UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Matthew Luoma hit .640 with a career-high 18 kills to lead No. 20 Penn State Men’s Volleyball to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-18) win over visiting Saint Francis in a non-conference match Saturday night at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions, who played their home opener more than a month into the season, improved to 3-7 overall with their third-consecutive sweep. The Red Flash fell to 1-9.
Sophomore setter Michael Schwob tallied 30 assists while guiding Penn State to .343 hitting. Luoma was the go-to player as he racked up nine more kills than any other individual player on the court for either team. He also came through in the clutch with kills that ended all three sets. Luoma added four blocks and served for two of the team’s five aces.
Will Kuhns was also solid offensively for Penn State with eight kills on .438 hitting. He contributed defensively with five digs, finishing one behind Schwob and Ryan Merk, who shared the team lead with six.
Penn State was able to slow down Andrew Deardorff one night after he hit .378 with 20 kills against the Nittany Lions in Loretto. He finished with a team-high nine kills on .208 hitting.
The Nittany Lions improved to 56-3 and ran their winning streak to 17 straight in the all-time series with the Red Flash.
Set 1
Luoma came out firing with seven kills on .750 hitting to lead Penn State to a 25-21 win in the first set. It was enough to counter the 11 combined kills by Ryan Keco and Deardorff for Saint Francis, The Red Flash started strong, taking a 7-2 lead and forcing a timeout by Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik after a kill by Brady Stump. Penn State chipped away at the deficit until using a 3-0 run to take its first lead at 15-14. Luoma capped the run with a kill and a solo block. The score remained close at 22-21 before the Nittany Lions closed the set with another 3-0 run. Luoma contributed on all three points with a kill, a block alongside Gaige Gabriel, and another kill.
Set 2
Penn State hit .409 behind 11 assists by Schwob in a 25-20 win in the second set. Gabriel had four kills on five attacks, while Luoma added four more kills on seven swings. This time it was the Nittany Lions that jumped out to a huge lead, going up 9-2 on back-to-back aces by Luoma. The Red Flash got as close as two numerous times, including as late as 17-15. They were still in striking distance at 23-20, but the Nittany Lions scored on a service error and then closed the door with a kill by Luoma.
Set 3
Luoma didn’t slow down in the final set, tacking on seven more kills on .700 hitting as Penn State rolled to a 25-18 win. Kuhns and Matt Cosgrove had aces in the set. Another fast start helped propel the Nittany Lions as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a run that included a pair of kills by Luoma. Saint Francis never led in the set but did tie the score at 8-8. Penn State responded with the next two points and led the rest of the way. With the Nittany Lions leading 22-18, Luoma put an exclamation point on a career night with three straight kills to clinch the victory.
Career Highs
Matthew Luoma – kills (18)
Up Next
No. 20 Penn State returns to EIVA play with a pair of matches at No. 19 NJIT next week. The teams play Friday at 6 p.m., and again on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Highlanders are 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference following a 3-1 loss to Princeton in their most recent match.