No. 16 Penn State men’s volleyball (11-4, 4-0 EIVA) swept Merrimack (4-9) 3-0 behind a strong offensive performance.

Penn State is on a seven-game win streak with its victory over the Warriors. Merrimack didn’t look competitive through the first two sets. The third set flew a little closer, but the Nittany Lions pulled off the sweep easily.

How It Happened

Penn State started with the first serve and quickly got a kill. Owen Rose scored the first point for the Nittany Lions.

Merrimack quickly responded with a kill from Dallas Birkenbeuel, but Penn State quickly went on a 4-0 run. Rose led this run with three kills off three total attempts.

Penn State extended its lead 9-3 through strong defensive stops.

The Nittany Lions went on a 5-0 run with two kills and three errors on Merrimack. Matthew Luoma led with two kills.

Merrimack took two timeouts during the first set with Penn State leading 13-5. The Nittany Lions dominated the court early with powerful spikes.

Ryan Merk helped Penn State get kills through defensive digs. He showed his strength and support as the Nittany Lions gained a 10-point lead in the first set at 17-7.

Luoma had two more kills in the process. Micheal Schwob also had eight assists.

Birkenbeuel was Merrimack’s biggest threat toward Penn State. He had eight kills in the first set as the Nittany Lions led 23-13. However, it wasn’t enough to stop Penn State’s momentum.

Penn State won the first set 25-13. Luoma led the team with five kills. Rose finished the first set with four. Bennet Wilson had three.

The second set started with a two kills from Owen Rose. The Nittany Lions quickly went on a 3-0 run, but caused a service error to give Merrimack its opening points.

Penn State went up 9-4 after long rallies against Merrimack. The outside hitters and middle blockers remained strong at the net.

The digs for Penn State remained strong as well, consistently returning spikes. Merrimack caused multiple errors, allowing Penn State to maintain a strong lead.

Schwob had 10 assists as the Nittany Lions led 14-7. Rose led with six kills, and Luoma followed with five. The team only allowed two kills up seven against Merrimack.

The next three points for Penn State were from an ace, error, and kill. The team found various ways to control the court. The kill was again scored by Luoma for his sixth of the game.

Merrimack gained two points off two kills, narrowing Penn State’s lead of the set. The Warriors remained tight despite the Nittany Lions’ offensive dominance.

Merrimack went on a 3-0 run with a kill and two errors from Penn State. The Nittany Lions’ lead narrowed down to five, but Penn State still held a 23-18 advantage. Merrimack gained another point off an error from the Nittany Lions, but quickly gave Penn State a set-point opportunity off a service error.

Penn State won the second set 25-19 and led 2-0 over Merrimack.

The first point of the third set wad a kill from Birkenbeuel. Merrimack went up 2-0 with an error from Penn State, but the Nittany Lions responded with a kill from Tristan Hassell.

The next four points were split between both teams. Merrimack had two errors giving Penn State two points, but a kill and an error on Penn State extended Merrimack’s lead.

Merrimack went up 8-4 in the third set, giving the Warriors their biggest lead of the game. All points were scored off of Penn State errors as the Nittany Lions tried to stop the bleeding from a sloppy start.

Penn State narrowed the lead to three, down 9-6, as Hassell had another kill for the Nittany Lions. There were only four total kills combined in the set to that point as both teams benefited off errors.

Gabriel Gage and Kyle Fagan had a kill to help Penn State tie to set. The Nittany Lions went on a 4-0 run with an ace, two kills, and an error on Merrimack. Penn State picked up its rhythm after a sloppy start.

Penn State went into the lead with two more kills by Hassell. That substitution to put Hassell into the game for the third set paid off.

Penn State extended its lead with another kill from Hassell and Gabriel. The pair dominated the offensive side of the court in the third set.

The Nittany Lions didn’t pull away with the third set as easily as the first two. Merrimack continued to keep a close game as Penn State inched its way forward. The game eventually landed 20-17 as Penn State looked to secure a victory.

Fagan and Hassell scored two more kills for Penn State. Merrimack had a service error and an attack error shortly after. Penn State won the set 25-19 and took the sweep.

Takeaways

• Penn State had an early lead for the first two sets, which gave it strong momentum to finish with a win.
• The third set was a bit slopper than the first two, but the Nittany Lions pulled through when it mattered most.
• Rose, Luoma, and Hassel all had six kills. Despite not starting the game, Hassel managed to find a way to be one of Penn State’s team leaders in kills.

What’s Next?

Penn State travels to California to play Long Beach State at 10 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, at Walter Pyramid.