No. 7 Penn State men’s volleyball (2-0) bested Lees-McRae (0-1) 3-0 on Thursday night at Rec Hall.

Lees-McRae never gained control of the game, and the Nittany Lion offense proved too much for the Bobcats. John Kerr, Owen Rose, and Toby Ezeonu each ended the night with a team-high nine kills.

How It Happened

Lees-McRae took the opening point of the game after a long opening rally. Owen Rose recorded a kill on the very next point before Toby Ezeonu notched his first kill of the game on the ensuing rally.

Ezeonu had kills on the next two points and Penn State started an early run as a Rose ace made it 5-1. The Bobcats took another point, but Ezeonu continued to be a presence at the net and left Lees-McRae’s defense with no answers as the Nittany Lions pushed their lead to 9-3.

Penn State’s accuracy began to falter a bit as two consecutive errors gave the Bobcats a break from the Nittany Lions’ attackers at the net. It didn’t amount to much, though, and the Nittany Lions quickly found themselves up 16-8 on the heels of another Rose service ace.

Mark Pavlik brought proceedings to a brief halt when he decided to flash the challenge card after he thought the Nittany Lion kill was touched by the Bobcats. Pavlik was correct, and the Nittany Lions reached 20 points two rallies later after a Bobcat service error by Luke Fincham.

After an unsuccessful Bobcat challenge, Michal Kowal slammed home a kill and put Penn State within two points of taking the opening set. Penn State took the first set on a Bobcat service error that ended the set 25-13.

Lees-McRae started the second set with a service error before notching a kill off Kowal’s serve to make it 1-1. The back-and-forth play continued until Penn State went on a 5-0 to push the lead to 10-4. After two consecutive Bobcat points, Rose delivered a blistering kill that fell in the middle of the court and restarted the Nittany Lion dominance.

Pavlik took out the card again and successfully challenged a net violation called on the Nittany Lions and forced a replay of the rally. Lees-McRae took the replay off a Rose service error and brought the game to 13-9. Penn State ran away from there with Michael Valenzi serving a four-point streak for the Nittany Lions that took the game to 18-11.

The Bobcats managed to dig a few Penn State kills, but the Nittany Lions kept momentum and took the second set 25-18 after a Zach Stowe kill.

Rose served to start the third set, but Austin Beaird launched a kill that gave the Bobcats the opening point. After Penn State took the serve back, and John Kerr immediately delivered an ace that put the Nittany Lions up 3-1.

The Bobcats kept it closer than the previous two sets but still couldn’t gain any ground on Penn State. Kerr recorded another kill that put him at nine on the night as the Nittany Lions led 9-5. Rose added to his kill count shortly after to push the lead to 10-5.

After a Bobcat attacking error, Will Kuhns slammed a pass to the hardwood and forced a Lees-McRae timeout leading 12-5. Rose continued his dominance serving and recorded an ace on the other side of the timeout.

Penn State continued its stellar play until a ball ruled out was challenged by Lees-McRae. The challenge was unsuccessful and Penn State led 19-9.

The Bobcats mounted a late comeback attempt with a 3-0 run that brought them back to within six at 22-16. Matthew Luoma recorded a service ace that gave Penn State set point and resulted in a service ace. Ezeonu ended the game one point later with a kill that ended the third set 25-18.

Takeaways

• Ezeonu is picking up where he left off after a great season last year. The senior, along with Rose and Kerr, led the team with nine kills Thursday.
• Penn State’s defense was a presence at the net, and Lees-McRae only recorded 18 kills.
• The Nittany Lions had control for the entire game with the Bobcats unable to mount any sort of a comeback throughout the three-set rout. The Bobcats’ only lead of the night came at 1-0 in both the first and third set.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will take on King University at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 13, inside Rec Hall.