On Tuesday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, No. 8 Penn State men's volleyball (23-7, 12-0 EIVA) defeated No. 4 UC Irvine (20-10, 7-3 Big West) They won an overwhelming 3-0. Long Beach, California.
The Nittany Lion's offense was held back by Irvine's defense, hitting just .188 in the loss.
how did it happen
The Nittany Lions scored the first points of the game on an offensive error by Hilil Henno. After Irvine's kill and serve error gave Penn State a 3-2 lead, Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik made a successful touch challenge to make it 4-2.
John Kerr recorded the first kill of the night to make it 5-4 and started a 3-0 run to extend the Nittany Lions' lead to 7-4.
Irvine got within one point on an attack error by Michal Kowal, but an error by Anteeters cut the lead back to three points for the Nittany Lions.
Henno's kill followed by Carr's attack error brought the score back to 13-13. Ezeonu ended the Anteaters' streak with a kill, putting the Nittany Lions back up 14-13.
After exchanging points, Ball was saved on a kick save, but Irvine erased the ball to tie the game at 16-16. An attack error by Owen Rose gave Irvine its first lead of the game and forced Pavlik to call a timeout.
The Anteaters took points out of a timeout, then a kill from Carr put Penn State back within one point. Irvine managed to maintain a narrow lead and was the first to reach 20 points leading 20-18.
A kill by Carr and a block by Michael Schwob tied the score, but Irvine scored the next two points to take a 22-20 lead. The Aunties held a two-point lead and had the first set point at 24-22. A service error and a subsequent attack error by the Aunties sent the game into extra points with the score tied at 24-24.
However, Akil Tangtur had two consecutive kills to give Irvine a 26-24 lead in the first set.
Toby Ezeonu and Carr assisted on blocks to give Penn State the first points of the set, then Maxim Grigoriev recorded a kill to give the Anteeters a point.
Henno's three kills and an ace capped off a 4-0 run for Irvine, pushing the lead to 6-2 and forcing Penn State to call a timeout. However, the momentum did not stop and they expanded their lead to 8-2.
Both teams went back and forth, with the Nittany Lions scoring two points to cut the lead to five points at 11-6. Ezeonu had a kill after the challenge, but Irvine grabbed the next two points to push the lead back to 13-7.
Kowal made a shot and Schwob and Ezeonu made blocks, cutting Anteater's lead to four points.
Irvine didn't concede in the next few rallies, extending the lead to seven at 19-12. Penn State's offense struggled, and a block put the Nittany Lions down even further, 21-13.
After exchanging service errors, Irvine went on a 3-0 run to reach its first set point at 24-14. Penn State took the first two set points, then Henno scored a kill to take the lead and close out the game at 25-16.
Schwob struggled in the first two sets and was replaced as setter by Luke Snyder in the third set.
Irvine continued its momentum in the third set, scoring the first three points before Ezeonu recorded a kill to put the Nittany Lions ahead 3-1. Irvine continued to spin and took a 9-4 lead early in the third set.
Penn State scored the first two points after a media timeout, cutting the lead to 7-10. Two more errors by the Aunties brought Penn State within one point, 9-10, forcing an Irvine timeout. Carr tied the game with a kill after a timeout, making the score 10-10.
However, the Anteeters fought back with a run of their own, pushing the lead to 13-10 after an offensive error by the Nittany Lions. Penn State got within one point with Kowal's first ace of the night, bringing the game to 12-13.
A 5-1 Anteater run made the score 13-18 and put the game back in Irvine's control. Irvine's service error followed by Snyder's ace gave the Nittany Lions the next two points, making it 15-18. The run ended with a service error, making the score 16-19.
Irvine maintained the lead and earned the first set point at 24-19. The Anteeters converted on a Nittany Lion error and won the sweep, 25-19.
Take-out
- Kerr totaled 50 kills in two matches at the EIVA tournament, tying Henno for most kills in a match with 14.
- Irvine's offense took off, and there wasn't much Penn State's front row could do to stop it. Henno led the Anteeters, who finished the game with 14 kills against the Penn State defense.
- Penn State's offense was never going to get going. After a dominant serving performance at the EIVA Championship, the Nittany Lions had only two aces and hit just .188.
What's next?
Penn State ended its season with a loss to the University of California, Irvine. The Nittany Lions were both the EIVA regular season and tournament champions this season.