UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- Tristan Hassell totaled 15 kills to lead Penn State men’s volleyball to a 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19) win over Harvard in an EIVA match Saturday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions are 10-4 overall and remained unbeaten in the conference at 4-0, while the Crimson sit at 2-9, 0-4.
Hassell was one of three Nittany Lions to collect double-digit kills. Sean Harvey was just behind him with 12 kills on .310 hitting while also collecting seven digs, five blocks, and an ace. Jaidyn Bethel rounded out the trio with 10 kills on .444 hitting as well as three digs and four blocks.
Penn State had another strong match defensively at the net with four different players collecting at least four blocks. Gaige Gabriel and Owen Rose controlled the middle with four blocks apiece.
Michael Schwob started at setter for the third-straight match and stuffed the stat sheet with 38 assists, eight digs, one block, and one ace. Meanwhile, Ryan Merk made his 106th-consecutive start at libero and led the team with nine digs.
Nichols Sawyer paced Harvard with 14 kills, seven digs, and three aces.
Penn State improved to 30-4 in the all-time series with the Crimson.
Set 1
Bethel and Hassell combined for seven kills to help guide Penn State to the 25-19 win in set one. The duo combined for five kills early on to help the Nittany Lions take a 9-6 lead. They upped their lead to six multiple times, including as late as 20-14 following an ace by Harvey. The Crimson then generated some momentum of their own, scoring the next three points to cut the deficit in half at 20-17. Penn State slammed the door on any comeback attempt with a 3-0 run to go up 23-17, getting an ace by Rose during that stretch. Set point was later scored on a service error.
Set 2
Penn State came up short with a 25-22 loss in the second set despite Hassell’s six kills on .444 hitting. Neither team could find a strong advantage to start the set, with both sides unable to score consecutive points. That was until Harvard generated a 5-0 scoring run, fueled by two aces and a kill by Sawyer, to gain a five-point lead at 14-9. The Nittany Lions continued to fight back and cut the lead down to two at 18-16 off a 4-1 scoring run. Just as quickly, the Crimson tallied three straight points to up their lead up to six, 23-17. Penn State wasn’t done yet, getting as close as two at 23-21 and 24-22 before Harvard closed the set with a kill by Zach Berty.
Set 3
Harvey tallied seven kills on .538 hitting to help Penn State pick up a 25-16 win in set three. The Nittany Lions didn’t pull away until midway through the set when they used a 4-0 run to go up 18-13. The run was fueled by the team’s blocking efforts. Gabriel was in on three blocks during that stretch. The Nittany Lions later closed the set with a 5-0 run, this time going all offense for the points. Harvey and Rose got the run started with kills to force a Harvard timeout. Hassell came through with a kill coming out of the timeout and then, following a kill by Bethel, added another one for set point.
Set 4
A balanced attack that saw four Nittany Lions collect two kills apiece helped give Penn State the 25-19 win in the fourth set. The Nittany Lions scored three straight points to gain control with a 20-15 lead, getting points on a service error and attack error by Harvard before Harvey came through with a kill. They went up by five again at 23-18 with an ace by Rose that forced a Harvard timeout. The Crimson picked up a point on a service error coming out of the break, but Hassell and Bethel followed with kills to secure the win for the Nittany Lions.
Mike Anderson Man of the Match
Sean Harvey – Hit .310 with 12 kills, seven digs, five blocks, and one ace.
Up Next
Penn State hosts Merrimack for a non-conference match on Friday at 7 p.m.