Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520787
4 4 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M on 42 goals and 36 assists. He had 2 as- sists against Georgetown, bringing his career total to 100 and making him only the fourth player in program history to reach that plateau. He also ranks third in PSU history with 252 points, including 152 goals. While his time with the Nittany Lions is over, Malone does not appear to be fin- ished with lacrosse. The second-team USA Lacrosse All-American was selected by the Maryland Whipsnakes in the third round of the Premier Lacrosse League College Draft, going 17th overall. Three other Lions — graduate mid- fielders Grant Haus and Mac Costin, and graduate defenseman Jack Posey — were claimed by PLL teams following the draft. Haus was claimed by the Whipsnakes, Costin by the Denver Outlaws and Posey by the Carolina Chaos. ■ MEN'S VOLLEYBALL: Penn State fell to UC Irvine in three sets (26-24, 25-16, 25-19) on April 30 in Long Beach, Calif., bringing an end to its season in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. Senior opposite hitter John Kerr led the fifth-seeded Nittany Lions with 14 kills, including 7 in the first set, while senior middle blocker Toby Ezeonu had 8 kills and 5 blocks. As a team, though, Penn State managed only a .188 hitting percentage against the fourth-seeded Anteaters. Penn State reached the NCAA Tournament by winning the Eastern Intercol- legiate Volleyball Association tourney crown for the second year in a row. The Lions defeated Harvard (3-1, April 18) and George Mason (3-1, April 20), with both matches taking place at Rec Hall. Kerr was named EIVA Player of the Year, while Mark Pavlik was named Coach of the Year. Kerr also received first-team All-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, while Ezeonu and junior libero Ryan Merk earned second-team notice. The Nittany Lions finished the season with a 23-7 overall record and a 10-0 mark in conference play. They will go into the 2025 season riding a 38-match regular- season EIVA winning streak. PSU has not suffered a regular-season conference loss since falling 3-2 to George Mason on April 3, 2021. BASEBALL: Penn State scored 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Senior Day to defeat visiting Rut- gers, 11-10, on May 12. Junior Joe Jaconski's RBI single down the left field line scored freshman Michael DiMar- tini to give the Nittany Lions the comeback victory. It was PSU's second walk-off win of the three-game series against the Scarlet Knights. In the opener two nights earlier, senior Kyle Hannon scored from first base on a line drive by graduate Grant Norris, giving PSU a 7-6 victory. Prior to their nonconference visit to Pitt on May 14, the Nittany Lions were 23-22 overall and 9-12 in Big Ten play. SOFTBALL: A 13-year NCAA Tournament drought ended on May 12 when Penn State received the No. 3 seed in the Bryan-College Station Regional. The Nittany Lions will open the tourney with a matchup against Texas State on May 17. It will be Penn State's first NCAA Tournament game since 2011. The Lions earned their at-large invitation to this year's field by going 34-18 overall and 12-11 in Big Ten play. Prior to its selection, Penn State made a brief trip to the Big Ten tourney in Iowa City, falling to Maryland, 3-1 in nine innings, in the opening round on May 8. The Terrapins opened the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the fourth, and Penn State answered back in the bottom of the fifth when senior Liana Jones homered over the center field wall. Maryland regained the lead in the top of the ninth on a pair of RBI singles off freshman pitcher Bridget Nemeth. Penn State wasn't able to answer in the bottom of the inning. Nemeth, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, gave up 7 hits while striking out 6 and issuing 1 walk in her 15th compete game of the season. She heads into the NCAA Tournament with a 22-6 record, tying the PSU mark for most wins in a season. WOMEN'S LACROSSE: The 15th-ranked Nittany Lions saw their season end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 14-13 loss to No. 19 James Madison on May 10 at College Park, Md. Senior attacker Gretchen Gilmore scored a career-high 7 goals for Penn State, while freshman attacker Kelly MacKinney had 2 goals and 4 assists. Penn State took a 13-12 lead with 6:54 to play on Gilmore's seventh goal of the afternoon but wasn't able to hold off the Dukes. James Madison scored twice in the final 3:26 to earn a spot in the tournament's second round against Maryland. Prior to its appearance at NCAAs, Penn State turned in a strong perfor- mance at the Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions defeated Ohio State (15-13, April 27) and No. 25 Rut- gers (17-8, May 2) to reach the championship game for the first time since 2018. Facing No. 1 Northwest- ern, PSU jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but the host Wildcats tallied 8 consecutive goals in a scoring binge that bridged the second and third periods. Due to inclement weather, the final 96 seconds of the game were played indoors. The Lions scored twice after the action shifted from Martin Stadium to nearby Ryan Fieldhouse, but it wasn't enough to stave off a 14-12 defeat. Led by Gilmore with 57 points on 47 goals and 10 as- sists, the Nittany Lions ended their season with an 11-8 overall record and a 4-2 mark in Big Ten play. MEN'S GYMNASTICS: Junior Josh Karnes was Penn State's top individual finisher at the NCAA Champion- ships, taking third place in the parallel bars on April 20 at Columbus, Ohio. Karnes posted a score of 14.666 in the event to claim All-America honors for the second consecutive season. He was also an All-American in the all-around for the second time in his career, scoring a season-high 83.664 to place fifth. Freshman Luke Esparo also earned All-America notice by scoring 13.900 on rings to place ninth. MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD: Graduate Cheickna Traore was second in the 200-meter dash at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships May 12 at Ann Arbor, Mich., finishing in a wind-aided 20.05 seconds. Sophomore Handal Roban was third in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:48.22. As a team, Penn State placed 12th with 31 points. WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD: Sophomore Hayley Kitching set a Big Ten Outdoor Championships record when she won the 800-meter race in 2:02.54 on May 12 in Ann Arbor, Mich. In addition, junior Florence Caron won both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter titles, finishing the former in 15:52.39 and the latter in 33:04.18. With Kitching and Caron leading the way, Penn State placed fifth in the team standings with 78 points. — Matt Herb Mark Pavlik was named Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Coach of the Year after guiding PSU to the league's regular-season and tournament titles. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS S P R I N G S P O R T S R O U N D U P