UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – Penn State's No. 10 men's volleyball team improved to 10-2 overall for the 2021 season and maintained its position at the top of the rankings for EIVA with a 3-0 clean sweep of No. 12 George Mason Saturday night at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions have now won four straight games against the Patriots (7-3, 4-2) since the semifinals of the 2019 EIVA Tournament (4/18/19, 3-2).
Penn State had a balanced and efficient overall team performance with a .325 average and a 79.3 percent rate for the game.
"I think you've witnessed one of the cleanest games we've played at Rec Hall in a long time," said head coach Mark Pavlik . "When you look at the stat sheet and you see we only had seven unforced hitting errors in three games … we gave George Mason very few points tonight."
Another strong effort from bowlers Brett Wildman and Cal Fisher sparked most of Penn State's offense. They each had 11 kills with Wildman hitting .526 (11-1-19) and Fisher hitting .321 (11-2-28).
Center blocker Canyon Tuman had a of his best offensive nights of the season and was named Mike Anderson's Man of the Match with seven kills at .778 with no errors and added two aces for service and a pair of blocks.
Penn State produced his Extended first margin of the night at 12-9 in set one after a Wildman death and a block by Cole Bogner and Tuman. The Nittany Lions then extended that lead with a 7-1 run behind the serves of Michal Kowal and Fisher. Kowal had an ace and Fisher pulled Mason's offense out of the system to give the Nittany Lions a 23-16 lead, allowing them to easily close the set at 25-19 to take a 1-0 lead.
In Game 2, a Bogner kill followed by a Tuman ace put the Nittany Lions ahead 12-10 and another Penn State streak soon followed. Fisher had three kills and teamed for a block with Sam Marsh by four points in a row to lead by five at 17-12.
Mason never got anywhere near three in the frame with another Fisher's death that ended the set 25-21 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
Penn State started hot in the third game after a pair of points Michael Valenzi and an ace in the Fisher's serve doubled Mason's point production to 12-6 in favor of Penn State. The Patriots managed to fight as close as four points at 19-15, but Penn State closed the game thereafter with a 6-1 run that included the death of Andrew Watts from the bench and another ace. by Fisher. Penn State won the game 25-16 to sweep the game 3-0.
GAME NOTES AND STATISTICS
- In addition to his solid offensive night, Wildman had seven attacks, closely followed by Fisher's six.
- Penn State once again won the service battle with six aces to Mason's two. Penn State received a .953 rate as a team (41-43). Wildman (14-14) and Valenzi (11-11) had reception nights without errors.
NEXT
Penn State hosts Charleston for a couple of games next weekend, March 5-6.
Be First to Comment