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No. 17 Penn State Men’s Volleyball Drops Sixth Straight In 3-1 Defeat To No. 6 USC

No. 17 Penn State men’s volleyball (0-6) was defeated by No. 6 USC (8-0) 3-1 in its second game of the Big Ten Challenge in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday afternoon. After suffering a sweep against UCLA, the Nittany Lions fell again against the Trojans in four sets.

After losing the first set, the Nittany Lions responded by winning the second set. However, this momentum was short-lived as the Trojans showed their resilience by winning a critical third set before running away with the fourth set in convincing fashion.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions got off to a slow start as USC won the first two points of the game before Matthew Luoma notched a kill to get them on the board. Both teams traded blows for the next six points before Luoma’s attack error allowed the Trojans to increase their lead to two.

Penn State responded with back-to-back kills by Michael Schwob and Will Kuhns to tie the set at six. Both teams exchanged points before Sean Harvey’s kill gave the Nittany Lions their first lead in the set. The lead was short-lived as USC retook the lead at 10-9 with back-to-back kills.

Both teams went back and forth for the next four points as USC’s lead stayed intact. On the next point, Dillon Klein recorded a kill for the Trojans to extend their lead to two once again. Both teams exchanged points before a media timeout occurred.

Out of the media timeout, the Nittany Lions showed their resilience by winning consecutive points to tie the set at 15. This back-and-forth affair kept on going for the next eight points as the deadlock stayed intact. However, USC responded with a kill by Guy Genis and a block by Noah Roberts and Genis to take a 21-19 lead. This forced Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik to use his first timeout of the set.

Schwob recorded a kill for Penn State after the timeout. However, the Trojans kept their foot on the gas and won consecutive points to increase their lead to three. This forced the Nittany Lions to take another timeout in hopes of regaining their footing in the set.

Out of the timeout, Luoma recorded a kill before Sterling Foley’s kill gave USC its first set point opportunity. The Trojans were unable to capitalize on their first opportunity as Luoma recorded a critical kill to keep the Nittany Lions alive in the set. However, USC refused to let this opportunity slip away and Roberts recorded a kill that gave it the first set win at 25-22.

Luoma’s attack error gave the Trojans the first point of the second set before he redeemed himself on the next point with a kill to get Penn State on the board. Both teams traded blows for the next six points as the deadlock stayed intact. However, Penn State responded with a 3-0 run to take a 7-4 lead. This run was highlighted with kills by Owen Rose and Luoma along with a service ace by Kuhns.

The Trojans refused to let the Nittany Lions gain any sort of momentum and went on a 4-0 run to retake the lead. This run ended right after as Foley’s service error allowed Penn State to tie the set at eight. The deadlock stayed intact for the next six points as neither team was able to pull away. The Nittany Lions regained the lead thanks to an attack error by Foley and a kill by Rose.

After a bad set by Harvey, Penn State continued to seize its momentum and won back-to-back points to increase its lead to three heading into the media timeout. Out of the break, the back-and-forth play continued for the next six points before a kill by Gaige Gabriel gave the Nittany Lions a 19-15 lead and forced USC to use its first timeout of the set.

Both teams exchanged the next four points out of the timeout. Penn State recorded back-to-back kills to get within two points of winning the second set which forced the Trojans to take another timeout in hopes of not letting the set get away from them.

USC responded with back-to-back points before Markus Olsson’s service error gave Penn State its first set-point opportunity. The Nittany Lions committed consecutive errors, and this forced them to take a timeout. This timeout paid dividends as Roberts committed a service error that allowed Penn State to win the second set at 25-21 and sent the match into a third set at one set apiece.

The third set started with Penn State winning the first point before USC went on a 3-0 run to take an early 3-1 lead. Both teams traded kills for three points, but USC won back-to-back points to increase its lead to three. This back-and-forth affair continued for the next four points before the Nittany Lions won consecutive points to trim their deficit to one.

After both teams traded blows for the next six points, the Trojans’ elite attack was on full display as they went on a 3-0 run that consisted of two kills and a service ace. This allowed them to extend their lead to four and forced Penn State to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions showed their resilience and responded with a 3-0 run to get within one of USC’s lead. This led the Trojans to use their first timeout of the set.

Both teams exchanged kills after the timeout before USC won consecutive points to take a 17-14 lead. Penn State refused to go away and responded with back-to-back points to get back within one of USC’s lead. Both teams continued to go back and forth for the next eight points as USC’s one-point lead stayed intact.

However, the Trojans refused to give the Nittany Lions any sort of momentum and recorded back-to-back kills to get within two points of winning the third set. This forced Pavlik to use a timeout in hopes of his team regaining its footing in the set.

Kuhns committed an attack error after the timeout to give USC its first set-point opportunity. Rose’s kill allowed the Nittany Lions to save a set point but a block by Roberts and Olsson allowed the Trojans to close out the third set at 25-21.

Penn State won the first point of the fourth set, but USC took a 2-1 lead with back-to-back service aces. Both teams exchanged the next four points until Gabriel’s kill allowed the Nittany Lions to tie the set at four. This trend continued for the next four points until back-to-back kills and a block allowed the Trojans to take a three-point lead. Penn State took a timeout right after in hopes of cooling off USC’s momentum.

Out of the timeout, the Trojans committed a service error to end their 3-0 run. However, USC refused to let that deter it and responded with another 3-0 run to extend its lead to five. This forced the Nittany Lions to take another timeout as the match started to slip away from them.

The Trojans continued to seize their momentum as they won consecutive points out of the timeout to increase their run to five. This run ended on the next point with a kill by Luoma. Both teams traded the next four points until an attack error by Foley trimmed Penn State’s deficit to five.

However, USC kept its foot on the gas and went on a 3-0 run to extend its lead to eight. Both teams continued to trade blows for the next six points as Penn State continued to try to find a way to get back into the set. Kuhns recorded a kill that allowed the Nittany Lions to get within seven of the Trojans’ lead.

This turned out to be the last point Penn State won as USC recorded three consecutive kills to finish off the set at 25-15.

Takeaways

  • The Nittany Lions remain winless after six consecutive games against ranked opponents to start the season. During this stretch, they only won three sets and lost 18.
  • Attack errors played a huge factor in determining the outcome of this match. Penn State committed 17 attack errors compared to USC’s seven.
  • USC showed a lot of resilience after losing the second set. They won the third set to cool off Penn State’s momentum from winning the second set before finishing off the Nittany Lions in a dominant fourth-set victory.

What’s Next?

Penn State will look for its first win of the season as it hits the road to take on Harvard at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 7 in its first game of EIVA conference play.

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About the Author

Fernando Martinez

Fernando is a junior who is majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in Spanish and Sports Studies. Born in Mexico City and now lives in Paoli, PA, he is a big fan of pretty much every sport. His favorite teams are FC Barcelona, the Cowboys, and the Phillies which involves a lot of suffering for him. You can follow him on Instagram at fernando9015 or email him at [email protected] if you have questions on why he is a Cowboys and Phillies fan.

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