Sunday, January 26
University Park, Pa.
1:00 PM
USC
1-6
2
at
3
Penn State
4-2
1
2
3
4
5
F
USC
25
27
29
23
12
2
Penn State
23
29
27
25
15
3
Team Stats
USC
PSU
Kills
75
61
Errors
24
15
Attempts
134
124
Hitting %
.381
.371
Points
91.5
84.5
Assists
73
56
Aces
9
7
Blocks
7.5
16.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's Volleyball
Adam Flood
Photo by: Katie Chin
No. 10 Penn State Men's Volleyball Comes Back To Defeat USC On Second Day Of Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge
January 26, 2020 | Men's Volleyball, Features
Brett Wildman had 19 kills while hitting .486 to lead the No. 10-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team to a 23-25, 29-27, 27-29, 25-23, 15-12 comeback home win over unranked USC on Sunday (Jan. 26) on the second day of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in State College, Penn.
Penn State improved to 4-2 overall, while USC dropped its sixth straight match to fall to 1-6.
Earlier in the day in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge, No. 6 UCLA defeated Ohio State, 3-1. On Friday (Jan. 24) on the tourney's first day, both USC and UCLA were swept 3-0 by Ohio State and Penn State, respectively.
Kyle Gear led USC with 19 kills (hitting .375) against the Nittany Lions and added 7 digs. Freshmen outside hitters Michael O'Toole and Adam Flood made their first career starts, with O'Toole getting 14 kills and 6 digs and Flood getting 13 kills (hitting .458), 9 digs and 4 blocks. Vecas Lewin added 12 kills while hitting .611. Sam Lewis had 9 kills, Chris Hall had 6 digs and 4 blocks and Cole Paxson had 6 digs.
Calvin Mende had 17 kills (hitting .452) with 7 digs, 6 blocks and 3 aces for Penn State, Bobby Wilden had 11 kills (hitting .421) and Jason Donorovich had 9 kills (hitting .471) with 9 blocks.
USC hit .381 to Penn State's .371. The Trojans had more digs (39 to 32) and aces (9 to 7), but the Nittany Lions were stronger at the net (16.5 blocks to 7.5).
USC used a 3-point run early in the first set to go up 7-5 and the Trojans were leading 22-19 when Penn State scored 4 unanswered points to move ahead 23-22, but Troy then tallied the set's final 3 points while hitting .444. USC jumped out to a 5-2 edge in the second set and held the lead until the Nittany Lions tied it at 17-17, then PSU moved ahead 23-20 before USC knotted it at 24-24 and the Trojans then moved ahead 27-26 but Penn State scored the next 3 points to capture the set while hitting .485 and getting 4 blocks. The Trojans fell behind 9-5 in the third set before tying it at 13-13 and the set stayed tight the rest of the way until USC got the final 2 points while hitting .423 and getting 4 blocks. USC came back from an 8-6 deficit in the fourth set by scoring 7 of the next 8 points to build a 13-9 lead, but soon after with Troy up 16-15 the Nittany Lions scored 6 of the next 8 points to forge a 21-18 lead and they held off the Trojans, who hit .500 in the set. USC held a 10-8 lead in the fifth set, but Penn State scored 7 of the last 9 points, including the final 3, to win the match.
USC now returns to Southern California to play a pair of non-conference matches, first visiting Cal State Northridge on Friday (Jan. 31) and then hosting No. 5 UC Irvine on Saturday (Feb. 1) in the USC North Gym. Both matches start at 7 p.m. PT.
Penn State improved to 4-2 overall, while USC dropped its sixth straight match to fall to 1-6.
Earlier in the day in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge, No. 6 UCLA defeated Ohio State, 3-1. On Friday (Jan. 24) on the tourney's first day, both USC and UCLA were swept 3-0 by Ohio State and Penn State, respectively.
Kyle Gear led USC with 19 kills (hitting .375) against the Nittany Lions and added 7 digs. Freshmen outside hitters Michael O'Toole and Adam Flood made their first career starts, with O'Toole getting 14 kills and 6 digs and Flood getting 13 kills (hitting .458), 9 digs and 4 blocks. Vecas Lewin added 12 kills while hitting .611. Sam Lewis had 9 kills, Chris Hall had 6 digs and 4 blocks and Cole Paxson had 6 digs.
Calvin Mende had 17 kills (hitting .452) with 7 digs, 6 blocks and 3 aces for Penn State, Bobby Wilden had 11 kills (hitting .421) and Jason Donorovich had 9 kills (hitting .471) with 9 blocks.
USC hit .381 to Penn State's .371. The Trojans had more digs (39 to 32) and aces (9 to 7), but the Nittany Lions were stronger at the net (16.5 blocks to 7.5).
USC used a 3-point run early in the first set to go up 7-5 and the Trojans were leading 22-19 when Penn State scored 4 unanswered points to move ahead 23-22, but Troy then tallied the set's final 3 points while hitting .444. USC jumped out to a 5-2 edge in the second set and held the lead until the Nittany Lions tied it at 17-17, then PSU moved ahead 23-20 before USC knotted it at 24-24 and the Trojans then moved ahead 27-26 but Penn State scored the next 3 points to capture the set while hitting .485 and getting 4 blocks. The Trojans fell behind 9-5 in the third set before tying it at 13-13 and the set stayed tight the rest of the way until USC got the final 2 points while hitting .423 and getting 4 blocks. USC came back from an 8-6 deficit in the fourth set by scoring 7 of the next 8 points to build a 13-9 lead, but soon after with Troy up 16-15 the Nittany Lions scored 6 of the next 8 points to forge a 21-18 lead and they held off the Trojans, who hit .500 in the set. USC held a 10-8 lead in the fifth set, but Penn State scored 7 of the last 9 points, including the final 3, to win the match.
USC now returns to Southern California to play a pair of non-conference matches, first visiting Cal State Northridge on Friday (Jan. 31) and then hosting No. 5 UC Irvine on Saturday (Feb. 1) in the USC North Gym. Both matches start at 7 p.m. PT.
Men's Volleyball - USC 1, Pepperdine 3: Highlights (04/26/25)
Saturday, April 26
Men's Volleyball - USC 3, Stanford 1: Highlights (04/25/25)
Friday, April 25
Men's Volleyball - USC 3, UCLA 0: Highlights (04/19/25)
Saturday, April 19
Men's Volleyball - USC 2, UCLA 3: Highlights (04/17/25)
Thursday, April 17
