No. 10 Penn State men’s volleyball (15-6, 4-0 EIVA) defeated Saint Francis (12-8, 4-0 NEC) 3-2 Sunday afternoon inside Rec Hall.

The Nittany Lions picked up the first set but dropped the next two on the heels of stellar play from Saint Francis’ Nathan Zini. John Kerr once again led the Nittany Lion offense and recorded 16 kills in the win.

How It Happened

Micheal Valenzi opened up the game with a serve that was dug by the Red Flash and resulted in a quick Saint Francis kill. Valenzi followed up the kill with one of his own to even the game at one apiece.

The Red Flash continued to match the Nittany Lions throughout the first few points on the way to a 4-4 start. Saint Francis was able to break the streak and grabbed two points in a row on the heels of a kill from Nathan Zini. The Nittany Lions battled back with two points of their own before the teams traded service errors that brought the score to 8-8.

Owen Rose broke the service error streak with a kill that set off a 3-0 run as Penn State began to take control of the set. After an unsuccessful challenge from Saint Francis, Michael Schwob delivered an ace that pushed the score to 11-8.

Penn State built off its momentum and Saint Francis began to struggle, committing two straight attacking errors that pushed the Nittany Lion lead to 16-9 and resulted in a Red Flash timeout. Penn State took the point out of the timeout on another hitting error to make it 17-9.

After trading more points, Valenzi recorded another service ace and forced a second Red Flash timeout after going up 20-11.

Saint Francis took the first two points out of the timeout before Schwob registered a kill followed by an Ezeonu ace that set up set point at 24-14. Ezeonu couldn’t find the court with his service attempt, but a service error from the Red Flash gave the first set to the Nittany Lions, 25-15.

Saint Francis took the first point of the second set on a kill from Nicholas Lynch. Zini followed up the kill with a service error and both sides traded points until a Valenzi kill put the Nittany Lions up 6-4. Saint Francis battled back with a 2-0 run that was ended with a service error as Penn State kept a 7-6 lead. Elijah Lazor tied the game up at seven with a kill on the next point. After a successful challenge by the Red Flash, Zini served an ace and retook the lead at 9-8.

Saint Francis continued to build on its momentum and forced a timeout from Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik with the Nittany Lions down 13-9. After trading service errors for three points, Penn State restarted its offense and brought the deficit down to 15-13, but Saint Francis continued to find holes in the Nittany Lion defense and stretched the lead back out to 17-13.

Zini continued to be a problem for the Nittany Lions as the opposite recorded his 10th kill to push the score to 20-18. The Red Flash took the next point on a Sam Lane kill and Pavlik called timeout down 22-18.

Penn State took the first point out of the timeout, but two kills from the Red Flash gave them set point. Penn State defended well and, coupled with accuracy issues from Saint Francis, took the first three of Saint Francis’ set points to make it 24-22. A big block from Kerr on the fourth set point wasn’t enough and the Red Flash took the second set 25-23.

Zini opened up the third set with a kill that was followed by a rejection of Ezeonu up front and the Red Flash jumped out to a 2-0 lead. An attacking error and a service ace from the Red Flash left the Nittany Lions in a 4-0 hole before finally getting a point on a Saint Francis service error.

Pavlik called his first timeout of the third set after a long rally ended with an attacking error from Will Kuhns that gave the Red Flash a 7-2 lead. Kuhns came out of the timeout with a kill and Ezeonu followed it with a service ace. The Red Flash halted the blue and white’s momentum and went on a 2-0 run that put the lead at 9-4.

Kerr broke the run with a kill before an attacking error from Saint Francis made it 11-7 with Michal Kowal back to serve. The Red Flash took the next three points before Penn State grabbed two, but Penn State still was kept out of its rhythm and found itself down 15-9.

Errors from the Red Flash kept Penn State in the set until Ryan Parker followed a kill with a service ace and pushed the lead back to 19-12. After taking the next point, Pavlik called his second timeout of the set trailing 20-12.

The teams went back and forth out of the timeout until a Brady Stump kill gave the Red Flash set point up 24-16. A service error gave serve to Ezeonu and Saint Francis committed another hitting error that was followed by a Kowal kill as Penn State once again made a late-set push. Ezeonu missed the court on the fourth set point and Saint Francis took the third set 25-19.

Ezeonu unleashed a kill on the first point of the fourth set and Valenzi caught the Red Flash wall before the ball sailed out of bounds and the Nittany Lions were up 2-0. Saint Francis finally got a point on a kill from Zini but gave it right back on a service error as Penn State led 6-1.

The Red Flash managed to bring themselves back into the game and a 3-1 run brought the score to 8-4. Penn State didn’t give up the momentum and maintained the lead until a Saint Francis challenge overturned the point and made the score 11-8.

Then the wheels fell off for the Nittany Lions and they gave up a 3-0 run that leveled the game at 14 apiece and led to a Pavlik timeout. The Red Flash took the first point out of the timeout but Rose delivered a kill to bring it back to 15-15. Penn State began a run from there that culminated in a Saint Francis timeout after a Luke Snyder ace that made it 17-15 in favor of the Nittany Lions.

Saint Francis grabbed the point with a kill out of the timeout but Rose got the serve back and pushed the lead back to two at 18-16. Valenzi added to the Penn State lead on a kill and made it 20-17. The Red Flash responded with a 2-0 run of their own but were stopped by another Kerr kill that pushed the score to 21-19.

A service error from the Red Flash gave Penn State set point but Ezeonu couldn’t find the court on the first attempt. The second set point was also a service error and Penn State took the fourth set 25-22.

Kerr started the final set with a kill before Ezeonu recorded one of his own as the Nittany Lions took the first four points of the decider. The Red Flash responded with a 2-0 run but the Nittany Lions stopped the momentum with the lead at 5-2.

Zini took back over the game out of the unsuccessful challenge by the Red Flash and got the Penn State lead down to 6-5 but an attacking error put Penn State back up by two.

After switching sides, Kerr delivered a kill and forced a Saint Francis timeout with Penn State up 9-5. He then added another kill to his total and got the Nittany Lions to ten points. Penn State continued to control the game and opened up a 13-6 lead that forced another Saint Francis timeout.

Rose put the Nittany Lion at match point up 14-6. Carter Dittman served and Ezeonu put the match away for Penn State 15-7.

Takeaways

• Kerr continued his stretch of good play for the blue and white, leading the team with 16 kills during the contest.
• Zini was a problem for the Nittany Lions on Sunday afternoon. The Red Flash opposite recorded 23 kills in the loss.
• Penn State’s defense struggled through the second and third set, dropping both despite pushes at the end of both games. Merk and Kerr led the defense with 10 and nine digs, respectively.

What’s Next?

Penn State will head into a bye week before returning to EIVA action against Harvard at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 29 at Rec Hall.