State College, Pa. – Charleston splits the weekend with Penn State. Dropping the first game on Friday evening in straight sets but then bouncing back on Saturday to defeat the Nittany Lions 3-1. The victory for Charleston marked the first ever defeat over Penn State in program history.  
 
March 28^th, 2025
 
The Basics:
Location: Rec Hall
Score: UC 0, PSU 3
Records: UC 10-12 (4-3 EIVA), Penn State 6-13 (3-2 EIVA)
 
How it Happened:
Despite three hard fought sets, the Golden Eagles succumbed to the Nittany Lions in a straight set loss. Set one was lost by a close margin, 25-23, Charleston having 15 kills in the set to Penn States 8. The kryptonite for Charleston was their 9 errors compared to PSU's 4.
 
The second set was back and forth, but at 16-16, the Nittany Lions began to pull away with the set, going on a 5-1 run to take the lead 21-17. From there PSU continued to command the set, taking the final set score 25-20 over Charleston.
 
The third set was once again a back-and-forth battle, but around the 13-13 mark, PSU once again began to pull ahead, taking the lead 19-15 after the next several points. The teams then went side out for side out until Penn State eventually took the set victory 25-21.
 
In the loss, Max Nissen led the offense for Charleston with thirteen kills while Paul Stommel contributed 32 assists.
 
March 29^th, 2025
 
The Basics:
Location: Rec Hall
Score: UC 3, PSU 1
Records: UC 11-12 (5-3 EIVA), Penn State 6-14 (3-3 EIVA)
 
How it Happened:
In set one on senior day for the Nittany Lions, the Golden Eagles jumped out to a commanding 7-2 lead. PSU then fought back to get the set to 7-5, but Charleston maintained their lead ad even extended it as the set progressed. With an 18-12 lead, the Golden Eagles cruised to a 25-15 first set victory, hitting .423 compared to PSU's .069.
 
The Nittany Lions turned it on in set two, taking the lead by a large margin, ahead 15-8 and later 20-10 before Charleston went on a run to pull the set back to 23-20. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles they ran out of time in the set and fell 25-20 to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Set three was nothing short of a marathon, featuring 70 total points to declare a victor. The set was back-and-forth with neither team taking more than a two-point lead at any given point. With the set tied at 34-34, Kai Cousins for Charleston landed the final two kills to give the Golden Eagles the set three victory 36-34, now leading the match two sets to one.
 
Set four was also close, the teams trading scoring runs until the match was even at 23-23. Max Nissen sealed the deal for Charleston as he scored the final two kills of the set to take the 26-24 victory and defeat the Nittany Lions 3-1.
 
The victory marks the first win for Charleston over Penn State in program history as well as snapping the Nittany Lions home win-streak held since March 21, 2023.
 
Paul Stommel drove the offense with 62 assists while Max Nissen contributed 27 kills and Kai Cousins picked up 20 kills.
 
Up Next:
Charleston will host EIVA opponent New Jersey Institute of Technology this coming weekend. Game one is set for 7PM Friday, April 4^th in the Wehrle Innovation Center.