Penn State men’s volleyball falls to No. 1 Long Beach State

The Penn State men’s volleyball team welcomed No. 1 Long Beach State to Rec Hall Saturday night, but the firepower of the nation’s top team proved too much to handle in a 3-1 loss.

The Nittany Lions fought hard all night but fell 25-20, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair until the 49ers made a mid-set 4-0 run which the Nittany Lions (12-4) could not recover from.

The second set was competitive from the start. The set produced 15 tie scores and eight lead changes. The Nittany Lions rallied behind Aidan Albrecht’s seven kills in the set to even the match 1-1.

The 49ers came out strong in the third set, applying pressure early and often. The Nittany Lions failed to respond, leading to Long Beach State’s decisive 25-15 win.

“The third set was an accumulation of everything that can go wrong does go wrong,” said Penn State coach Mark Pavlik.

With their backs against the wall, the Nittany Lions came out strong in the fourth set, which saw 12 ties and two lead changes. With the teams knotted 23-23, the 49ers scored two straight points to end the match.

Chris Nugent led the way for the Nittany Lions with 16 kills, 5 digs and a block. Albrecht posted 15 kills on .385 hitting for Penn State.

The 49ers were led by TJ DeFalco, who tallied 21 kills on .410 hitting, 10 digs and five blocks. DeFalco dominated the match at times to help preserve the win.

Long Beach State hit .355 to the Nittany Lions’ .206. The 49ers also held an 18-10 blocking advantage and posted a 55-53 kill margin, but the Nittany Lions notched a dig advantage of 45-33.

“They just played big-boy volleyball longer than we did,” Pavlik said. “But when we play at the level we are capable of, we can be as good as they are and we were at times.”

The Nittany Lions will look to rebound March 18, when they host St. Francis at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Penn State men’s volleyball falls to No. 1 Long Beach State."