FAIRFIELD, Conn. – It was a better effort by the Sacred Heart University men's volleyball team against No. 12 Penn State, but the visitors had too much firepower. The Nittany Lions took Sunday's contest 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 25-19).

Records:
#12 Penn State: 8-2, 5-1 EIVA
Sacred Heart: 0-4, 0-4 EIVA

Top Performers:
Nicholas Palluzzi (SHU): 9 kills, 3 blocks
Shawn Tischler (SHU): 10 kills, 7 digs 
Michael Valenzi (PSU): 17 kills, 8 digs.

Up Next:
Sacred Heart goes on the road next week to face the University of Charleston, February 26-27.

Of Note:
Sacred Heart did a better job slowing down the Penn State offense as the Nittany Lions were held to a .252 hitting percentage, after .441 on Saturday, while SHU hit .070. The Pioneers had a 48-42 margin in digs, but Penn State produced 13 aces to just a half dozen by the hosts.

A solo block by Carlos Terrassa gave the Pioneers a 12-10 lead in the opening set. Penn State answered with a 5-1 run to jump out to a 20-16 advantage. The Nittany Lions used a 5-1 run for a 10-5 advantage in the second frame that it would not relinquish. 

In the third set, Sacred Heart built a 13-6 lead on Nicholas Palluzzi's kill and the margin grew to 17-8 on Terrassa's winner. Penn State worked its way back to 24-23 but another Palluzzi kill gave SHU the set. In the fourth set, Terrassa put SHU up 8-3, but PSU went on a 5-0 run to tie the set then pulled away with an 8-3 stretch.

Leading the Sacred Heart attack was senior Shawn Tischler with 10 kills and seven digs. Palluzzi followed with nine kills. Libero Timothy McIntosh produced a match-high 18 digs and setter Tyler Kwinta handed out 26 assists.

Producing a match-high 17 kills was PSU's Michael Valenzi and Cal Fisher was next at nine. Setter Cole Bogner dished out 43 assists.