No. 3 Penn State men’s volleyball (9-1) struggled early but completed an impressive comeback over Saint Francis (2-8) in a non-conference road matchup on Saturday night.

After losing two sets for the first time since 2017 against Saint Francis, Penn State responded with strong performances by John Kerr and Brett Wildman. After not seeing the court in the first two sets, Kerr notched 15 kills in the come-from-behind victory.

How It Happened

The first set opened up with a back-and-forth affair between the Nittany Lions and Red Flashes. Penn State struggled early with service errors, which helped Saint Francis keep it close.

Cal Fisher started hot for Penn State, notching two early kills to give the Nittany Lions an 11-10 advantage. Ryan Parker tied it back up with a kill of his own for the Red Flash.

Parker energized the whole gym with a huge block that gave Saint Francis a 19-17 advantage late in the first set. The momentum didn’t last as the Red Flash committed a service error on the next point. The first service ace of the set came with a perfectly placed serve by Parker, which was part of a 3-0 run to go up 23-20. Saint Francis took the first set 25-22 after Penn State committed an attack error.

It was more of the same back-and-forth action to start the second set between both squads. A few Wildman kills gave the Nittany Lions a 5-2 advantage a few moments later. Saint Francis responded with back-to-back kills for Blake Liprando.

Attacking errors proved to be a reoccurring issue for the Red Flash, and they committed eight through a set and a half. Michal Kowal followed it up with his sixth kill of the evening, extending the Nittany Lions’ lead to three.

Parker and the Saint Francis lineup rallied and brought the set back within one point. After a few more service errors by Penn State, Saint Francis regained the lead 20-19 and forced head coach Mark Pavlik to take a timeout.

Penn State gained momentum after a long rally and a huge block by Fisher. Both teams committed back-to-back service errors to bring the score to 24-22 and set point for Saint Francis. Miscommunication doomed the Nittany Lions on the very next point and they gifted the Red Flash the second set.

Pavlik made some substitutions to begin the third set which helped the Nittany Lions to open up a 5-0 advantage. Saint Francis steadied the ship and brought the score back to 7-5 in favor of Penn State.

Kerr helped extend Penn State’s advantage to 10-6, but Andrew Deardorff continued to keep it close. Deardorff showed up again for the Red Flash with a big-time block that sparked the momentum to shift back to Saint Francis and tie things up at 14 apiece.

Saint Francis committed back-to-back attacking errors, which gave Penn State a 19-15 lead going late into the third set. The Nittany Lions took care of business late and captured the third set by a 25-22 victory.

The fourth set started out much like the first two starts in back-and-forth action. Brandon Dunz notched a service ace for the Red Flash and gave his team a 5-3 advantage early in the fourth. Kerr answered with two kills to tie it all up.

Both teams continued even play and brought the set to seven after a controversial out-of-bounds call. Dunz led the Saint Francis crowd to its feet after an athletic block brought the score to 9-8.

Cole Bogner fired home his first kill of the evening lifting Penn State’s lead to 12-11. However, more of the same service errors continued, and the set was once again tied up. Parker continued to shine and notched another kill, which gave his squad a 15-14 advantage.

Wildman continued to show up when his teammates needed him most and rifled home a kill that sent Penn State back into the lead 19-18. Pavlik’s team took control in the final points of the fourth and held a 24-21 advantage. Bogner’s kill secured the fourth set victory 25-23, and forced a fifth and deciding set.

After coming on in the third set, Kerr dominated the Red Flash. Time after time, Saint Francis didn’t flinch and responded with two points of its own.

Saint Francis went down by a 7-3 score after costly back-to-back attacking errors. Kerr tallied a kill and extended the lead to 9-5 in favor of the Nittany Lions.

More service errors proved to be costly for Saint Francis, as Penn State reached match point at 14-9. Kerr finished things off with one more kill to win the fifth set 15-10 and the match 3-2.

Takeaways:

• Penn State can’t overlook any opponent despite its high national ranking. The Red Flash, only boasting two wins on the season, managed to dominate the Nittany Lions way too often.
• Service errors proved to be a big problem for Penn State, which was just one of the stats that Saint Francis dominated the Nittany Lions.

What’s Next?

Penn State opens up EIVA conference play against Princeton at home on Friday, February, 17. First set is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Rec Hall.