No. 17 Penn State men’s volleyball (0-7, 0-1 EIVA) suffered its seventh consecutive loss against Harvard (3-4, 1-0 EIVA) in Cambridge, Massachusets Friday night. It is now the Nittany Lions’ worst start to a season since 1999.

There wasn’t a lot of scoring by Penn State in this one. Matthew Luoma led the team in kills with seven but hit -.083. Will Kuhns had six kills and Gaige Gabriel and Matt Cosgrove each had five kills and hit .333 and .556, respectively.

On the other side, Sawyer Nichols led the Crimson with 10 kills while hitting .115. Zach Berty also had three aces and three kills while hitting .273.

How It Happened

Gabriel was the first to score in this one. His kill helped Penn State jump to an early 3-1 lead as each team recorded a service error and Matthew Luoma notched a kill. However, Harvard went on a large 6-1 run with two kills by Nichols, an ace by Berty, a block by James Bardin, and two Penn State errors.

Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik called an early timeout, but the Crimson didn’t let up as Owen Fanning posted a kill after the break. But the tables turned moments later when the Nittany Lions went on an even larger 7-1 run to make it 11-9 Penn State.

The scoring marathon consisted of kills by Sean Harvey and Luoma, solo blocks by Harvey and Gabriel, and three Harvard errors. The Crimson then used their first timeout, but Penn State kept the pressure on by scoring two more times after the break to extend the lead to four.

Logan Shepherd and Berty got kills to get Harvard back on track and Berty and Fanning teamed up for a block. Gabriel and Luoma recorded kills for the Nittany Lions and Berty did the same for the Crimson.

Another huge run broke out, this time in favor of the home team. Harvard took a 20-16 lead off a 7-1 run that featured kills by Berty and Owen Woolbert, an ace by Berty, a block by Fanning and Berty, and three Penn State errors.

Pavlik used his final timeout of the set and the Nittany Lions scored off of two Harvard errors after the break to make it a two-point game. However, the Crimson got a kill by Woolbert and two aces by Quinn Bishop to make it 23-18.

The Nittany Lions scored three more times before Harvard took the first set 25-21.

The second set started with the teams trading service errors. Shepherd then posted consecutive kills to give Harvard a 3-1 lead. A service error and a kill by Kuhns tied the set until the Crimson went on a 3-0 run.

The run was due to kills by Shepherd and Nichols and forced Penn State to use another early timeout. The Nittany Lions then went on a 5-1 run after the break with two kills by Luoma, another by Cosgrove, a block by Owen Rose and Cosgrove, and a Harvard error.

The Crimson regained the lead after two Penn State errors and the teams exchanged the next eight scores from there to make it 13-12 Harvard. Luoma tied the set with a kill but two kills by Nichols and another by Bardin forced the Nittany Lions to burn their final timeout of the set down 16-13.

Cosgrove found another kill after the pause, but Harvard extended its lead with a kill by Fanning and two more Penn State attack errors. Cosgrove ended the run with his fourth kill of the night as Penn State scored three more times, thanks to a kill by Gabriel, an ace by Cosgrove, and a Crimson error. Harvard called a timeout with a 20-18 lead.

Berty’s kill and a Penn State attack error put Harvard three scores away from a 2-0 lead. Kuhns notched a kill, but so did Woolbert. Rose also got a kill to make it a three-point game but a service error put the Crimson one point away.

Two Harvard errors threatened its lead as it used a timeout but Fanning’s kill moments later gave the Crimson set No. 2 25-22.

The third set started with a large Harvard lead. Four Penn State errors and a Fanning ace helped the Crimson get to a 5-1 lead. The next four scores were split between both sides until a kill by Miller Trubey and a Harvard error cut the lead down to 7-5.

Nichols posted a kill, but two more Crimson errors made it a one-point game. Berty and Miha Okorn extended the lead with kills, and Gabriel got back in the score column with a kill, but Nichols recorded two more kills as Penn State used a timeout down 12-8.

Kuhns found two kills after the break and Woolbert also got a kill. An error and an ace by Berty made it 15-10 Harvard. The Nittany Lions scored three of the next four points to make it a three-point game until a kill from Okorn and an ace by Bardin extended the lead.

Penn State used its final timeout of the set but it didn’t help much. Cosgrove got a kill but Okorn did the same and another error hurt the Nittany Lions. Both sides split service errors until Gabriel got a kill.

Harvard completed the sweep by capturing the third set 25-19, but it wasn’t pretty. After Gabriel’s kill, a series of seven straight errors ended the set.

Takeaways

• Yet another loss. If the Penn State loses again Saturday, 0-8 will be the worst start to any season in program history.
• Attack errors continue to be a problem. The Nittany Lions had 29 kills and 18 errors on 77 attacks for a .143 hitting percentage

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will look to notch their first win of the season in another match against Harvard at 5 p.m. on Saturday, February 8.