UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.--- Owen Rose tallied nine kills on .900 hitting to lead No. 17 Penn State men’s volleyball to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-21) sweep over No. 19 NJIT in an EIVA match Friday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions are 13-7 overall and remained unbeaten in the conference at 5-0, while the Highlanders sit at 13-7, 5-2.
Rose was one of four Nittany Lions to collect at least nine kills. Sean Harvey led the way with 10 kills while collecting three blocks and five digs. Bennett Wilson followed behind the two with a career-high nine kills on .467 and added an ace. Matthew Luoma rounded out the quartet with nine kills, five digs and three blocks.
Penn State had another strong match defensively at the net with four players collecting at least three blocks. Rose and Wilson led the way with six and four blocks, respectively.
Michael Schwob tallied 39 assists in the match while guiding Penn State to .403 hitting.
Wiktor Nowak paced NJIT with 10 kills, two aces, three digs, and four blocks.
Penn State now has a two-match lead in the EIVA standings with seven matches to play.
Set 1
Rose hit .800 with four kills to lead Penn State to a 25-19 win in the first set. Schwob tallied nine assists to help the Nittany Lions hit .333. Penn State found itself down 11-7 early off two scoring runs by the Highlanders but then tied the set up at 12-12 after a 3-0 scoring run of its own. The run featured a block and a kill by Rose. Both teams traded a point each before the Nittany Lions rattled off five straight, including two more blocks by Rose to open up a four-point advantage with the score at 17-13. Following a point by NJIT, Penn State added a 3-0 run to push the score to 20-14. The Nittany Lions’ lead held strong the rest of the way before an ace by Schwob closed the set.
Set 2
Penn State survived an NJIT comeback to take the second set, 25-23. Luoma led the Nittany Lions with seven kills on .357 hitting. Unlike the first set, it was Penn State who came out firing early, taking a 7-3 lead with a 7-1 run. Wilson collected two kills during that stretch. The Nittany Lions went on to lead by as much as seven at 16-9 after a kill by Luoma. The Highlanders chipped away at their deficit until they got within one at 21-20 with a block by Nowak and Alex Heins. They pulled within a point one more time at 24-23 thanks to a block by Harrison Girard and Daniel Latkowksi. Penn State followed with a kill by Harvey to take the set.
Set 3
Rose was perfect with four kills on four swings to help Penn State finish the match with a 25-21 win in the third set. Bennett and Harvey each picked up four kills while hitting over .500. It was once again Penn State who came out swinging to start the set with an 11-5 lead from two scoring runs. The first, a 4-0 run, was fueled by two kills from Rose, while the second, a 3-0 run, included a kill by Harvey. The Highlanders again fought back and broke through late to cut the lead down to two at 23-21 with an ace by Gustavo Chrcanovic. The Nittany Lions responded with a kill by Wilson and a block by Harvey and Gabriel to finish the sweep.
Career Highs
Bennett Wilson – kills (9)
Up Next
No. 17 Penn State plays No. 19 NJIT again on Saturday at 3 p.m.