No. 8 Penn State men’s volleyball (7-3) was upset by Purdue Fort Wayne (6-3) 3-2 Saturday night. The upset comes after Penn State was on a three-game winning streak against ranked opponents, including the No. 1 group in the country.

John Kerr didn’t return to the match shortly after the first set began, and his absence was felt. Penn State played well overall with more kills, aces, and assists than the Mastodons, but a self-inflicted 21 attack errors and 23 service errors bested the Nittany Lions.

How It Happened

Penn State started the night with a kill by Owen Rose and Purdue Fort Wayne tallied a kill and an ace in return. The teams exchanged scores until Penn State scored three straight points off of two Mastodon errors and a Kerr kill.

After a Michal Kowal error, the Nittany Lions went on a quick 3-1 run, scoring off two more errors and a Kowal kill to make it 9-5 in favor of Penn State. The Nittany Lions then extended the 3-1 run to a 6-2 run with the help of two more Mastodon errors and another Kowal kill. The run was paused by a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout at 12-6.

After the break, Penn State scored again off a Mastodon attack error, then Jon Diedrich tallied a kill for Purdue Fort Wayne. Penn State then notched consecutive kills by Kowal and Michael Valenzi to make it 15-7. Both teams exchanged scores until a kill by Mark Frazier sparked a 4-0 run for the Mastodons.

Will Kuhns ended the run with a kill to make it 19-14 Penn State, but the Mastodons quickly broke off a 3-1 run as Penn State called its first timeout of the match at 21-16. Rose tallied a kill after the break, but Purdue Fort Wayne scored two more times off a Diedrich kill and a Penn State attack error. Kuhns struck back for Penn State, but the Mastodons closed the lead to just three until Valenzi earned a kill.

Purdue Fort Wayne called a timeout as Penn State was within reach of the first set. Rose committed a service error after the break, and Penn State captured the set 25-21 off an Andrej Polomac service error.

Penn State started hot in the second set with a Frazier attack error and back-to-back aces by Kowal. Bryce Walker earned a kill for the Mastodons, but Kuhns struck back to cap off the early 4-1 run for the Nittany Lions. After the Penn State run, Purdue Fort Wayne went on a run of its own with the help of two Nittany Lion errors, a kill by Diedrich, and an ace by Ryan Merk.

The momentum switched sides again as Penn State went on a 5-1 run off three Kowal kills, a Toby Ezeonu kill, and a Rose kill until Purdue Fort Wayne called a timeout at 11-6 Penn State. Momentum switched sides yet again after the timeout when the Mastodons went on a 6-2 run and Penn State committed four errors.

Both teams alternated the next six scores with Penn State up by one at 16-15. The back-and-forth play continued with a run of kills. Penn State then scored off a service error and an ace by Kuhns that caused the Mastodons to use a timeout at 21-18.

Out of the break, Purdue Fort Wayne went on a 4-1 burst to tie the set at 22-22 as Penn State used a timeout. After this break, Diedrich tallied an ace that was challenged successfully by head coach Mark Pavlik. Kowal then notched a kill, but the Mastodons scored off an Ezeonu service error and a Diedrich ace to give Purdue Fort Wayne the 24-23 lead.

Rose tied the set back up at 24-24 with a kill but a block by Axel Melendez Watts and a kill by Frazier gave the Mastodons their first set at 26-24.

Purdue Fort Wayne started the third set with the lead after an attack error on Rose that was challenged unsuccessfully by Pavlik. Frazier tallied a kill for the Mastodons to make it 2-0 until Penn State got on the board via a Frazier attack error. Purdue Fort Wayne tallied two kills, but Penn State tallied three of its own to tie the set at 4-4.

The teams exchanged the next six points again with kills to tie the set at 7-7. The Mastodons went on a 3-1 run that was followed by a Penn State 3-1 to make it 11-11. Penn State then grabbed a 14-13 lead with kills by Kowal and Ezeonu and an error by Melendez Watts.

