No. 19 Penn State men’s volleyball (5-11, 2-2 EIVA) was swept by No. 5 USC (14-2) in its first game of the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Thursday night.

After suffering a four-set loss against the Trojans earlier this season, the Nittany Lions fell once again against the Trojans, but in three sets this time around. Penn State has lost its 11th game of the season, equaling its number of losses in the last two seasons combined as its attack continues to struggle to hit the ball in play efficiently.

How It Happened

The first set got underway with Penn State winning the first point on a service error by USC before a block assist by Sterling Foley and Guy Genis on the next point got it on the board. Both teams traded blows for the next four points before the Trojans won back-to-back points to take an early 5-3 lead.

After Foley committed a service error on the next point, Jack Deuchar’s kill and an attack error by Will Kuhns allowed USC to extend its lead to three. Both teams went back and forth for the next six points before an attack error by Matthew Luoma increased the Trojans’ lead to four.

This back-and-forth affair continued to be a trend as both teams exchanged the next six points as USC’s four-point lead stayed intact. On the next point, Dillon Klein, Caleb Blanchette, and Genis recorded a block assist to give the Trojans a 15-10 lead. This forced Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik to take its first timeout of the match.

Out of the timeout, USC rode its momentum from the previous point and won consecutive points to increase its lead to seven. However, the Nittany Lions started to show signs of life and won three of the next four points to trim their deficit to five. After Luoma committed an attack error on the next point, Penn State went on a 3-0 run to get within three of USC’s lead and forced the Trojans to take a timeout.

The Nittany Lions continued to ride their momentum as they went on consecutive points after the timeout to decrease their deficit to one. However, the Trojans refused to relinquish their lead and responded with a 3-0 run to give themselves some breathing room. This led to another Penn State timeout.

Penn State won two of the next three points after the timeout to decrease its deficit to three. However, USC responded by winning back-to-back points to finish off the first set 25-20.

Parker Tomkinson’s attack error gave the Nittany Lions the first point of the second set before the Trojans went on a 6-0 run to take an early 6-1 lead. This forced Pavlik to take an early timeout in hopes of his team regaining its footing.

USC extended its run to seven out of the timeout with a solo block by Klein. Penn State refused to give up and went on a 3-0 run to trim its deficit to three. The Trojans responded with a 3-0 run of their own to restore their six-point lead. After Matt Cosgrove’s kill ended this run on the next point, USC’s attack put its foot on the gas and went on yet another 3-0 run to take a 13-5 lead. This led to another timeout by the Nittany Lions.

Out of the timeout, Penn State won three of the next points to decrease its deficit to six. Both teams traded blows for the next four points before the Nittany Lions won three consecutive points to get within three of the Trojans’ lead. This forced USC to take a timeout in hopes of cooling off Penn State’s momentum.

Both teams exchanged points after the timeout, but it paid dividends for the Trojans as they went on to record three consecutive kills to extend their lead to six. After Klein’s attack error on the next point ended USC’s run, both teams went back and forth for the next four points before the Trojans won back-to-back points to give themselves a set point. On the next point, Kuhns recorded a kill to save a set point for Penn State, but Tomkinson’s kill right after allowed USC to win the second set 25-18.

The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start in the third set as they won four of the first five points. However, Penn State’s momentum was short-lived as USC went on a 6-0 run as it took advantage of Penn State’s errors. This forced Penn State to take a timeout as the third set started to slip away from it.

After the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next six points as USC’s three-point lead stayed intact. Foley and Tomkinson recorded back-to-back kills for the Trojans to extend their lead to five. Gaige Gabriel and Owen Rose responded with kills of their own to give Penn State some hope of coming back in the set.

However, USC refused to let Penn State seize its momentum and won three of the next four points to restore its five-point lead. The Nittany Lions started to show signs of life and went on a 3-0 run to decrease their deficit to two. This led to a timeout by the Trojans in hopes of cooling off Penn State’s momentum.

Out of the timeout, USC won back-to-back points to give it some breathing room. The Nittany Lions refused to go away and went on a 4-0 run to tie the set at 17. This deadlock was short-lived as the Trojans responded with a critical 3-0 run to give themselves a 20-17 lead and forced Penn State to take another timeout.

The Nittany Lions won consecutive points after the timeout before Klein’s kill gave USC a two-point lead. This kill gave the Trojans a lot of momentum as they went on to win back-to-back points to get within two points of winning the match. However, Gabriel’s kill and Kuhns’s service ace allowed Penn State to trim its deficit to two. This led to a timeout by USC in hopes of regaining its focus.

This timeout paid huge dividends for the Trojans as they went on to win consecutive points after the timeout to win the third set 25-21 and complete the sweep.

Takeaways

• The struggles for the Nittany Lions kept on going as they suffered their 11th loss of the season and 9th against ranked opponents. With two more games this weekend against ranked opponents, things could get ugly for them if they don’t win a game in the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational.
• USC’s attack was more efficient than Penn State’s as it had a hitting percentage of .231 compared to Penn State’s -.035. Also, Penn State had 16 more attack errors than USC which allowed it to win more points than it should’ve.
• Dillon Klein was the star of the game as he led the Trojans with 10 kills and was highly efficient as he only committed two errors in 17 total attacks. He was the only player in the match to record a double-digit number of kills.

What’s Next?

Penn State will play its second game of the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational when it takes on No. 3 Hawaii at 1 a.m. on Saturday, March 15. Folks can stream it on ESPN+.