LORETTO, Pa. – Penn State men’s volleyball head coach Mark Pavlik notched the 700th win of his career Saturday as the 14th-ranked Nittany Lions swept Saint Francis 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-11) in a non-conference match at DeGol Arena. They improved to 6-4 on the season, while the Red Flash dropped to 4-5.
Pavlik is just the fourth head coach across all divisions in the history of NCAA men’s volleyball to reach the 700-win milestone, joining Al Scates (1,239), Don Shondell (769), and Pete Hanson (712). He is the only active coach amongst the group.
Sean Harvey led Penn State in Saturday’s win, hitting .450 with 11 kills, one block and an ace. Jaidyn Bethel was the most efficient of the team’s hitters, totaling six kills on a .545 clip as he helped the team hit .389.
The Nittany Lions received a spark off the bench from multiple players. Tristan Hassell played minimally in the first and second sets before starting the third and still managed to tally seven kills. Michael Schwob had the same playing time pattern and finished with 15 assists and five digs. Schwob also had one of the team’s three aces. Owen Rose was responsible for an ace, as well, adding the point to his three blocks on the night.
Penn State held Saint Francis to .165 hitting behind a team effort that saw eight players record multiple digs in the match. Ryan Merk matched Schwob with a team-high five digs.
Brady Stump was the top player statistically for Saint Francis for the second-straight night, hitting .400 with two blocks, two digs, and one ace.
Penn State improved to 58-3 in the all-time series with Saint Francis. Coincidentally, Pavlik’s 500th-career win also came against the Red Flash at DeGol Arena.
Set 1
Matthew Luoma was perfect on the attack with three kills on three swings to help Penn State take a 25-19 win in the opening set. Gaige Gabriel also had three kills in the set, while Rose recorded an ace. Penn State trailed 12-11 before using a 3-0 run gain the advantage Harvey, Luoma, and Gabriel had kills to make up the run. The Nittany Lions later used a 4-0 run to up their lead to five at 21-16. They were in control the rest of the way until Luoma was able to close the set with a kill.
Set 2
Penn State trailed 6-1 early and later went down 11-4 before storming back to get a 26-24 win in set two. The Nittany Lions started their comeback with a 4-0 run to get back within three at 11-8. It started with a service error by Saint Francis, which was followed with a solo block by Hassell, an ace by Schwob, and a block by Bethel and Rose that forced a Red Flash timeout. Penn State later trailed 15-11 before scoring five of the next six points to knot the score at 16-all. Hassell and Bethel had back-to-back kills to tie the score. The teams traded the next 10 points before the Nittany Lions tied the score at 21-21 with a kill by Harvey and then took the lead with a kill by Schwob. The Nittany Lions later had the first chances at set point after going up 24-22 on a kill by Harvey, but the Red Flash thwarted both chances with kills by Cole Dorn and Stump. Bethel put Penn State back up one with a kill before a triple block by Bethel, Schwob, and Rose finished the comeback win.
Set 3
It was all Penn State in set three as it hit .526 on the way to a 25-11 win and the sweep. Harvey tallied four kills and an ace, while Bethel was right behind him with three kills. Schwob guided the offense with seven assists and helped hold Saint Francis to .000 hitting with three digs.
Career Highs
Jaidyn Bethel – assists (1), blocks (3)
Up Next
No. 14 Penn State opens EIVA play with a pair of matches at No. 19 Princeton on Friday and Saturday.