UNIVERSITY PARK, Dad. – No. 9 Penn State Men’s Volleyball beat the No. 1 positioned group in the nation for the second time in four days as it brought down highest level Ohio State with a 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 17-15) switch clear Sunday at Rec Hall.

The Nittany Lions, who defeated the Buckeyes 3-1 in Columbus on Thursday, improved to 6-2 on the season. The Buckeyes dropped to 6-2.

Michael Valenzi was gigantic in the final set for Penn State, hitting .750 with six kills. He scored four straight Nittany Lions’ focuses to tie the match at 9-9, 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12. Toby Ezeonu followed with a kill to make it 13-12, giving Penn State its most memorable lead of the set since 4-3. The groups exchanged focuses from that point until it was 15-15. Owen Rose and Luke Snyder consolidated on an immense block for the Nittany Lions to go up 15-14, yet the Buckeyes responded with a kill by Justin Howard. The match was then clinched on back-to-back attack mistakes by the Buckeyes.

Valenzi hit .393 with 14 kills, six digs and three blocks for the match, while Michal Kowal finished with a career-high 15 kills on .344 hitting in addition to his three pros. Ezeonu joined the pair in twofold digits with 10 kills on .500 hitting. Ezeonu hit .500 with twofold digit kills in every one of the two successes over Ohio State this week.

Snyder had a breakout execution on his birthday. He took over setting obligations halfway through the third set and helped lead the Nittany Lions to the comeback, wrapping up with 23 helps, one pro and three blocks. Rose, who joined Snyder for that grip block in the fifth set, drove all players with six in the match.

Ryan Merk tallied a group high eight dives in the success. Will Kuhns contributed with five dives in addition to his four kills.

Jacob Pasteur, a first-group AVCA All-American and the ruling MIVA Player of the Year, missed Thursday’s match with Penn State because of a physical issue yet returned for Saturday’s contest at Rec Hall. He drove all players with 16 kills.

Penn State has won eight of the last nine matches against Ohio State to improve to 82-40-1 in the all-time series. One of the groups was positioned No. 1 in the nation in three of the beyond four gatherings.

The Nittany Lions played three straight matches against the No. 1 positioned group, including a misfortune to then-No. 1 UCLA last week in Austin, Texas. It is the initial time in program history that they kept two successes over the top-positioned group in a solitary season.

Set 1

Six players consolidated for 10 kills as the Buckeyes hit .500 in a 25-23 win in set one. Penn State battled back from a 22-19 deficiency to tie the score at 23-23. The Buckeyes shut the set with a kill by Justin Howard and a Penn State attack blunder.

Set 2

The Buckeyes hit .524 on their way to a 25-22 win in set two. Pasteur and Shane Wetzel had three kills each. It was close late again as Penn State got inside one at 23-22 on a help blunder. Ohio State scored the following two focuses on a Penn State administration blunder and a block by Wetzel and Cole Youthful to go up 2-0 in the match.

Set 3

Seven Penn State players consolidated for 14 kills, drove by Kowal with four on .667 hitting, in a 25-21 win in set three. Snyder took over at setter with the score tied at 12-12 and tallied six aids the set. The Nittany Lions went on a 4-0 run after he entered the match, getting a kill by Valenzi that was trailed by three Ohio State attack mistakes. The Buckeyes got as close as two at 19-17. The Nittany Lions responded with a 3-0 run that began with a triple block by Kuhns, Rose and Valenzi. Set point was eventually scored on an attack blunder by the Buckeyes.

Set 4

Penn State hit .391 and held Ohio State to .077 hitting as it attached the match with a 25-18 win in set four. Kowal had three kills, while Valenzi, Kuhns and Ezeonu contributed two each. The Nittany Lions tallied five blocks in the set. Rose was in on three of those blocks. Penn State pulled away with a 3-0 run that made the score 21-16. The run incorporated a block by Rose and John Kerr, as well as an expert by Kowal. They shut the set with a 3-0 run that was capped with a kill by Valenzi.

Set 5

Ohio State drove 8-6 as the groups switched sides, yet Valenzi helped Penn State stay up with his four-straight Penn State focuses that tied the score multiple times, the final one at 12-12. The Nittany Lions had chances at set point denied at 14-13 and 15-14. Back-to-back Ohio State attack blunders got the success for Penn State.

Career Highs

Michal Kowal – kills (15)
Luke Snyder – helps (23), digs (3), blocks (3)

Up Next

No. 9 Penn State heads to Indiana to play No. 15 Ball State on Friday and Purdue Stronghold Wayne on Saturday.