Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart men's volleyball team continued its momentum from last night's sweep of 15th ranked Saint Francis U by taking the first set from seventh ranked Penn State on Saturday night, only to fall in four in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action at the William H. Pitt Center. Now 1-8 on the season and 1-1 in EIVA play, five of the Pioneers' losses have come to ranked foes.
Taking the first set 25-21, Sacred Heart battled in sets two and three before eventually being edged by scores of 25-22 and 25-23. The fourth set was all Penn State, as the Nittany Lions hit a match-high .526 in the set while limiting the Pioneers' to .000 percent hitting. Trailing 5-3 early, PSU rattled off five straight points and would lead the rest of the way. A Jalen Penrose service ace for a 13-7 lead capped a 10-3 run and SHU would get no closer than five the remainder of the set.
Penn State's (8-2, 3-0 EIVA) biggest advantage came in hitting percentage, outhitting Sacred Heart .336 to .248. The Nittany Lions also had three more blocks than the Pioneers, 9.5-6.5, and six more kills, 54-48. PSU had the slight edge in digs, 27-26.
Chris Delucie and Austin Arcala led the match with 15 and 14 kills, respectively. DeLucie hit .393 and was one kill shy of a career-high, while Arcala teamed with Doug Dzema to lead Sacred Heart with 2.5 blocks. Michael Comens added 13 kills. Eduardo Zardo had 38 assists and Joshua Ayzenberg produced six digs to lead the Pioneers in the respective statistical category.
On the other side of the net it was Penrose pacing PSU with 13 kills on .409 hitting. Matthew McLaren and Chris Nugent each chipped in with 12. Taylor Hammond led the match with 48 assists, as did Royce Clemons with eight digs.
The final game of a four-game homestand, SHU returns to the road to continue EIVA action with two matches at Charleston (W.V.) next Friday and Saturday.
How it Happened
- First Set- Comens helped Sacred Heart jump on Penn State, recording three kills in the first five points for an early 4-1 lead. That lead reached as high as 13-5 on a PSU error before the Nittany Lions slowly started creeping back with four of the next five points. Back-to-back kills from Dzema and DeLucie to go up 18-11 looked to reestablish a comfortable cushion, but this time Penn State came back with five unanswered all on the errors. The Pioneers buckled down from there, going on a 4-1 flurry capped by Arcala service ace to make the score 22-17.
- Second Set- The set stayed within three points until a Sacred Heart error capped a 4-1 run to put Penn State up 17-13. The Pioneers clawed back to get as close as two points twice, the second time when Zardo recorded a kill to make the score 19-17. PSU responded with two straight points though with a Penrose kill reestablishing a four-point lead, and the Pioneers could not pull any closer than three.
- Third Set- Trailing by four, 16-12, after a service error, Sacred Heart slowly made its way back into the set. Comens brought the Pioneers within one, 19-18, on a kill only to have Penn State score the next two points to push the advantage back to three. SHU answered by coming back to tie it for the first time since 8-8 at 22-22 when a Nittany Lion error followed a DeLucie kill. PSU buckled down for three of the final points though, starting with Kevin Gear kill and ending with one from Matthew McLaren.
