Answering the Call: How John Kerr’s Emergence Has Set the Nittany Lions Up For Success

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Prior to Sunday’s matchup against Saint Francis, the No. 10 Penn State men’s volleyball team hadn’t played a match in the main gym of Rec Hall since Jan. 28.

That match was significant for a couple of reasons. For starters, it was Penn State’s second match against then-No. 1 Ohio State. After claiming victory in Columbus a few days prior, Penn State engineered a reverse sweep over the Buckeyes in State College.

But lost in the shuffle of the dramatic win, it may have also marked the turning point in the season of fifth-year opposite hitter John Kerr.

The graduation of All-American opposite hitter Cal Fisher was one of the many massive voids that this year’s Penn State team was forced to fill entering the season. Kerr was an easy choice to fill the spot, as he had already done so when Fisher had been injured for part of last season and had four years under the tutelage of head coach Mark Pavlik to rely on.

Kerr started the season off with a bang, recording a gaudy stat line against Lewis on Jan. 6. Kerr posted a remarkable 31 kills in Penn State’s second match of the season to help lead the Nittany Lions to a five-set victory.

But Penn State’s new starting opposite hitter ran into a series of speed bumps as January progressed. A rough match against the defending champion UCLA Bruins on Jan. 20 saw Kerr get removed from the lineup in the second set with just five kills to his name.

Then, in that second match against the Buckeyes, Kerr registered six kills and just as many errors before being pulled in the third set in favor of senior Will Kuhns, who came in off the bench and helped provide the Nittany Lions with the spark they needed for the dramatic comeback.

Kerr got back in the lineup but then was forced to miss time due to a knee injury suffered against Purdue Fort Wayne. He made his return just in time for the start of EIVA play against Princeton on Feb. 16, playing the first night of the series and racking up 11 kills in a Nittany Lion win.

The next weekend, Kerr was all systems go and racked up 14 and 13 kills, respectively, in two matches against NJIT.

The two NJIT matches started a streak of double-digit kills for Kerr that now stands at eight games. Perhaps more impressive is the fact that the fifth-year senior hasn’t hit less than .270 in a match over that entire span.

In Sunday’s match against the Red Flash, Kerr got off to a bit of a slow start. Kerr only recorded four kills over the first two sets, while Nathan Zini – the opposite hitter for Saint Francis – was dominant and seemed able to score at will.

With the Nittany Lions down 2-1 in the match after a Red Flash third set win, it was apparent that any potential comeback was going to ride on the shoulders of the Nittany Lions’ right-side hitter.

This time, he delivered.

Kerr helped keep the Nittany Lions afloat in a tight fourth set by putting three more kills onto his tally. In the match-deciding fifth set, Kerr went on a run, scoring three Nittany Lion points in a row via kills to help Penn State pull away to an eventual 15-7 win.

“[Kerr]’s learning right now that he’s 6-foot-7 and touches 11-foot-7, and I think he’s done a real good job of playing to that strength,” Pavlik said after Sunday’s win. “He’s gonna be in positions where everybody in the gym knows he’s getting the ball.”

As Penn State’s offense continues to take shape entering the stretch run of the season, one thing is becoming increasingly clear. No one is having much success slowing down John Kerr, whether they know he’s getting the ball or not.

Kasey Kreider is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email kmk6865@psu.edu.