No. 15 Penn State men’s volleyball (8-4, 2-0 EIVA) swept Princeton (2-6, 0-3 EIVA) 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Dillon Gymnasium in Princeton, New Jersey. The Nittany Lions have now won five straight games at Dillon Gymnasium, dating back to last year’s EIVA Tournament.

After almost blowing a two-set lead against the Tigers yesterday, the Nittany Lions won a hard-fought first set 30-28, which gave them a lot of momentum heading into the second set. They won the second set with ease, and it looked like it would be the same story in the third set.

However, Penn State blew three match points before Princeton had a set point at 26-25. The Nittany Lions avoided the collapse as they finished the match by winning three consecutive points to finish off the sweep.

How It Happened

A service error by Princeton’s Nolan Kelly gave Penn State the first point of the match. On the next point, Ambrose Engling recorded a kill for the Tigers to put them on the board.

The Nittany Lions went on a 3-0 run to take an early 4-1 lead. This run was highlighted with a kill by Sean Harvey and a block assist by Owen Rose and Tristan Hassell. Both teams exchanged kills for the next four points before the Tigers responded with a 3-0 run to tie the first set at six.

Hassell recorded a huge kill on the next point to end Princeton’s run and restore Penn State’s lead. After Tristan Whitfield’s kill tied the set at seven, the Nittany Lions won back-to-back points to take a two-point lead. The Tigers responded with consecutive points to tie it up once again.

After the Nittany Lions restored their two-point lead with consecutive points, Princeton went on a 3-0 run to take its first lead of the match at 12-11. Penn State tied it up at 12 due to a bad set by Princeton’s Owen Mellon. Both teams traded blows for the next four points before Kelly’s kill sent the match into a media timeout with the Tigers holding a 15-14 lead.

Out of the media timeout, the Nittany Lions retook the lead as they won three of the next four points. Kelly recorded another kill for Princeton to tie it at 17. Both teams exchanged the next six points as the deadlock stayed intact.

After Hassell committed a service error that allowed the Tigers to hold a 22-21 lead, his kill and an attack error by Engling got the Nittany Lions within two points of winning the first set. This forced Princeton to use its first timeout. Engling recorded a kill after the timeout to tie at 23 before Harvey’s kill gave Penn State set point, leading to another timeout by the Tigers.

After the timeout, Princeton saved set point on a kill by Engling. On the next point, Harvey committed a critical attack error, giving the Tigers a set point. This led Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik to use his first timeout of the match.

The Nittany Lions saved set point on a kill by Hassell to tie the set at 25. Michael Schwob recorded a service ace to give Penn State another set point, but Princeton saved it again on a kill by Andrew Werner.

Both teams exchanged the next four points as the Nittany Lions failed to convert two more set-point opportunities. After a block assist by Gaige Gabriel and Hassell gave Penn State another set point, it finally converted on a block by Gabriel as the Nittany Lions won a dramatic first set 30-28.

Princeton got off to a fast start as it won three of the first four points of the second set. Penn State won consecutive points to tie it at three before a service error by Rose restored the Tigers’ lead. However, the Nittany Lions’ elite attack was on full display as they went on a 3-0 run to take a 6-4 lead.

After Whitfield’s kill ended Penn State’s run, Penn State recorded three consecutive kills to extend its lead to four. Two kills were recorded by Hassell and one by Jaidyn Bethel. Block assists were exchanged by both teams before back-to-back points by the Tigers trimmed their deficit to two.

The Nittany Lions refused to give the Tigers any sort of momentum and responded by winning four of the next five points to increase their lead to five. Harvey committed an attack error before he redeemed himself with a kill to send the match into a media timeout with Penn State holding a 15-10 lead.

After the media timeout, both teams traded the next four points before an attack error by Gabriel, and a service ace by Werner trimmed the Nittany Lions’ lead to three. This forced Pavlik to take his first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, Whitfield recorded a kill for the Tigers to get them within two of Penn State’s lead.

However, the Nittany Lions responded by winning three of the next four points to give themselves some breathing room. Princeton refused to go away as it won consecutive points to get within two once again before Hassell’s kill gave Penn State a 21-18 lead. This led the Tigers to use a timeout.

Out of the timeout, both teams traded points until a block by Rose got the Nittany Lions within two points of winning the second set. After Werner recorded a kill, Ethan Wells committed a service error that gave Penn State a set point. Despite not converting the first set point due to Rose’s service error, the Nittany Lions converted their second set point as they won the second set 25-21.

Penn State carried its momentum from the first two sets into the third set as it got off to a fast start by winning five of the first six points. After both teams exchanged points, Princeton refused to go away and went on a 3-0 run to reduce its deficit to one. On the next point, Engling committed a critical service error that ended the Tigers’ run and kept the Nittany Lions’ lead intact.

After Princeton’s Ryan Vena committed an attack error, three consecutive service errors occurred, with the Tigers taking advantage of two of those three errors. However, Penn State refused to give Princeton any sort of momentum and won three of the next four points to take a 12-8 lead.

The Tigers reduced their deficit to two once again by winning three of the next four points. The Nittany Lions won back-to-back points on a kill by Hassell and an attack error by Vena that gave them a 15-11 lead heading into the media timeout.

Out of the media timeout, Rose recorded a service ace to increase Penn State’s lead to five. Princeton responded by winning three of the next four points to reduce its deficit to three. After Hassell recorded a kill on the next point, the Tigers continued to claw their way back into the set as they went on a 3-0 run to get within one of tying the set at 18. This forced the Nittany Lions to take a timeout in hopes of cooling the Tigers’ momentum.

This timeout paid dividends for Penn State as it won two of the next three points to take a 20-18 lead, which led to a Princeton timeout. Harvey committed a bad set after the timeout that allowed the Tigers to get within one of the Nittany Lions’ lead. However, Rose’s kill and Harvey’s ace allowed Penn State to get within three points of completing the sweep.

Both teams traded kills before Harvey’s kill gave the Nittany Lions three match-point opportunities. This forced Princeton to use its final timeout of the set. The Tigers showed their resilience after the timeout as they saved all three match points to tie the set at 24. This led Pavlik to take a timeout in hopes that his team would avoid a collapse.

After the timeout, Harvey recorded a huge kill for Penn State to end Princeton’s run and give it another match point. It couldn’t convert once again due to a service error and the tables turned right after as Wells recorded a kill to give the Tigers a set point.

The Nittany Lions saved the set point on a kill by Harvey to tie the set at 26. This kill gave them momentum as Gabriel recorded a service ace to give them another match point. After failing to convert four match points, they converted their fifth opportunity on another service ace by Gabriel as Penn State finished the sweep with a 28-26 third set win.

Takeaways

• Today, it was Tristan Hassell who carried the Nittany Lions to victory. Not only did he lead the team in kills with 17, but he was everywhere as he recorded five digs, three block assists, and two service aces. Along with that, he had a hitting percentage of .387.
• Despite the sweep, Penn State had to fight hard for it as it won two of three sets by two points. It blew three match points at 24-21, and it took till the fifth match point to finally finish off Princeton. The Nittany Lions will have to do a better job finishing off sets.
• Michael Schwob made his presence known despite recording only one kill. He was the distributor for the Nittany Lions as he assisted 35 of Penn State’s 46 kills.

What’s Next?

Penn State will return home for its EIVA conference home opener against Harvard at Rec Hall South Gym on Friday, February 21, at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on BTN+.