UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. – FDU Men's volleyball headed to Happy Valley to play #9 Penn State earlier today. In their first ever matchup, the Nittany Lions were able to take down the Knights 3-1.
Set one began with an aggressive start for the Knights, courtesy of a kill by senior
Santiago La Jara. Both Penn State and FDU saw unforced errors early in the match, resulting in a close point by point start. The Knights finally took the lead for a brief two points, thanks to a timely block and kill by junior
Mihajlo Rodic. The Nittany Lions were able to return the deficit and went on a 5-2 run to take the set 25-21.
Set two was nothing but grit from the Knights, as they took the set victory with an incredible 34-32 score. The Knights totaled 16 kills on the set and were led by sophomore
Jamal Ellis Carballo who tallied six of those. Junior
Grady Hoffman was dominate defensively, with only one reception error and five digs. The end of the set was back and forth between the Nittany Lions and FDU, heavily influenced by service errors from both teams. The burgundy and blue were able to pull ahead with Rodic serving, as Penn State committed back-to-back attack errors.
The final two sets saw the Knights plagued with unforced errors, tallying 15 attacking mistakes. In set three, Penn State was in control of the match from start to finish, totaling 15 kills for a hitting clip of .400. The Knights were unable to respond to the hot hitting Nittany Lions, losing 16-25. Able to bounce back for set four, the burgundy and blue showed a stronger offensive performance with 10 kills and just two errors for a hitting percentage of .333. The improvement was not enough to silence Penn State, as they went on a 5-1 run at the end of the match to win 25-21.
Offensively, the Knights were led by
Jamal Ellis Carballo who tallied 15 kills and nine errors for a hitting clip of .182. Senior
Ethan Young was close behind with 12 kills, five digs and two blocks. Coming up clutch for FDU on multiple occasions, Rodic also had a strong night with four blocks, four kills and zero attack errors.
The Knights return to action on February 17
th at home against 18
th ranked George Mason. The match takes place at 7 p.m. in the Bogota Savings Bank Center in Hackensack, N.J..
