No. 20 Penn State men’s volleyball (15-15, 8-4 EIVA) swept Daemen (15-13, 4-4 NEC) 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Nittany Lions will go to Columbus, Ohio, for the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Despite sweeping the Wildcats, the Nittany Lions had to fight hard to win, as they won all three sets by a margin of four points or fewer. They took advantage of the Wildcats’ errors on the critical points despite having fewer kills. Penn State extended its road winning streak to four ahead of the quarterfinal match.

How It Happened

Both teams exchanged points as the first set got underway before back-to-back points for Penn State gave it an early 3-1 lead. After Daemen recorded a kill on the next point, the Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to extend their lead to four. The Wildcats won consecutive points before kills by Gaige Gabriel and Carter Dittman restored Penn State’s four-point lead.

However, Daemen showed its resilience and went on a 4-0 run to tie the set at eight. Penn State responded with back-to-back points to take a two-point lead. Both teams went back and forth for the next four points before a kill by Matthew Luoma and an attack error by Billy Wieberg to increase Penn State’s lead to four. The Wildcats won two of the next three points before a media timeout occurred.

Out of the media timeout, Daemen continued to seize its momentum as it won five of the next seven points to tie the set at 17. This forced Penn State head coach, Mark Pavlik, to take a timeout to cool off the Wildcats’ momentum.

After the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next eight points as the deadlock stayed intact. The deadlock broke when the Nittany Lions won consecutive points to take a 23-21 lead. This led to a timeout by the Wildcats. This timeout paid dividends as an attack error by Luoma and a kill by Weisberg allowed them to tie the set at 23.

On the next point, Luoma recorded a critical kill to give Penn State a set-point opportunity. It capitalized on this opportunity as an attack error by Zach Schneider allowed the Nittany Lions to win the first set 25-23.

Schneider won the first point in the second set before a service error by Weisberg on the next point put Penn State on the board. Both teams went back and forth for the next eight points before back-to-back attack errors by the Wildcats gave the Nittany Lions a 7-5 lead.

This back-and-forth affair waged on for the next eight points before a service error by Daemen extended Penn State’s lead to three. After Schneider recorded a kill on the next point, the Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to increase their lead to five. The run ended on the next point, but a kill by Luoma andan ace by Will Kuhns allowed Penn State to take a 17-11 lead, which forced the Wildcats to take a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Daemen started to show signs of life as it won four of the next five points to trim its deficit to three. This forced Penn State to take a timeout. Both teams traded blows for the next four points after the timeout before an attack error by Kuhns decreased the Wildcats’ deficit to two.

Both teams exchanged service errors before back-to-back kills by Daemen tied the set at 21. The deadlock was short-lived as Luoma recorded two kills and a service ace by Michael Schwob gave the Nittany Lions a set point. Just like the first set, they capitalized on this opportunity as an attack error by Schneider allowed them to close out the second set 25-21.

Both teams exchanged the first 10 points of the third set before a service error by Maverick O’Neil gave Penn State the lead. On the next point, Luoma committed a service error to tie the set at six. Both teams traded points before a kill and a service ace by Owen Rose allowed the Nittany Lions to take a 9-7 lead.

Daemen recorded a kill on the next point, but Penn State started to pull away as Gabriel recorded a solo block and kill to give it an 11-8 lead. The Wildcats took a timeout as things started to slip away.

After the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next four points before a kill by Wieberg allowed Daemen to get within two of Penn State’s lead. The Nittany Lions refused to give any sort of momentum and won four of the next five points to extend their lead to five, forcing the Wildcats to take their final timeout.

Penn State extended its run to three after the timeout before a kill by Wieberg ended it. Both teams exchanged the next four points before a kill and a service ace by Ondrej Arabasz got Daemen within three. This led to a timeout by the Nittany Lions in hopes of cooling off Daemen’s momentum.

Out of the timeout, Schneider and Kuhns exchanged kills before back-to-back kills by the Wildcats trimmed their deficit to one. On the next point, Luoma recorded a huge kill for the Nittany Lions to keep their lead intact. Both teams exchanged points before a kill by Luoma gave Penn State three match points.

Unlike the first two sets, the Nittany Lions could not capitalize as Wieberg’s kill kept the Wildcats alive in the match. However, they refused to let these opportunities slip away, and Rose recorded a kill on the next point to win the third set 25-22 and complete the sweep.

Takeaways

• Penn State showed tonight why it’s built to win on the road. After winning three consecutive road matches to win the EIVA Tournament, it continued its momentum by sweeping Daemen and will go into its quarterfinal match against Hawaii in great form.
• Daemen’s errors came back to haunt it in this defeat. It committed 33 errors compared to Penn State’s 21 errors, which allowed Penn State to win the critical points in the three sets that were only separated by four points or less.
• Luoma was the catalyst in Penn State’s victory as he recorded 13 of the team’s 33 kills. On a night where Daemen recorded more kills than it did, Luoma stepped up for the Nittany Lions when it mattered most.

What’s Next?

Penn State has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, where a rematch against No. 2 seed Hawaii awaits. The match will take place on Thursday, May 8, at 1:30 p.m. in the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. Folks can stream the match on ESPN+.