No. 15 Penn State M. Volleyball Defeats No. 9 Loyola, Struggles against Lewis
No. 15 Penn State M. Volleyball (3-3) hosted both No. 9 Loyola and Lewis this past Thursday and Friday as the Lions’ first home games of the season.
Thursday’s game against Loyola was held in Rec Hall in front of a crowd of about 700 Nittany Lion fans eager to see the team come away with a win.
Penn State did not disappoint, as the tense, five-set game saw lots of back-and-forth scoring and shifts in momentum.
It was early season standouts Chris Nugent (Fair Lawn, N.J.), Calvin Mende (Redlands, Calif.), and Jalen Penrose (Cambridge, Mass.) who helped propel Penn State to success against Loyola.
Penn State claimed the first, third, and fifth sets, but lost by nearly 10 points in the second and fourth sets.
It was Matt Callaway (Wheaton, Ill.) and Nugent who solidified the Lions’ lead in the fifth set to ultimately grant the Blue and White a 3-2 win against top-ranked Loyola.
Friday night proved to be a tough matchup for Penn State, who lost to Lewis in five sets to a crowd of 760 at Rec Hall.
Nugent and Lee Smith (Sewickley, Pa.) contributed 15 and 12 kills, respectively, to keep Penn State afloat.
Despite a substantial third and fourth set win, Penn State couldn’t shake Lewis in the fifth set, and the Lions dropped it, 15-9.
Luke Braswell (Manchester, Pa.) and Royce Clemens (York, Pa.) added a total of 22 digs for the Lions as well.
“We’re never out of a match,” said Head Coach Mark Pavlik of the two games. “We’re looking for a quit threshold… What are we doing, how far, and how hard can we keep pushing our opponents until they kind of throw up their hands, and say we just can't match them.”
Penn State has a chance to claim a huge victory this coming week as the team heads to Columbus, OH to face No. 1 Ohio State on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Thursday’s game against Loyola was held in Rec Hall in front of a crowd of about 700 Nittany Lion fans eager to see the team come away with a win.
Penn State did not disappoint, as the tense, five-set game saw lots of back-and-forth scoring and shifts in momentum.
It was early season standouts Chris Nugent (Fair Lawn, N.J.), Calvin Mende (Redlands, Calif.), and Jalen Penrose (Cambridge, Mass.) who helped propel Penn State to success against Loyola.
Penn State claimed the first, third, and fifth sets, but lost by nearly 10 points in the second and fourth sets.
It was Matt Callaway (Wheaton, Ill.) and Nugent who solidified the Lions’ lead in the fifth set to ultimately grant the Blue and White a 3-2 win against top-ranked Loyola.
Friday night proved to be a tough matchup for Penn State, who lost to Lewis in five sets to a crowd of 760 at Rec Hall.
Nugent and Lee Smith (Sewickley, Pa.) contributed 15 and 12 kills, respectively, to keep Penn State afloat.
Despite a substantial third and fourth set win, Penn State couldn’t shake Lewis in the fifth set, and the Lions dropped it, 15-9.
Luke Braswell (Manchester, Pa.) and Royce Clemens (York, Pa.) added a total of 22 digs for the Lions as well.
“We’re never out of a match,” said Head Coach Mark Pavlik of the two games. “We’re looking for a quit threshold… What are we doing, how far, and how hard can we keep pushing our opponents until they kind of throw up their hands, and say we just can't match them.”
Penn State has a chance to claim a huge victory this coming week as the team heads to Columbus, OH to face No. 1 Ohio State on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
