No. 19 Penn State men’s volleyball (5-10, 2-2 EIVA) suffered another sweep against No. 15 Grand Canyon on Sunday night at Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.

After being swept on Saturday night, the Nittany Lions once again were swept by the Lopes as they struggled to win a set throughout the two-game series. All three sets were very close unlike Saturday, but it was Grand Canyon in the end who was more clinical than Penn State, which allowed it to finish off the sweep.

How It Happened

Penn State won the first point of the match on an attack error by Trevell Jordan before he redeemed himself with a kill to get Grand Canyon on the board. The Nittany Lions won three of the next four points to take an early 4-2 lead.

However, the Lopes responded with a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the set. This lead was short-lived as Penn State won consecutive points to tie the set at six. Both teams exchanged points before a kill by Jarrett Anderson and an attack error by Matthew Luoma allowed Grand Canyon to regain the lead.

After Will Kuhns’s kill trimmed Penn State’s deficit to one, the Lopes went on a 3-0 run to extend their lead to four. Both teams traded kills for the next four points before a kill by Karter Rogers gave Grand Canyon a 15-10 lead heading into the media timeout.

Out of the media timeout, Anderson recorded a kill for the Lopes to make it a 3-0 run before a block assist by Luoma and Owen Rose on the next point ended it. Both teams went back and forth for the next six points as Grand Canyon’s lead stayed intact. After Luoma recorded an attack error on the next point, the Nittany Lions started to show signs of life and won four of the next five points to trim their deficit to three. This forced the Lopes to take a timeout.

After the timeout, Kuhns recorded a service ace to get Penn State within two, but Grand Canyon refused to relinquish its lead and won back-to-back points to take a 23-19 lead in the set. This forced Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik to take its first timeout of the match.

Luoma recorded a kill after the timeout before Rogers’s kill gave the Lopes their first set-point opportunity. The Nittany Lions saved two set points which forced Grand Canyon to take a timeout in hopes of cooling off Penn State’s momentum. This timeout paid dividends as Anderson recorded a kill that allowed Grand Canyon to win the first set 25-22.

The second set got underway with the Lopes winning the first point before the Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to take an early lead. However, Grand Canyon responded by winning four consecutive points before a kill by Luoma ended its run. Both teams traded blows for the next four points before a 3-0 run by the Lopes gave them a 10-6 lead. This forced Penn State to take a timeout.

Both teams exchanged points out of the timeout before the Nittany Lions won consecutive points to reduce their deficit to two. After Grand Canyon recorded a kill on the next point, Penn State won four of the next five points to tie the set at 13. However, the deadlock was short-lived as the Lopes responded with a 3-0 run to regain the lead.

The Nittany Lions won back-to-back points to trim their deficit to one before the Lopes returned the favor by winning consecutive points. This gave Grand Canyon a three-point and forced Pavlik to take a timeout in hopes of his team regaining its footing in the set.

Penn State won consecutive points after the timeout to get within one of Grand Canyon’s lead. Both teams traded blows for the next four points before the Lopes won back-to-back points to get within three points of winning the third set. After the Nittany Lions won two of the next three points, the Lopes got their first set point on a service error by Kuhns. Penn State saved a set point which forced Grand Canyon to take a timeout.

The Nittany Lions managed to save another set point on a bad set by Cole Duncanson, but Anderson recorded a crucial kill on the next point for the Lopes to give them a 25-23 second set win.

Both teams traded blows for the first four points of the third set before kills by Anderson and Trent Moser gave Grand Canyon a two-point lead. After the Lopes won two of the next three points, they got sloppy on the attack and committed back-to-back errors to allow the Nittany Lions to get within one of their lead.

However, Grand Canyon put its foot on the gas and went on a 3-0 run to increase its lead to four. This forced Penn State to take a timeout as the match started to slip away from it.

After the timeout, both teams went back and forth for the next four points before a service ace by Kuhns trimmed the Nittany Lions’ deficit to three. However, the Lopes won five consecutive points to extend their lead to eight. After a service error by Braedon Marquardt ended Grand Canyon’s run, Penn State refused to give up and responded by winning two of the next three points.

Duncanson recorded a solo block for the Lopes on the next point before the Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to trim their deficit to four. Penn State continued to take advantage of its momentum as it went on to win three of the next four points to get within two of Grand Canyon’s lead. This forced the Lopes to take a timeout in hopes of cooling the Nittany Lions’ momentum.

Penn State trimmed its deficit to one out of the timeout on an attack error by Moser. Both teams exchanged points before Grand Canyon recorded three consecutive kills to take a 23-19 lead. On the next point, Kuhns committed an attack error to give the Lopes a match point. Just like the first two sets, the Nittany Lions refused to let the Lopes convert on their first opportunity as Luoma recorded a kill to keep them in the match. However, Grand Canyon refused to let this opportunity slip away and Marquardt’s kill allowed it to win the third set 25-20.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions’ time as a ranked team may come to an end Monday when the rankings come out. After being swept on consecutive nights and suffering their tenth loss of the season, it looks like Penn State’s streak of being ranked for 89 straight weeks will end as it struggles to compete against ranked opponents this season.
• Grand Canyon’s attack was more efficient and clinical than Penn State’s. It recorded 43 kills compared to Penn State’s 34 and had a hitting percentage of .263 compared to Penn State’s .168.
• The trio of Moser, Anderson, and Rogers allowed the Lopes to win this match as they recorded 35 of the team’s 43 kills which had more kills than the entire Penn State team combined.

What’s Next?

Penn State will head to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational where it will take on No. 5 USC for the second time this season at 10 p.m. on Thursday, March 13.