UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Sacred Heart men's volleyball team returned to Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play on Friday night at Penn State, falling to the #9 Nittany Lions 3-1 (15-25, 29-27, 25-21, 25-18) at Rec Hall.

Records

SHU – 2-5, 0-2 EIVA

Penn State – 7-2, 2-0 EIVA

First Set: Penn State 25-15

- The Nittany Lions opened the set on an 8-2 run, getting three kills from Aidan Albrecht.

- SHU got back within two at 9-7 on back-to-back kills by Rob Chatterton and Emerson Waumans. The Pioneers got within one at 10-9 when setter Noah Ricchetti called his own number for a kill.

- Penn State responded by taking 10 of the next 12 points to take a 20-11 lead. Albrecht put down another three kills during that stretch.

- The Nittany Lions hit .636 in the opening set, putting in 15 kills on 22 attempts with just one error.

Second Set: SHU 29-27

- The two teams traded points eight times in the first 18 points, playing to a 9-9 tie. Penn State took an 11-9 lead on a Kevin Gear kill and Albrecht service ace.

- SHU battled back to tie the set 15-15 on a kill by Chatterton. The Pioneers took their first lead of the set at 19-18, when a Taylor Bloomquist kill capped a 3-0 SHU run.

- SHU fought off two set points to get to 25-25. Ricchetti then hit an ace to give the Pioneers their first set point of the match at 26-25.

- With the set tied at 27-27, a Bloomquist kill and a block by Chatterton and Waumans gave SHU the set 29-27.

- The Pioneers had 3.5 blocks in the second, and were blocked only once by the Nittany Lions.

Third Set: Penn State 25-21

- Penn State used a 7-2 run, capped off by a block from Albrecht and Gear, to go up 7-3 early.

- Trailing 16-10, the Pioneers went on a 5-1 run punctuated by a Bloomquist kill to get within two at 17-15.

- The two sides traded points up to 23-21, when a SHU service error and attack error gave Penn State the 25-21 win and a two sets to one advantage.

- SHU hit just .100 in the set as Penn State had 3.5 blocks.

Fourth Set: Penn State 25-18

- Despite falling behind early, SHU got within two points at 6-4 on a kill by Waumans.

- A Matthew McLaren ace put Penn State ahead 11-6 and prompted a Pioneers timeout.

- SHU would only be as close as five points the rest of the way.

- Waumans had four of his 10 kills on the night in the final set.

Key Stats and Notes

- Waumans led SHU with 10 kills, adding four blocks and four digs.

- Bloomquist hit .500 with seven kills and four blocks.

- Ricchetti had 32 assists with six digs.

- SHU reached double-digit blocks for the third time this season with 11.5.

- Albrecht and Calvin Mende each had a match-high 14 kills for Penn State.

Next Match

SHU is back in action on Saturday night at Saint Francis U. First Serve is at 7 p.m.