Penn State men's Volleyball sweeps first game against Sacred Heart in weekend series

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - Penn State men’s volleyball looked to rebound Friday night after suffering a tough loss in their senior day match to Charleston in four sets.

The Nittany Lions entered the contest with an overall 6-14 record and an even 3-3 in conference play.

Sacred Heart entered the matchup holding a 6-13 record but a winless 0-8 conference mark in EIVA play.

Penn State has three series remaining on their season and two of them, including the two game set with Sacred Heart, take place in Happy Valley.

The blue and white have been challenged a lot this season playing in three tournaments, going a combined 0-7 in those matchups.

Conference play has been no easier for Penn State. The last time they lost more than three conference games in a season was back in 2019 when they lost four.
Head coach Mark Pavlik has established a period of excellence with the team and the final stretch began at South Gym on Friday.

Through almost the midway point of the first Penn State held an early 12-9 advantage in the set with Matthew Luoma leading the charge adding two kills early on.

Sacred Heart’s Aleksa Mandic led his team with three kills through the midway point of the first set.

It was a tight first set between the two squads but the Nittany Lions were able to pull ahead in the end winning set one, 25-22.

Penn State got contributions from six different players in the kill department, helping aid their versatility for the rest of the match.

In the second set Sacred Heart had to get chippy to try and steal a set against the Nittany Lions and to start out they ballooned to an early 10-7 lead.

That lead would not last long as Penn State stormed back on a 4-0 run of their own to take the 11-10 lead forcing Sacred Heart to use a timeout.

It was dominant blocking by Matthew Luoma and brilliant serves by Will Kuhns that helped set up the Nittany Lions for their run.

Penn State held on to a commanding lead for a good chunk of the set, up until right around the end when Sacred Heart was able to claw back and make it as close as a 22-19 set.

The Nittany Lions took care of business with Sean Harvey leading the team in kills, with six, after two sets of play.

In the third set it was mostly back and forth through the entire set. Both teams traded points left and right as the set winded down.

Penn State was able to hold on to a comfortable lead for the bulk of the set that resulted in the 25-20 set three victory for a clean sweep in game one of their series against Sacred Heart.

Sean Harvey stole the show for Penn State after the first set ending with a team leading 11 kills, three blocks and six digs.

The Nittany Lions will battle Sacred Heart once again tomorrow from South Gym at 3 P.M.

Giustino Racchini is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him please email him at gar5448@psu.edu.