FAIRFIELD, Conn. – No. 15 Penn State men’s volleyball improved to 10-0 in the EIVA with a 3-2 (15-25, 25-16, 25-27, 28-26, 15-9) win over Sacred Heart on Saturday at the William H. Pitt Center. The Nittany Lions moved to 18-7 overall with their seventh-straight win, while the Pioneers enter the final week of the regular season at 10-13 overall and 3-7 in the conference.
Penn State leads George Mason by two matches in the EIVA standings with two matches left to play. Both of those matches are against each other as the Nittany Lions host the Patriots on Friday and Saturday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions need one win to clinch the regular season title and hosting rights for the EIVA Tournament. The Patriots can do so with two wins.
Tristan Hassell didn’t get the start but provided a huge spark after starting the final four sets. The freshman hit .351 with a career-high 19 kills and a career-high seven blocks. He shared the team high in kills with Sean Harvey, who hit .343 with 19 kills, two blocks, and one ace. Joining them in double-digits was Bennett Wilson with a career-high 10 kills on .350 hitting. Wilson came up just short of a double-double, finishing with a career-high nine digs.
Owen Rose tallied seven blocks, and Gaige Gabriel was right behind him with six. Also helping the defensive effort were Jaxon Herr and Ryan Merk with six and four digs, respectively.
Aleksa Mandic led Sacred Heart with 15 kills, eight digs, three blocks, and two aces.
Penn State improved to 27-2 all-time against Sacred Heart, upping its winning streak in the series to 15 straight matches.
Set 1
Sacred Heart held Penn State to .036 hitting in the first set as it rolled to a 25-15 win. The Pioneers controlled nearly the entire set before closing it with a 4-0 run to get the 10-point win. They needed just 10 kills in the set, getting seven points on Penn State attack errors that weren’t from blocks.
Set 2
Hassell hit .556 with six kills to help Penn State bounce back with a 25-16 win in the second set. Rose did his part with four blocks and one kill on his only swing of the set. The Nittany Lions broke a 13-13 tie with back-to-back points on a kill by Wilson and a Sacred Heart attack error. They then led the rest of the way. It was still close at 16-15 before Penn State went on a 6-0 run that included two kills and a block from Hassell and an ace from Herr. Set point was later scored on a bad set by the Pioneers.
Set 3
Mandic and Harvey put up matching lines of seven kills, two errors, 12 attacks, but it was Mandic and Sacred Heart that came out on top with the 27-25 win. Penn State had the late advantage at 23-21 following a kill by Harvey, but Sacred Heart scored the next two points to knot the score at 23-all. Harvey came through again with a kill to make it 24-23, but the Pioneers again responded with the next two points to take a 25-24 edge. Their first chance at set point was stopped by a kill from Hassell, but their second chance while leading 26-25 was successful with a kill by Mandic.
Set 4
Penn State rallied from a 22-19 deficit to stay alive with a 28-26 win in set four. The Nittany Lions used a 4-0 run to go up 23-22, getting a solo block by Hassell, a kill by Harvey, and a triple block by Hassell, Wilson, and Gabriel during that stretch. Hassell had kills to put them up 24-23 and 25-24 but both chances at set point were unsuccessful. Sacred Heart had one chance at set point leading 26-25 but was stopped by a kill from Harvey. That was the start of a 3-0 run by the Nittany Lions to close the set. They scored the next point on an attack error and followed that with a triple block for set point by Rose, Hassell, and Herr. Hassell hit .500 with seven kills and three blocks in the set.
Set 5
Harvey had four kills on five swings to lead Penn State to a 15-9 win in the fifth and final set. The Nittany Lions pulled away with a 3-0 run that put them up 11-7. The run included a kill by Hassell, a kill by Harvey, and a solo block by Rose. They held a comfortable lead from there until securing the win with a block by Hassell and Gabriel for match point.
Career Highs
Tristan Hassell – 19 kills, blocks (7)
Ryan Merk – assists (8)
Bennett Wilson – kills (10), digs (9)
Up Next
Penn State hosts George Mason for a pair of matches to close the regular season on April 17-18 at Rec Hall.