PRINCETON, N.J. – Penn State won the EIVA Tournament for the 37th time in program history, taking down No. 19 Princeton 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-19) in the championship match Saturday at Dillon Gymnasium. The Nittany Lions swept all three of their opponents in the tournament to improve to 14-15 and grab the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers, who won the regular season title and hosted the event as the top seed, closed the season at 15-11 overall.
Matthew Luoma led the offensive effort with 18 kills, while Ryan Merk anchored an outstanding defensive performance by Penn State with his 12 digs. The Nittany Lions held the Tigers to .159 hitting, which was well below their final season efficiency of .277.
Michael Schwob tallied 35 assists and led Penn State to .290 hitting. His bigger production came from the service line, where he recorded three aces for the fifth-consecutive match. His nine aces through three matches this week played a large role in his receiving the EIVA Tournament Most Outstanding Player award. Schwob was joined on the EIVA All-Tournament Team by Luoma, Merk, and Will Kuhns.
Gaige Gabriel contributed both offensively and defensively in the win, hitting .667 with eight kills while also leading the team in blocks with five. Kuhns finished with nine kills and three blocks, Carter Dittman contributed six kills and two blocks, and Owen Rose chipped in with two kills and two blocks. Rose helped Penn State get to the championship match with great numbers through the first two wins as he hit .733 with 2.00 kills/set and 1.67 blocks/set in sweeps over Harvard and NJIT.
Saturday marked Penn State’s first EIVA Tournament win at a location other than Rec Hall since securing the title at Rutgers-Newark in 1996.
Princeton was paced by Nyherowo Omene with 13 kills, three aces, and two blocks. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by setter Henry Wedbush.
Set 1
Luoma hit .357 with seven kills to lead Penn State to a 25-20 win in the opening set. Schwob racked up 12 assists and recorded his first ace of the night. The Nittany Lions started to pull away early with a 4-0 run that put them up 8-4. Luoma was in on the first three points of the run with a pair of kills and a block alongside Kuhns and Gabriel. Schwob capped it with an ace. They went on to lead by as much as eight at 14-6 following a kill by Dittman, but Princeton was able to fight back and get as close as one at 16-15 after an ace by Wedbush. Penn State responded with a 4-0 run and never looked back. Set point was later scored on a kill by Luoma.
Set 2
Set two was much more closely contested with 13 ties and six lead changes before Penn State came through with the 27-25 win. Luoma again led the way with seven kills, while Schwob again tallied 12 assists. The largest lead by either team was three, which Princeton had at 10-7 after an ace by Wedbush and again at 11-8 with a kill by Omene. Penn State led by three at 18-15 following a kill by Gabriel. Penn State clawed its way to 24 first with a kill by Kuhns to make it 24-22. Princeton avoided two straight set points with a solo block by Owen Mellon and an attack error by the Nittany Lions. Schwob followed with a kill but Omene responded with another kill for the Tigers to knot the score at 25-all. A service error by the Tigers made it 26-25, and the Nittany Lions capitalized with a kill by Gabriel for set point.
Set 3
Gabriel, Luoma, and Kuhns contributed four kills apiece as Penn State hit .375 and rolled to a 25-19 win in the third set. Schwob added 11 more assists and two more aces. The Nittany Lions used a 6-0 run to go up 10-4 and led the rest of the way. The first four points of the run went in the order of Gabriel kill, Schwob ace, Gabriel kill, and another Schwob ace to force a Princeton timeout. The Nittany Lions came out of the timeout with two more points on kills by Gabriel and Luoma. Penn State went on to lead by as much as nine at 19-10 after a kill by Schwob. Match point was later scored on a kill by Luoma to secure the EIVA Championship for the Nittany Lions.
Up Next
The NCAA Tournament selection show will air live on April 27 at 4 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.