LEBANON, Ill. – No. 10 Penn State men’s volleyball suffered its first loss of the season Friday, falling 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-20) to No. 15 McKendree in a non-conference match at the Melvin Price Convocation Center. The Nittany Lions dropped to 4-1 overall with the loss coming in their first road match of the season. The Bearcats improved to 3-2 with their third-straight win.
Sean Harvey was the lone Penn State player to reach double-digit kills as he totaled 11 on .429 hitting. Miller Trubey was strong in limited playing time, tallying five kills on .364 hitting in the third set alone. But the Nittany Lions struggled to get going as a team as they finished with a .244 hitting percentage.
McKendree, on the other hand, was able to hit .329, and added eight points on aces. Sam Hoskin led the way, hitting .600 with 12 kills and two aces.
Penn State and McKendree played for just the second time in the series history and are now even at 1-1.
Set 1
Penn State never led in the first set before falling 25-23, but it was close nearly the entire way, including 12 ties. McKendree never led by more than two before going on a 3-0 run to take a four-point advantage at 22-18. The Nittany Lions responded with a 4-0 run to knot the score at 22-all. Trubey was at the service line for three of those points. The run was a team effort as Gaige Gabriel, Carter Dittman, and Tristan Hassell all had kills before Owen Rose came through with a solo block. A service error and a kill by Bryce Wetjen put the Bearcats back up two. Penn State stopped the first chance at set point with a kill by Harvey, but the Bearcats got it done on the second try with a kill by Hoskin.
Set 2
Nathan Flayter’s three aces helped McKendree secure a 25-16 win in the second set. The score was close at 13-12 following a kill by Hassell, but the Bearcats then scored 12 of the final 16 points to get the set win. The final point again came on a kill by Hoskin.
Set 3
Harvey and Trubey had five kills apiece for Penn State but it wasn’t enough as McKendree closed the match with a 25-20 win in the third set. This time the Nittany Lions tied the score as late as 17-17 with an ace by Trubey but again struggled down the final stretch of the set. The Bearcats scored eight of the final 11 points, including a 3-0 run after Trubey’s ace, to finish off the sweep. Match point was scored on a kill by Wetjen.
Up Next
Penn State and McKendree meet again in Lebanon on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.