After Ezeonu’s kill, Purdue Fort Wayne notched four straight kills that continued through a media timeout at 16-14 in favor of Purdue Fort Wayne. Penn State ended the run and went on a 3-0 run off of two Frazier errors and a Valenzi kill that ended with the Mastodons calling a timeout with Penn State leading 17-16.

The Mastodons went on a 3-1 run after the timeout which was followed by consecutive scores by Penn State to make it 20-19. Diedrich earned a kill for Purdue Fort Wayne then Kowal earned a kill and Rose earned a block for Penn State. The Mastodons proceeded to go on another run where Frazier tallied consecutive kills to give Purdue Fort Wayne a 23-22 lead and forced a Penn State timeout.

Penn State used a second timeout after Rose committed an attack error to extend the Mastodons’ lead to two and put them within one of capturing a second set. Valenzi cut the lead to one with a kill at 24-23. Fraizer then secured the third set for Purdue Fort Wayne at 25-23.

Penn State started the fourth set with a 3-2 lead off a Kuhns block, a Frazier service error, and an Ezeonu kill. Kuhns committed a service error, but Penn State came back with a Valenzi kill and a Kowal kill after a long rally. Kowal notched another kill that was followed by an Ezeonu ace to make it a 6-2 Penn State run and a 7-4 lead.

A kill by Rose, a block by Kuhns, and an ace by Luke Snyder forced a Mastodon timeout and extended the lead to 10-5. Penn State jumped out to a 4-1 run with two Mastodon errors, a Kowal ace, and a Valenzi kill to extend the lead to 14-7. Purdue Fort Wayne struck back with a 3-1 run to cut the lead to five.

Kills by Valenzi and Kowal led to a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout. The Mastodons had a quick 3-1 run with a Diedrich kill and back-to-back blocks by Casey Lyons to make it 18-13 in favor of Penn State. The Nittany Lions went on a 3-1 run of their own with kills by Kowal, Valenzi, and Rose.

Both teams went back and forth for the next four points resulting in Penn State within one point of tying the match at 24-17. Lyons tallied a block for the Mastodons, but Polomac committed a service error to give Penn State the fourth set 25-18.

The final set got underway with Kowal and Rose kills for the Nittany Lions. Frazier committed an attack error that was challenged unsuccessfully by Purdue Fort Wayne head coach Ryan Perrotte. The Mastodons got on the board off a Kowal service error then scored again off a Diedrich kill to make it 3-2 Penn State.

The Nittany Lions then went on a quick 3-1 run that was ended by a Kuhns service error. Three consecutive errors by both sides led to a media timeout with an 8-5 Penn State lead. An Ezeonu service error, a Frazier kill, and a Rose attack error tied the final set at 8-8.

Kowal regained the lead for Penn State with a kill, but Frazier recorded a kill, too. Kowal and Rose then both earned a kill to give Penn State the lead at 11-9 and forced a Purdue Fort Wayne timeout. Frazier committed a service error but made up for it with a kill for the Mastodons.

Valenzi then committed an attack error and Pavlik called a timeout at 12-11. Valenzi notched a kill after the stoppage, but Diedrick returned the favor. A bad set by Snyder tied the set at 13-13, and Penn State called its final timeout.

Ezeonu committed an attack error to give the Mastodons the lead, but Walker hit the net on the serve to force a 14-14 overtime. Matt Cosgrove did the same for Penn State to tie the set back up. Both teams kept exchanging near-knockout blows as the score reached 18-18. Bryce tallied a kill and Polomac blocked Valenzi’s strike to give Purdue Fort Wayne the final set at 20-18 and the match.

Takeaways

• Both teams are top 15 in the country in hitting percentage and it showed tonight as Penn State hit .343 and Purdue Fort Wayne hit .344.
• Although John Kerr exited early, Michal Kowal stepped up with 25 kills and three aces while hitting .383.
• Historically, Penn State has dominated this matchup by winning 30 more times than it has lost to the Mastodons. Tonight, though, Purdue Fort Wayne bested the Nittany Lions.

What’s Next?

Penn State will return home to face Fairleigh Dickinson at 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 10, at Rec Hall.