The Penn State’s men’s volleyball squad, currently ranked No. 7 in the country, had an interesting weekend as they defeated conference opponent St. Francis and lost to No. 9 Ohio State.

Penn State gained an early lead in the first set versus St. Francis and propelled it into a 12-7 commanding lead. Brother duo Aaron Russell and Peter Russell were both playing, well advancing Penn State to a 16-9 lead. A flustered St. Francis lost the first set with a net violation 25-15.

Set two proved to be a bit closer, with a 25-21 Nittany Lion win after an out-of-bounds serve by St. Francis.

The Penn State squad dominated the third set, creating an 8-2 lead. The Nittany Lions proceeded to win 25-17 after a commanding kill by senior Nick Turko.

Matt Seifert (10 kills), a redshirt freshman, was named Mike Anderson Penn State Player of the Match for his personal-best statistics.

After such a convincing win on Friday night, the Nittany Lions were unable to continue their victorious ways during the Saturday night match versus rival Ohio State.

Set one remained close, thanks to offensive execution by Tom Comfort and the Russell brothers. Despite these efforts, the Buckeyes took the first set 25-22.

The second set of the match was full of oscillation between leaders. Penn State took an early 3-1 lead, but the Buckeyes gained midway momentum to make it 15-11. The Buckeyes then worked their way up through minor Penn State takeover attempts to a 21-19 lead. They secured the set 25-20.

The Buckeyes continued their streak through set three leading 22-19. However, the Nittany Lions managed to tie up the set at 24-24, after kills by Comfort and Aaron Russell. Although they accomplished an exciting tie-up, the Nittany Lions fell 26-24 to the Buckeyes.

Penn State men’s volleyball will return to action this Friday in Boston versus Harvard before playing at Sacred Heart Saturday night.