A service error put an end to the run, and Luoma and Gabriel ended with a block for match point.
Career Highs
Matt Cosgrove – blocks (4)
Matthew Luoma – aces (2)
Up Next
Penn State and Saint Francis square off again, this time at Rec Hall on Saturday at 4 p.m.