No. 3 seed Penn State men’s volleyball (12-15, 8-4 EIVA) swept No. 6 seed Harvard (9-15, 5-7 EIVA) in the quarterfinals of the EIVA Tournament at Dillon Gymnasium on Wednesday night. With this win, the Nittany Lions will play in the semifinals of the EIVA Tournament on Thursday night.

This match was heavily contested despite the sweep, as the first two sets were separated by two points. However, it was Penn State that won the critical points to win the first two sets. This allowed it to dictate the third set in order to complete the sweep.

How It Happened

Penn State won the first two points of the first set before a service error by Carter Dittman got Harvard on the board. Both teams went back and forth for the next four points before a block by Harvard’s Owen Woolbert and James Bardin tied the set up at four.

This back-and-forth exchange waged on for the following eight points as the deadlock stayed intact. However, the Nittany Lions found some momentum as they went on a 3-0 run to take an 11-8 lead. This momentum was short-lived, as the Crimson responded with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set once again at 11.

Both teams continued to trade blows for the next four points as neither team managed to pull away. Harvard got sloppy on the attack and committed back-to-back errors, which allowed Penn State to take a two-point lead heading into the media timeout.

Out of the media timeout, Logan Shepherd recorded a kill for the Crimson to get them within one point. However, the Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to extend their lead to four. This run was highlighted with a kill by Will Kuhns and a block by Matthew Luoma and Owen Rose, which led to a timeout by Harvard.

This timeout paid huge dividends for the Crimson as they went on a 3-0 run to trim their deficit to one. This forced Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik to take a timeout in order to cool off Harvard’s momentum.

After the timeout, both teams exchanged service errors before consecutive points by the Nittany Lions gave them a 21-18 lead. However, Harvard refused to go away and went on a 3-0 run to tie the set at 21. The deadlock stayed intact for the next two points before consecutive points by Penn State allowed it to have two set-point opportunities. This forced the Crimson to take a timeout.

Harvard saved the first set point with a kill by Sawyer Nichols, but on the next point, Dittman recorded a kill that allowed the Nittany Lions to win the first set 25-23.

Both teams traded blows for six points as the second set got underway. After the Crimson won back-to-back points to take a two-point lead, the Nittany Lions responded with consecutive points of their own to tie the set at five. This back-and-forth exchange continued for the next six points as the deadlock stayed intact.

Neither team managed to pull away for the next six points as they traded blow after blow. However, it was Harvard that finally broke through with back-to-back kills to take a 13-11 lead. The Crimson seized their momentum as they won two of the next three points to extend their lead to three before the media timeout.

This media timeout helped Penn State as it won three of the next four points to decrease its deficit to one. Harvard refused to be deterred and won three of the next four points to regain its three-point lead.

The Nittany Lions continued to fight back as they won three of the next four points to get within one of Harvard’s lead. Both teams exchanged the next four points before an attack error by Owen Fanning allowed Penn State to tie the set at 22. This led to a timeout by the Crimson. Luoma’s kill gave the Nittany Lions the lead after a timeout, which led to another timeout by Harvard.

After the timeout, Shepherd recorded an attack error that allowed Penn State to have two set points. The Nittany Lions could not capitalize on their first opportunity due to an attack error by Kuhns, which forced Pavlik to take a timeout. Harvard saved another set point after the timeout to tie the set at 24.

Both teams traded the next six points as Penn State failed to capitalize on three more set point opportunities. The tables turned right after as an attack error by Luoma gave the Crimson set point, which forced the Nittany Lions to take a timeout.

This timeout paid huge dividends as Penn State saved set point on a kill by Kuhns. That kill gave the Nittany Lions a lot of momentum as Michael Schwob recorded a service ace to give them another set point. On its seventh set point opportunity, Penn State finally managed to capitalize as a block by Gaige Gabriel and Luoma allowed it to win a hard-fought second set 30-28.

The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start in the third set as they won three of the first four points to take an early 3-1 lead. However, the Crimson refused to go away as they went on a 3-0 run to take the lead. Harvard’s lead was short-lived as Penn State went on a 5-0 run to take a four-point lead. This forced the Crimson to take a timeout in order to stop the bleeding.

Out of the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next six points before back-to-back points by the Nittany Lions allowed them to increase their lead to six. Penn State continued to extend its lead as it won three of the next four points to take a 16-8 lead.

The Crimson started to show signs of life as they won three of the next four points to trim their deficit to six. However, the Nittany Lions refused to give them any sort of momentum and responded with back-to-back points to increase their lead. This forced Harvard to take a timeout.

Despite consecutive errors by the Crimson after the timeout, they refused to give up and went on a 3-0 run to decrease their deficit to seven. This led Pavlik to take a timeout. The Crimson continued to fight back as they managed to decrease their deficit to six on the next point after the timeout.

However, that was the last point Harvard won as Penn State went on a 4-0 run to close out the third set by double digits.

Takeaways

• Playing in its first quarterfinal match of the EIVA Tournament ever, Penn State showed its resilience by winning the critical points in the first two sets, which allowed it to win those sets by a margin of two points. This gave it momentum going into the third set, which it dominated to complete the sweep.
• The Nittany Lions got a sweep that they desperately needed. They kept their hopes of making the NCAA Tournament alive and will now get much-needed rest ahead of their semifinal matchup against NJIT tomorrow night.
• Kuhns and Luoma were the catalysts in Penn State’s sweep as the duo combined for 21 of the team’s 36 kills. They will need to keep up this level of play going if Penn State is going to win the EIVA Tournament.

What’s Next?

Penn State has advanced to the semifinals of the EIVA Tournament, where a match against No. 2-seeded NJIT awaits it. The match will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, at Dillon Gymnasium.