MALIBU, Calif. – No. 15 Penn State continued its three-match road trip to the west coast with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16) loss to No. 6 Pepperdine in a non-conference match Wednesday night at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Nittany Lions fell to 11-6 overall, while the Waves upped their record to 12-4.
The Nittany Lions struggled on serve receive against another one of the top serving teams in the nation, allowing 13 aces for the second-straight match. Cole Hartke led the way for the Waves with five aces in addition to his match-high 15 kills.
Penn State was strong from the service line, as well, totaling seven aces over four sets. Tristan Hassell finished with a team-high three, while Gaige Gabriel and Sean Harvey contributed two apiece.
Harvey hit .308 with 12 kills, reaching double-digits for the 12th time this season. Defensively, Penn State was led by Ryan Merk with eight digs.
Pepperdine was the second of three straight top-10 opponents for Penn State on its west coast trip. The Nittany Lions already played No. 2 Long Beach State and wrap up the trip at No. 5 USC on Saturday.
Set 1
Pepperdine hit .565 behind 13 assists from Andrej Polomac on its way to a 25-16 win in set one. Ryan Barnett and Jose Gomez tallied four kills apiece, while Hartke and James Eadie each added three kills. The Waves totaled four aces in the opening set.
Set 2
The Waves added three more aces, all from Hartke, as they rolled to another 25-16 win in set two. Hartke also had four kills and two blocks in the set.
Set 3
Harvey was perfect on the attack with five kills on five swings to help Penn State stay alive in the match with a 25-22 win in set three. Jaxon Herr took over setting duties to start the set and led the team to .500 hitting. Hassell fueled a 4-0 run that put the Nittany Lions up 18-15 with two kills and an ace. The other point came on the first kill of the season for Merk in the libero spot. Pepperdine battled back to tie the score at 19-all only to watch as Penn State took the momentum back with a 3-0 run to go up 22-19. This time it was all Gabriel with a kill and back-to-back aces. The Nittany Lions later went up 24-21 on a kill by Harvey. Hassell scored the deciding point with a kill on the team’s second chance at set point.
Set 4
Pepperdine added four more aces and held Penn State to -.130 hitting as it closed the match with a 25-16 win in set four. The Nittany Lions’ woes in the set were often self-inflicted as they tallied nine attack errors despite just two blocks by the Waves.
Career Highs
Tristan Hassell – aces (3)
Up Next
No. 15 Penn State plays at No. 5 USC on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.