Match Stats
- No. 13 Penn State 3, Charleston 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-13)
- Penn State moves to 18-10, 10-3 EIVA; Charleston falls to 12-16, 0-13 EIVA
- University Park, Pennsylvania
- Attendance: 688
- Box Score
No. 13 Penn State clinched at least a share of the EIVA title with a sweep of Charleston (W.V.) Friday night. The Nittany Lions cruised to a 2516, 25-18, 25-13 win to claim the No. 1 seed in the EIVA Tournament, which begins next weekend, as well as their 19th-straight EIVA regular season title.
Penn State hit at a .333 clip and limited Charleston to a .015 effort. The Nittany Lions also managed seven blocks to just five for Golden Eagles. PSU served up 10 aces, while allowing none.
Redshirt junior outside hitter Aidan Albrecht led the way for the PSU with 11 kills on a .421 hitting percentage. Redshirt junior middle blocker Kevin Gear added six kills on a .444 hitting effort. Senior outside Chris Nugent, redshirt freshman opposite Calvin Mende and redshirt freshman middle Jason Donorovich chipped in five kills apiece. Nugent also added a team-best three aces. Defensively, setter Luke Braswell pulled up a team-leading eight digs.
Sophomore opposite Byron Hurd led Charleston with 12 of the team’s 20 kills for the match. He also was the one of just two Golden Eagles with a positive hitting percentage, checking in at .267. Junior outside Ryan Santos and junior setter Anthony Rivera added three kills apiece, while sophomore middle Eugene Stuart downed three to round out the offense. Rivera hit .750 and pulled up a team-best five digs, while Stuart put up a team-best four blocks.
Down 6-5 early in Set 1, Penn State rattled off five of the next six points, including a kill and two blocks by Matt Callaway to go up 10-7. Charleston tied it up at 10 and 11, but three Golden Eagle errors and a pair of Nugent aces pushed PSU ahead 17-11. Charleston would get no closer than four the rest of the way as the Nittany Lions closed out the set with a 7-2 run.
The teams split the first 10 points of Set 2. Penn State broke away with a 5-0 run, including a kill and an ace by Mende. A kill by Albrecht put PSU up 15-9 at the midway point. Charleston narrowed the gap to four at 22-18 on a block by Rivera and Stuart, but Penn State closed out the set with three straight points, a kill apiece by Nugent and Gear and a block by the duo.
Charleston took an early 5-4 lead in Set 3. Penn State scored four straight to take the lead. Up two at 9-7, the Nittany Lions broke away with an 8-1 run, including two Jalen Penrose aces and two kills by Albrecht. PSU sealed the win, scoring five of the final six points, including a pair of Braswell aces.
Watch video of the match here.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Penn State Athletics
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 13 Penn State (18-10, 10-3) took care of Charleston (WV) 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 25-13) Friday night at Rec Hall in a conference clinching match.
“I thought our middle(s) (Blockers) did an outstanding job, that was part of the game plan,” said head coach Mark Pavlik.
“I don’t think this will rank up there with some of our best performances but I think it was a lunch pail performance, workman like, let’s get in do what we need to do to get the job done and that’s exactly what we needed tonight.”
A kill from Jason Donorovich sealed the 3-0 win over Charleston (WV) and clinched a 19th-consecutive EIVA regular season title for the Nittany Lions.
Donorovich, the Mike Anderson Player of the Match, finished with a line of five kills hitting .625 while adding two blocks and an assist on the night.
Luke Braswell led Penn State in assist with 34 as well as recording a team-high eight digs.
Jalen Penrose and Chris Nugent led the team behind the service line racking up three service aces apiece as the Nittany Lions finished with a team total of 10.
Five Nittany Lions tied for a team led in blocks posting two apiece while Penn State finished with seven team blocks.
Penn State held Charleston (WV) (12-16, 0-13) to a .015 hitting percentage allowing only 20 kills for the Golden Eagles the entire match.
In the all-time series between Penn State and Charleston (WV), the Golden Eagles have led a set for exactly two points with the second occasion coming in tonight’s 3-0 win as Charleston (WV) took the opening point of the second set before falling 25-18.
The Nittany Lions return to action tomorrow night as they host George Mason in their regular season finale Apr. 15 at 7 p.m. ET. Tomorrow’s match against the Patriots will be Senior Night as the Nittany Lions honor their Seniors Chris Nugent and Matt Callaway.
For more on Nittany Lion men’s volleyball, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateMVBall
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