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Penn State Nittany Lions outlast George Mason in five sets

FAIRFAX, Va. — It came down to grit and sheer determination on Saturday (April 7) evening inside the Recreation Athletic Complex, as the Penn State men’s volleyball program captured a 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-12) decision at EIVA-leading George Mason in front of a sold-out crowd.

Neither team was efficient on the attack as Penn State (14-9, 9-3 EIVA) was limited to just a .069 hitting percentage, but George Mason (15-11, 11-1 EIVA) was not much better at .174. It came down to the service line and net play, as the Nittany Lions held the edge in both categories. Penn State notched 13 aces to just 15 errors, while George Mason had only four aces compared to 24 service missteps. At the net, Penn State held the slight 14.5-13.0 edge in blocking, including three key blocks late in the fifth set.

The blocking assists (21) and total blocks (14.5) numbers each set team highs this season (all matches) and the solo block (four) and service ace tallies both tied team bests on the year (all matches).

The two teams worked their way to easy victories in the opening two sets to sit tied at 1-1, before playing a pair of back-and-forth sets in the third and fourth saw it even through four sets. The fifth set saw seven ties and four lead changes, the final coming on a Kevin Gear (Rochester, N.Y.) kill to make it 9-8 in favor of the Blue and White. A Jalen Penrose (Cambridge, Mass.) kill was squeezed in between three Penn State blocks to push the lead to 13-8. After two points by GMU, Penrose struck again and, following two more Patriot points, the 24th service error of the night for George Mason gave Penn State the win.

Penrose did a little bit of everything for the Nittany Lions, totaling nine kills, seven service aces, five blocks — one solo — and adding three digs. The seven service aces marked the seventh time this season that the redshirt-senior spun four-or-more aces and moved him into No. 5 on the single-season aces chart at Penn State.

In the match, Penrose passed Max Holt (48; 2008) and Will Price (49; 2010 & 51; 2009) to jump into No. 5 all-time in single season aces at Penn State with 54 on the year.

Redshirt-junior Matthew McLaren (Aurora, Colo.) led the Nittany Lions with 11 kills, while redshirt-senior Aidan Albrecht (Old Bridge, N.J.) added nine kills and a season-high 10 digs. Redshirt-sophomore Luke Braswell (Manchester, Pa.) handed out 37 assists to go along with seven dis, three blocks and two kills.

Redshirt-sophomore Jason Donorovich (Lockport, N.Y.) posted a match and career-high 10 blocks — including a career-high-tying two solo — with four kills. He posted two kills and three blocks — including one solo — in the fifth set alone. The double-digit block match was the first for a Penn Stater this season and first since Gear (11) and Albrecht (10) both reached double-figures in blcoks on March 3, 2017 at UC Santa Barbara.

George Mason’s Kyle Barnes led all attackers with 12 kills, while Christian Malias (11) and Hayden Wagner (10) joined him in double-digits.

Difference Makers

Penn State

-MB Jalen Penrose — Did a bit of everything with nine kills, seven service aces and five blocks. Added three digs.

-OH Matthew McLaren — Posted 11 kills with five digs, three blocks and two service aces.

-OH Aidan Albrecht — Missed a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs. Added two each of service aces and blocks.

-MB Jason Donorovich — Posted Penn State’s first double-digit block match since mMarch 2017 with 10 blocks. Added four kills.

-S Luke Braswell — Handed out 37 assists, added two kills, three blocks and seven digs.

-Serving Tough — Penn State tied a season-high with 13 aces.

-ROOF — Penn State posted a season-high 14.5 total blocks on a season-high 21 blocking assists and season-high-tying four solo blocks.

George Mason

-OH Kyle Barnes — Totaled a match-high 12 kills.

-OH Christian Malias — Had 11 kills and three blocks.

-OPP Hayden Wagner — Notched 10 kills, two service aces, six digs and seven blocks in the match.

-Giving Away Points — George Mason committed 26 attacking errors, posted 24 service errors and had two blocking errors to account for 52 Penn State points.

First Set

Penn State 25,

at George Mason 17

Penn State leads 1-0

Second Set

Tied 1-1

Third Set

Penn State 25,

at George Mason 21

Penn State leads 2-1

Fourth Set

Tied 2-2

Fifth Set

Penn State 15,

at George Mason 12

Penn State wins 3-2

Up Next:

Penn State will host the final two matches of the regular season, with Princeton coming to town.

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