UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 14 Penn State men’s volleyball fell 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-15) to No. 3 Hawai’i in a non-conference match Friday night at Rec Hall. The Rainbow Warriors, who made their first trip to Happy Valley since the 2002 NCAA Tournament, improved to 9-1 with their sixth-straight win, while the Nittany Lions dropped to 4-3.
Sean Harvey paced Penn State with 12 kills, reaching double-digits for the sixth time in seven matches to open the season. Gaige Gabriel was next with six kills on .400 hitting while also adding two blocks and two aces to his performance. Owen Rose led the team with three blocks and had two of the team’s five aces. The redshirt senior middle blocker continued to show his huge improvement from the service line this season as he now leads the team with 10 aces.
Adrien Roure hit .333 with 10 kills to go with three blocks and three digs for Hawai’i. Kainoa Wade filled the box score with nine kills, three aces, five digs, and two blocks. Justin Todd was perfect on the attack with six kills on six swings.
Friday marked the Rainbow Warriors’ first-ever regular season match at Rec Hall.
Set 1
Wade’s four kills helped Hawai’i pick up a 25-22 win in the opening set. The Rainbow Warriors jumped out to a quick start with a 3-0 scoring run to gain the early advantage, 4-1. Penn State battled back and eventually took a 15-14 lead after an ace by Matthew Luoma. The lead was short-lived as the Rainbow Warriors responded with a 4-0 run and kept the lead the rest of the way. The Nittany Lions were able to get back within one at 22-21 with a solo block by Carter Dittman, but the Rainbow Warriors scored three of the next four points to take the set. The final point was scored on a kill by Roure.
Set 2
Todd had four kills on four attacks to help Hawaii survive Penn State’s late comeback with a 25-23 win in the second set. It was all Rainbow Warriors for much of the set as they led by as much as nine at 18-9. Penn State helped the Rec Hall crowd come alive as they fought all the way back to a tie score at 22-22 thanks to a 6-0 run. Rose was at the service line for the run and contributed an ace. Harvey had a block and two kills during the run, including the kill that knotted the score. The Rainbow Warriors put an end to the run with the next two points before the Nittany Lions staved off the first attempt at set point with another kill by Harvey. Todd followed with a kill to put Hawai’i up 2-0 for the match.
Set 3
It was all offense in the third set as Hawai’i hit .458 in the set to complete the sweep over Penn State, 25-15. Just like the previous two sets, it was the Rainbow Warriors that got right to work with a 4-0 lead to kick off the set. They led the rest of the way on their way to the 10-point win. Match point was scored on a service error.
Up Next
Penn State and Hawai’i meet again with a match Saturday at 5 p.m. at Rec Hall.