No. 17 Penn State men’s volleyball (13-7, 5-0 EIVA) swept No. 19 NJIT (13-7) (5-2 EIVA) 3-0 on Friday night in its first match back in Rec Hall in a month. 

Sean Harvey led the Nittany Lion offense with ten kills, followed by Owen Rose, Matthew Luoma, and Bennett Wilson, who all had nine. Setter Michael Schwob had 32 assists, and libero Ryan Merk had eight digs. Rose was the man of the match, hitting .900 with nine kills and six blocks. 

How It Happened

Luoma struck first for the Nittany Lions, hitting off Highlander hands for the kill. Daniel Latkowski responded with a dump over hands for NJIT, followed by an ace from Wiktor Nowak. Rose landed a kill from the middle, but Nowak’s back-to-back cross-court kills and a block gave NJIT a 5-2 lead. 

The teams traded errors before Luoma hammered a cross-court kill of his own to put Penn State within one. Andre Aleixo rose again for a block, assisted by Alex Heins, extending the NJIT lead to 8-5. Nowak notched another kill from the right side for the Highlanders. Wilson landed an ace on the backline, and Gaige Gabriel found open court to kick off a scoring run. 

Harvey tipped over high hands, and Rose shot out of the middle to trail by just two, 10-12. A Rose-Harvey block brought the Nittany Lions within one, and an NJIT hitting error tied the game, 12-12. Rose stayed hot out of the middle with a kill, and a Rose-Luoma block gave the Nittany Lions their first lead since the opening point, going into a media timeout. 

Wilson notched a kill out of the break, and a Wilson-Rose block forced an NJIT timeout. Rose and Bruno Figueiredo jousted at the net, and Harvey swung hard out of the back row to give the Nittany Lions an 18-14 lead. Highlander errors extended the lead, 20-14, but Figueiredo ended the 3-0 scoring run with a kill. 

Errors from each side led to a 23-19 Penn State lead, and Rose struck out of the middle for set point. Behind the crowd’s enthusiastic claps, Michael Schwob delivered a service ace to give the Nittany Lions the set one win, 25-19. 

Schwob ACE for set point!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/7mgZ9u6LUy

— Penn State Men's Volleyball (@PennStateMVBALL) March 27, 2026

Heins opened the scoring for the Highlanders with a kill and teamed up with Nowak for a block. Harvey powered a swing off the block, and an NJIT attack error evened the score at 2-2. Wilson responded with a deep ball to the middle and won a battle at the net for the 4-2 lead. 

Nowak notched a kill for the Highlanders, but Rose, Wilson, and Luoma answered with a block. Luoma sent the Highlanders chasing a hard hit, extending the lead to 7-3 and forcing a Highlander timeout. Out of the break, Nowak answered with another kill, but the Nittany Lions answered with Luoma scoring off the block, and Wilson and Gabriel rising for the stuff. 

Latkowski and Harvey traded kills before Harvey clipped the line to make it 11-5. The Nittany Lions kept rolling as Rose sent a rocket out of the middle for the 13-7 lead. Aleixo ended the run with a Highlander kill, but Wilson answered right back with a swing of his own. A triple block from Wilson, Rose, and Luoma shut down the NJIT offense, and Luoma tipped to the line. 

The Highlanders recorded consecutive blocks, but still trailed, 11-16. Wilson found the back corner, but Girard and Latkowski each had a kill for NJIT, closing the gap, 17-13. Harvey swung through the block for a kill, but a service error and a kill from Nowak put NJIT within two, 16-18. Luoma hammered a shot out of the back row, but NJIT responded yet again with a kill from Aleixo. 

Service errors from both sides made the score 20-18. Rose and Harvey combined for a block before Heins answered with a kill for NJIT. Heins and Nowak then teamed up for a block, forcing a Penn State timeout. Out of the break, Luoma caught fire with back-to-back kills to give the Nittany Lions a 23-20 lead, prompting an NJIT timeout. 

Heins responded again with a kill for the Highlanders, but Luoma kept swinging, earning Penn State a set point. After an NJIT block cut the score to 24–23 and forced a Penn State timeout, Harvey sealed the set with a thunderous kill, giving Penn State the 25-23 set win.

Harvey from the back row to end set two!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/KT6bYqL8ok

— Penn State Men's Volleyball (@PennStateMVBALL) March 27, 2026

Rose and Harvey landed kills to start set three. Latkowski and Aleixo responded to tie the set, 2-2. A Highlander service error and a shot to the deep court from Harvey gave Penn State a 4-2 lead. Rose landed a shot and swung on an overpass to extend the lead to 6-2. 

After an NJIT timeout, Latkowski scored for the Highlanders. Errors were traded until Harvey swung off the block for the 10-5 advantage. Following another NJIT timeout, the Highlanders added two points to the board, but Harvey swung for a cross-court kill, and Gabriel notched a service ace. 

Nowak and Rose traded kills, setting the score at 16-10. Heins earned the Highlanders back-to-back points, but Wilson responded with a kill. Heins scored once again, but a service error kept the Nittany Lions up, 19-13. Wilson rose for a powerful kill from the back row, but Latkowski responded with a tip to middle court. 

Gustavo Chrcanovic put away a tough ball and swung down to the line as NJIT still trailed, 22-18. Heins scored on an attack out of the middle, and two consecutive aces from Chrcanovic had NJIT trailing by two, 21-23. Wilson delivered a kill for set point, and Harvey-Gabriel gave the Nittany Lions the match sweep, 25-21.

ROOF! SWEEP!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/a4DPKXlHig

— Penn State Men's Volleyball (@PennStateMVBALL) March 27, 2026

Takeaways

• Despite the 3-0 win, the Nittany Lions struggled from the service line, racking up 16 errors on the night.
• It was a solid offensive night for Penn State, hitting 39 for 67 with a .403 team hitting percentage. 
• The team showed aggression defensively, fighting through long rallies and effectively using the triple block. 

What’s Next?

Penn State will look for the series sweep in game two against NJIT on Saturday, March 28, at 3 p.m. in Rec Hall. The match will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.