Penn State men's volleyball outlasts Saint Francis 3-2 in Rec Hall

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — After having lost to two ranked opponents in USC and UCLA, the Penn State Nittany Lions men’s volleyball team gutted out a hard-fought win over Saint Francis, 3-2 in the first match of a two-match home-and-home series. John Kerr led Penn State with 18 kills while Toby Ezeonu led the Nittany Lions with five blocks in the victory.

Going into Sunday afternoon, the Nittany Lions were primed for another win over the Red Flash from Loretto, Pa.

After a back-and-forth start to the first set, Penn State found a steady rhythm, going on a five-point scoring run that extended the PSU lead to 17-9.

The Nittany Lions would not look back as Michael Valenzi, Will Kuhns, Michael Schwob and Kerr would tack on kills for the Nittany Lions, paired with a big-time service ace from Toby Ezeonu.

A Saint Francis service error ultimately gave the Nittany Lions the 25-15 win in the first set.

The second set reaped more success for Saint Francis, as the Red Flash consistently held onto the lead midway through the set.

Service errors in the second set hindered the Penn State offense as Saint Francis capitalized with a staggering 16 kills in the set. The Red Flash would prevail 25-23 as a late Penn State rally proved to be too little, too late.

The momentum continued into the third set for the Red Flash, opening with a 4-0 Saint Francis rally which came to a close on a Nathan Zini service error.

It would only be a sign of things to come as Saint Francis powered through the set, at one point extending to their largest lead of the afternoon at eight points. Again, the Red Flash closed out the set with double-digit kills at 13.

The Nittany Lions responded and started off the fourth set with a 5-0 rally that was broken by a Zini kill.

However, Saint Francis proved that when they were down, they certainly were not out. The Red Flash overcame what was a six-point deficit and took the lead over the Nittany Lions on a Ryan Parker kill at 15-14. Penn State would regroup and pull out a 25-22 win in the fourth set. The rally was powered by kills from Owen Rose, Valenzi, Kerr and Ezeonu sending the match to a deciding fifth set.

John Kerr would start the scoring for Penn State in the fifth set with a kill.

Saint Francis would not tie or take the lead in the final set as Penn State closed out the match with a massive Toby Ezeonu block that ultimately gave Penn State a dominant 15-7 win in the fifth set and a three set to two win overall.

Despite falling to the Nittany Lions, Saint Francis tallied more kills (53) than Penn State (45).

Zini of Saint Francis finished as the match leader in kills with 23 while Kerr led the way for the Nittany Lions with 16. Parker of Saint Francis was the match’s hitting leader at .625 while Valenzi led for the Nittany Lions at .429.

With the win, the tenth-ranked Nittany Lions improved to 54-5 all-time against Saint Francis.

Penn State improved to 15-6 with the win while Saint Francis fell to 12-8.

The Nittany Lions will move on to host an EIVA opponent in Harvard on Friday, March 29 in a “Flashback Friday” theme night.

Isaac Hallock is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email idh5055@psu.edu