FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Owen Rose totaled double-digit blocks for the third time this season to help No. 15 Penn State rally past Sacred Heart 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-10) in EIVA men’s volleyball action Friday night at the William H. Pitt Center. The Nittany Lions improved to 17-7 overall and 9-0 in the EIVA with their sixth-straight win, while the Pioneers dropped to 10-12, 3-6.
Rose finished with 11 blocks and added three digs. He also contributed offensively, hitting .412 with eight kills and two aces. The middle blocker is making the most of his final season at Penn State as he entered the weekend ranked first in the nation in blocks/set. He set a Penn State record for blocks in a match with 14 in a sweep over Harvard earlier this season and also had double-digits with 10 in a sweep over Charleston.
It was Rose, along with Matthew Luoma, who stepped up big in the deciding fifth set for Penn State. He was perfect on the attack with three kills on three swings and tacked on four blocks. Luoma had four kills on four swings, three blocks, and an ace. He hit .391 with 11 kills, five blocks, and two aces for the match.
Sean Harvey led all players with 19 kills and did so while hitting .317. He also had three of the team’s 11 aces, tying Michael Schwob for team high in that category. Schwob guided the attack to .325 hitting with his 42 assists.
Other notable performances for Penn State includes Gaige Gabriel with eight kills on .500 hitting, five digs, and one block, Bennett Wilson with eight kills, four blocks, and five digs, and Ryan Merk with a team-high eight digs.
Petr Beranek paced Sacred Heart, hitting .364 with 18 kills, four digs, and three aces.
Penn State now holds a two-match lead in the EIVA with three matches left to play. The Nittany Lions can clinch the regular season title and hosting rights for the EIVA Tournament with a win over Sacred Heart on Saturday and a George Mason loss to Princeton.
Set 1
Harvey’s five kills helped Penn State open the match with a 25-21 win in the first set. The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the match, getting a pair of kills from Harvey and an ace by Schwob. Sacred Heart fought back to get as close as two at 17-15 and again at 23-21. Harvey then secured the set win with back-to-back points, scoring on a kill and an ace.
Set 2
Six Sacred Heart players combined for 14 kills in its 25-22 win in set two. The Pioneers led 15-10 before Penn State battled back to knot the score at 18-all. The Pioneers responded with a 3-0 run and led the rest of the way.
Set 3
Aleksa Mandic hit .778 with seven kills to lead Sacred Heart to a 25-21 win in set three. Penn State led 16-11, but Sacred Heart scored 11 of the next 14 points to take a 22-19 advantage. The Nittany Lions got within one at 22-21 with a block by Rose and Luoma. The Pioneers then scored the next three points to take the set.
Set 4
Harvey returned the favor with seven kills on .778 hitting and added two aces to keep Penn State alive with a 25-19 win in set four. Schwob tallied 12 assists as the team hit .407. This time it was the Nittany Lions who had to erase a deficit midway through the set. They trailed 17-13 before taking an 18-17 lead with a 5-0 run. Harvey had four kills during the run, including one for the go-ahead point. He later added back-to-back aces to put the Nittany Lions up 23-18 and eventually added another kill for set point.
Set 5
Penn State hit .533 behind seven assists from Schwob in a 15-10 win in set five. Luoma had four kills on four swings and added three blocks, while Rose tallied three kills on three swings and tacked on four blocks. The score was tied at 8-8 before the Nittany Lions went ahead with a kill by Luoma. They led by just two at 12-10 before closing the match with a 3-0 run. It was all Luoma down the stretch with back-to-back kills and then an ace for match point.
Up Next
Penn State stays in Fairfield for another match against Sacred Heart on Saturday at 3 p.m.