No. 14 Penn State men’s volleyball (6-4, 0-0 EIVA) completed the two-match series sweep over Saint Francis (4-5, 0-0 NEC) with another 3-0 sweep on Saturday night at DeGol Arena in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik earned his 700th career win with this sweep.

After the Nittany Lions swept the Red Flash last night, they won the first set to extend their set streak over the Red Flash to 10, dating back to 2024. It looked like Saint Francis was on its way to breaking that streak as it held an 11-4 lead in the second set, but Penn State overcame the deficit to win the second set by two and keep the streak alive.

This proved to be the difference as Penn State ran away with the third set to complete the sweep in its last-ever matchup against Saint Francis, who are transitioning to Division III at the end of the season.

How It Happened

A service error by Nicholas Lynch allowed Penn State to win the first point of the match. On the next point, Brady Stump recorded the first kill of the match to put Saint Francis on the board.

Both teams exchanged the next four points before the Nittany Lions went on a 4-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. However, The Red Flash responded with a 3-0 run to trim their deficit to one. After both teams traded the next four points, Sean Harvey committed an attack error that allowed Saint Francis to tie the set at nine.

The deadlock stayed intact for the next four points until a kill by Lynch gave the Red Flash their first lead of the match. Penn State’s offense went on the attack, and it paid off as it recorded three consecutive kills to take a two-point lead. The kills were recorded by Matthew Luoma, Gaige Gabriel, and Harvey.

After Stump’s kill ended the Nittany Lions’ streak of kills on the next point, three straight service errors occurred with Penn State taking advantage of two of the three errors. The Red Flash won two of the next three points as they got within one of tying the set at 17.

However, Penn State refused to relinquish its lead and started to pull away in the set as it went on a 4-0 run. This forced Saint Francis to use its first timeout. After the timeout, Cole Dorn recorded a kill that ended the Nittany Lions’ run.

Despite this, the Nittany Lions continued to seize their momentum as they won three of the next four points to increase their lead to six and give themselves six set-point opportunities. The Red Flash saved the first set point on a kill by Lynch, but on their second set-point opportunity, the Nittany Lions converted on a kill by Luoma to win the first set 25-19.

Saint Francis got off to a fast start in the second set, winning six of the first seven points. This led Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik to take his first timeout of the match. Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions started to cut their deficit as they won three of the next four points to get within three of the Red Flash’s lead.

Saint Francis responded with a 4-0 run as it increased its lead to seven. However, Penn State refused to go away and went on a 4-0 run of its own to trim its deficit to three once again. Both teams traded the next four points until an attack error by Brayden Gall got the Nittany Lions within two of tying the set at 13.

After the Red Flash won back-to-back points to take a 15-11 lead, Penn State continued to claw its way back into the set as it went on a 3-0 run to decrease its deficit to one. The Nittany Lions could not tie the set up at 15 on the next point as Tristan Hassell committed a service error.

However, Penn State’s attack was on full display as Hassell and Jaidyn Bethel recorded back-to-back kills to tie the set at 16. This forced Saint Francis to take a timeout in hopes of cooling off the Nittany Lions’ momentum.

Out of the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next 10 points as the deadlock stayed intact. On the next point, Michael Schwob recorded a huge kill for the Nittany Lions as they took their first lead of the set at 22-21. Both teams exchanged service errors before Harvey’s kill gave Penn State two set points and forced the Red Flash to call a timeout.

This timeout paid huge dividends for Saint Francis as it saved both set points with back-to-back kills to tie the set at 24. On the next point, Bethel recorded a huge kill to give Penn State another set point. Unlike their first two set point opportunities, the Nittany Lions capitalized on their third opportunity as a block assist by Owen Rose, Bethel, and Schwob capped off their second set comeback win 26-24.

Stump’s kill got things underway in the third set, before back-to-back points by Penn State gave it an early lead. After Stump recorded another kill, he committed a service error and Harvey recorded a kill to increase the Nittany Lions’ lead to two.

After Schwob committed a service error on the next point, Penn State went on a 3-0 run to extend its lead to four, forcing the Red Flash to take a timeout. Saint Francis could not stop the bleeding after the timeout as the Nittany Lions extended their run to six to take a 10-3 lead. This led the Red Flash to use their final timeout of the set.

After the timeout, Saint Francis ended Penn State’s run with a kill by Gall. However, the Nittany Lions continued to pull away as they won consecutive points to increase their lead to eight. After a kill by Lynch on the next point, Harvey and Rose recorded back-to-back kills to give the Nittany Lions a 14-5 lead.

Both teams exchanged the next six points until Harvey’s kill gave Penn State a double-digit lead. After this kill, the Nittany Lions continued to run away with the set as they won three of the next four points to get within four points of completing the sweep.

After Gall recorded a kill on the next point, the Red Flash committed three consecutive errors that allowed Penn State to have a match point. Gabriel committed a service error, but once again, Saint Francis committed its fourth consecutive error as Jackson Dexter’s service error allowed the Nittany Lions to sweep the Red Flash for a fourth consecutive time.

Takeaways

• Saint Francis recorded more kills than Penn State, as it had 36 kills compared to Penn State’s 35. However, it got swept once again due to the number of errors that it committed. It committed 37 attack and service errors combined compared to Penn State’s 15.
• This was a much-needed sweep for the Nittany Lions. They came into this two-match series with four consecutive losses and came out of it with back-to-back sweeps. With EIVA conference play starting next week, this will be a huge momentum booster for this team.
• It was a great all-around performance by Penn State. Not only did it minimize its number of errors, but seven players had more than one kill tonight. Sean Harvey led the Nittany Lions in kills with 11, and Michael Schwob led the team in assists with 15.

What’s Next?

Penn State will begin EIVA conference play next week when it hits the road to take on No. 19 Princeton in a two-match series. The first match will be on Friday, February 13, at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.