Penn State Men’s Volleyball Takes Down Ohio State, Pushes Win Streak to 11
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Rec Hall was filled with white on Sunday afternoon as No. 4 Penn State faced off against No. 13 Ohio State for the second time this week.
The first matchup resulted in a 3-0 sweep for the Nittany Lions and apart from a small hiccup from the Nittany Lions, Sunday was much of the same dominance behind a balanced attack from Penn State.
The Nittany Lions didn’t miss a step as they took care of business in the first set, 25-20. Three separate players had four or more kills in the first set, with Wildman leading the way with five.
The Nittany Lions were also winners of two challenges in the first set, which flipped a couple of key points their way.
The second set was much closer and both teams were neck and neck the whole way. In the end, Penn State was able to edge out the Buckeyes, 25-21.
Wildman stayed consistent at the net for the Nittany Lions, but it was his serving from the backline that ultimately extended Penn States' lead late in the second set.
The third set favored the Buckeyes early, as they jumped out to a 9-5 lead, but a handful of service errors allowed the Nittany Lions to hang in the set.
Penn State fought to bring the set back to 13-12, but Ohio State regained control and extended its lead to 19-15 shortly after.
The Buckeyes were able to hold off the Nittany Lions the rest of the way and steal a set at Rec Hall and force a fourth set, winning 25-23.
Penn State wasted no time responding in set No. 4, getting out to a 7-1 lead early.
Penn State dominated the entirety of the set and made quick work of the Buckeyes. Led by a handful of powerful kills from Wildman, Cal Fisher and Toby Ezeonu, the Nittany Lions took the fourth set 25-15 to finish off the match in dominating fashion.
Coach Mark Pavlik wasn’t surprised by the response of his team in the fourth set.
“It was pretty much what we expected, once we got that lead we just sided out to 25,” Pavlik said. “One point I looked at the scoreboard and knew we wouldn’t get outscored 16-8, we are just too good offensively and our guys made sure of that.”
Penn State has now won 11 matches in a row, but the players aren’t letting it get to their heads. Senior middle blocker Sam Marsh spoke to the team's mentality each and every game during the streak.
“It shows how non-complacent we’ve been. We go into every game the same and treat them all the same way,” Marsh said.
Marsh finished the game with four service aces, while Wildman led the team with 17 kills on the day.
Penn State improved to 15-3 on the year and sits at 8-0 in conference play. The Nittany Lions will travel to Princeton on Friday as they look to continue to add to their winning streak.
Charlie Knezevic is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email Charlieknez@gmail.com.
