UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Ryan Merk racked up 11 digs to lead No. 14 Penn State men’s volleyball to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-19) sweep over Saint Francis in a non-conference match Friday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 5-4 overall, while the Red Flash dropped to 4-4.
Sean Harvey led the team with nine kills, while Matthew Luoma was right behind him with seven. Jaidyn Bethel hit .308 with six kills in addition to his career-high seven digs and an ace. Gaige Gabriel finished with five kills on .444 hitting and chipped in from the service line with an ace.
After a slow start in the first set, Penn State came alive in the final two, hitting .400 in set two and .385 in set three. Jaxon Herr had eight assists in each of those sets.
The Nittany Lions had a strong night defensively, tallying 40 digs compared to 26 for the Red Flash. Ryan Merk led the way with 11 digs on the evening. After Merk and Bethel, it was Harvey with six digs and Luoma with five contributing to the effort. Saint Francis was held to .095 hitting.
Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik earned his 699th-career win on the night. He will go for 700 when the Nittany Lions and Red Flash square off again Saturday in Loretto.
Stump Brady paced for Saint Francis with 12 kills and five digs.
Set 1
Luoma and Bethel combined for five kills to help Penn State capture the first set 25-20. Neither team could find a strong advantage to start the set, with both sides unable score consecutive points. That was until Penn State generated a 9-0 scoring run, fueled by an ace from Bethel and kills from both Rose and Luoma, to gain an eight-point lead at 14-6. Just as quick as the Nittany Lions, Saint Francis forced a 4-0 scoring run of its own to get right back into the set, 14-10. The Red Flash only got as close as three the rest of the way, while the Nittany Lions led by as much as seven at 21-14. With a 23-20 advantage, the Nittany Lions scored points on a kill by Owen Rose and a Saint Francis attack error to close the set.
Set 2
Harvey collected five kills on .500 hitting to lead Penn State to a 25-17 win in the second set. Unlike the first set, it was the Red Flash who came out hot with a 4-0 scoring run to gain the early 6-4 lead. The teams battled close all the way to a 17-15 Penn State advantage. The Nittany Lions then pulled away with a 4-0 run that was capped with a kill by Harvey and a block by Rose and Tristan Hassell. They led comfortably the rest of the way until Hassell and Harvey had back-to-back kills to finish the set.
Set 3
Herr tallied two kills of his own and guided Penn State to .385 hitting in the third set as the Nittany Lions finished the sweep with a 25-19 win. It was all Nittany Lions early with an 8-0 run to go up 9-1 in the set. Harvey and Herr each tallied two kills in the scoring run while Gabriel collected two blocks. Throughout the middle of the set, the Nittany Lions held strong with their lead, not allowing the advantage to dip under five the rest of the set. It was Luoma who came through on match point with a kill.
Career Highs
Jaidyn Bethel – digs (7)
Gaige Gabriel – assists (2)
Up Next
No. 14 Penn State heads to Loretto for the second half of its home-and-home series with Saint Francis. The teams will clash on Saturday at 6 p.m. in DeGol Arena.