UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Just days after he was named the EIVA Player of the Year, John Kerr had a match to remember while leading No. 8 Penn State Men's Volleyball to a 3-1 (28-26, 25-16, 26-28, 27-25) win over Harvard in the semifinal round of the conference tournament Thursday night at Rec Hall. The senior went off for 31 kills on .389 hitting and added three aces.
Kerr's 31 kills matched a career high, but the previous time he accomplished the feat came in a five-set match. Thursday's impressive performance came in his first career postseason start and pushed Penn State into Saturday's EIVA Championship match. The top-seeded Nittany Lions will take on second-seeded George Mason at Rec Hall at 7 p.m.
Kerr and Michal Kowal led a strong night at the service line for Penn State as each tallied three aces. Michael Valenzi, Michael Schwob and Toby Ezeonu added one apiece.
Schwob had the most important serving run of the night. Penn State trailed 24-19 in the first set before reeling off six straight points, including five with Schwob at the line. His ace came during that run.
Kerr had the big numbers but it was a team effort for Penn State. Ezeonu hit .444 with 11 kills, Valenzi hit .381 with 11 kills, and Ryan Merk led all players with 14 digs.
Harvard put together a solid attack in a losing effort, hitting .315 as a team. Owen Fanning led the way with 14 kills on .423 hitting. The Crimson, who swept NJIT in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, closed the season with a record of 12-13.
Set 1
Penn State appeared to be in trouble in its first set of the tournament, falling behind early 7-2 and then still trailing at 24-19. A service error made it 24-20 and put Schwob on the line for the Nittany Lions. He set the tone with an ace and followed with another strong serve that led to a block by Valenzi and Owen Rose. Harvard called timeout, but Schwob returned with more nice serves. A kill by Kerr brought Penn State within one, and a Harvard attack error tied the score at 24-24. Another Harvard attack error gave Penn State the lead before the run finally ended on a service error. Kerr gave the Nittany Lions the lead at 26-25 with a kill and then again at 27-26 with another kill. He then teamed up with Kowal and Ezeonu on a triple block to close the set.
Set 2
Ezeonu had five kills on five swings and Penn State hit .762 as a team in a 25-16 win in the second set. Kowal had four kills on five attacks and Valenzi had three kills on four swings. Schwob guided the offense with 10 assists. All three of Kerr's aces came in the set, including the first point. Three of Penn State's final seven points came on aces. Two were by Kerr and one came from Kowal.
Set 3
Harvard stayed alive with a 28-26 win in set three despite nine kills by Kerr. He gave Penn State leads at 23-22 and 24-23 with kills. The Nittany Lions led again at 25-24 and 26-25, but couldn't close the match. Back-to-back attack errors gave the Crimson a 27-26 lead before Logan Shepherd clinched the set with a kill.
Set 4
Kerr turned it up even another notch in set four with 12 kills on .400 hitting as Penn State secured the win with a 27-25 score. Schwob racked up 18 assists to lead the team to .306 hitting. The Nittany Lions were well on their way to an easy set win at 21-16 before Harvard fought back, starting with a 4-0 run to get within one. The Crimson still trailed at 24-22 following a kill by Kerr but stayed alive with back-to-back Penn State attack errors. The Nittany Lions went up 25-24 on a kill by Kerr and 26-25 on a Harvard ballhandling error. The match wrapped up with an attack error by the Crimson.
