Penn State Men’s Volleyball Defeats St. Francis Brooklyn on Senior Night

Story posted April 9, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Jacob Cheris

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions are in the latter half of their regular season. Friday’s match marked the start of the final homestand of the season.

The regular season EIVA champions won their 17th straight game 3-0, which is the longest active streak in the EIVA.  This is also the first time since 2015 that the Nittany Lions have won 17 straight.

While the storyline was Penn State’s offense dominating the match, it was also senior night at Rec Hall. Canyon Tuman and Will Bantle were recognized in front of the home fans.

Tuman set career-highs in digs and blocks with three in Friday’s victory.  Bantle also had 10 digs.

The powerhouse offense of the Nittany Lions was too much for the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers in the first set. Penn State moved the ball very quickly and it opened up the middle of the floor for easy kills.

Penn State had two 4-0 scoring runs in the first set and eventually won the set 25-12.

“I think anytime you get into those types of matches, especially at home, you then want to make sure that everybody understands, hey, how we can play even better,” coach Mark Pavlik said. “I thought we did a nice job of creating point-scoring opportunities. I think we were on their hitters that we knew we had to slow down.”

Brett Wildman finished the night off with 13 kills, and Cal Fisher had 10.  Fisher also had five service aces.  This was Wildman’s third straight 10-plus kill match. The Virginia native is one of a handful of seniors that are coming back for a fifth season.

“I think that's what makes collegiate athletics so special. You have them for a small amount of time and you get a chance to see their growth and not only as athletes but as people too,” Pavlik said. “Every year is different no matter how much you want it to remain the same.”

The second set was a lot closer. There were two lead changes and Penn State could not keep the offensive pressure consistently. The Terriers started to claw back bringing the set to 16-15, but that was the closest the set would get as the Nittany Lions took that one 25-21.

The third set had a lot of unforced errors by St. Francis Brooklyn. The Terriers had five of them in the final frame and it gave the Nittany Lions a 25-17 set win.

The Nittany Lions will play their final regular-season home game on Saturday against the NJIT Highlanders. Penn State has not lost a match at home and will look to go a perfect 15-0 against the EIVA.

Jacob Cheris is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jacobcheris19@gmail.com