UNIVERSITY PARK, Penn.- The Golden Eagle Men's Volleyball team fell at the hands of fifth ranked Penn State in straight sets on Friday, March 4.
How it Happened
The Golden Eagles struggled against the high powered offense of the Nittany Lions all night. Penn State entered the contest with a record of 21-3, boasting a 13-1 home record. So, taking even a set from the Nittany Lions on the home hardwood would be a challenge.
Charleston was abysmal on offense in the first set just five kills on 21 swings and committing five errors in the set. They would come as close as five points in the middle of the setat 16-11 but three straight points by the Nittany Lions demoralized the Golden Eagles and they would drop tally just three more points before taking the loss at 25-14 in set one.
Set two wasn't much better, although the boys got off to an early 2-0 lead on the first two points. Penn State dominated during the second set posting a .545 hitting percentage, converting on 14 of their 22 attacks. Charleston ended the set with a loss at 25-17.
Penn State increased the pressure in the third set and took it by a score of 25-14. The Golden Eagles totaled nine errors in the set while posting a -.031 hitting percentage.
Arthur Seuer totaled seven digs and Garret Schnitker posted five kills.
LORETTA, Penn. – In match two of the weekend the Golden Eagles had several opportunities to win the match but were unable to close the deal and take home the victory.
How it Happened
In the first set Charleston looked to right the ship from the previous day. The Golden Eagle squad was up 17-14 late before two Saint Francis kills and an ace knotted the score at 17. Shortly after, back to back kills by Garret Schnitker and an error by St. Francis gave Charleston a 24-22 lead. A service error by AJ Schmidt allowed the Golden Eagles to take set one 25-23.
The second set was a dogfight in which both sides traded runs with the biggest three points coming from St. Francis to make the score 19-17. The Red Flash gave Charleston a taste of their own medicine, taking set two 25-23.
Set three and four saw Charleston start to falter. The Golden Eagles dropped set four 25-22 before being soundly defeated 25-16 in the fourth. They would record just 10 total kills in the final two sets, recording just a .059 hitting percentage in the third.
The loss would be the fourth straight for the Golden Eagles who desperately needed to take at least one game this weekend to improve their record before facing a variety of tough conference opponents in the upcoming weeks.
Garret Schnitker ended the day with 13 kills and Curtis Raines tallied 9 digs on defense.
