AUSTIN, Texas – No. 14 Penn State Men’s Volleyball opened the First Point Collegiate Challenge with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-23) loss to No. 1 UCLA on Friday night at the Austin Convention Center. The Nittany Lions dropped to 0-3 with all three losses coming to nationally-ranked opponents.
Will Kuhns was Penn State’s leader in kills for the third-straight match as the graduate outside hitter hit .294 with eight kills. Freshman middle blocker Gaige Gabriel had the best match statistically of his young career, hitting .667 with five kills and one ace.
UCLA, the two-time defending NCAA champion, improved to 2-0. The Bruins were led by Zach Rama with nine kills and three blocks. Cameron Thorne hit .833 with five kills and four blocks.
Set 1
Kuhns had three kills on four attacks, but Penn State hit -.150 as a team as UCLA rolled to a 25-15 win in the opening set. The Bruins picked up two kills apiece from Thorne, Ido David, and Matthew Edwards.
Set 2
Kuhns added four more kills in the second set and Penn State tallied three aces but it still wasn’t enough as UCLA won 25-21. The Nittany Lions’ aces came from Kuhns, Michael Schwob, and Miller Trubey. The ace by Trubey put Penn State up 10-9 and it still led 11-10 after a triple block by Kuhns, Schwob, and Owen Rose. The Bruins responded with a 4-0 run, and the Nittany Lions never got closer than two the rest of the way.
Set 3
Gabriel turned it on the third set with four kills on four swings as Penn State nearly kept the match going before falling 25-23. The Nittany Lions led as late as 23-22 in this one thanks to a kill by Sean Harvey and a UCLA attack error. The Bruins then scored the final three points, including match point on a kill by Rama.
Career Highs
Gaige Gabriel – kills (5)
Sean Harvey – blocks (2)
Up Next
No. 14 Penn State closes the First Point Collegiate Challenge with a match against No. 11 Stanford on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The match will stream on ESPN+.