Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1534903
4 2 M A Y 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M MEN'S VOLLEYBALL: After an up-and-down regular season, Penn State shined in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament April 23-26, capturing the championship with sweeps of Harvard, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Princeton. The Nittany Lions had gone into the tournament as the third seed and had split their season series against the Crimson, Highlanders and Tigers. But once the postseason began, they were back to their familiar dominating form. In the championship game at Princeton on April 26, redshirt sophomore outside hitter Matthew Louma had 18 kills, while sophomore setter Michael Schwob tal- lied 35 assists and 3 aces. Defensively, redshirt junior libero Ryan Merk had 12 digs, and PSU held the Tigers to .159 hitting as a team. With the victory, Penn State improved to 14-15 and earned the EIVA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions were set to face Daemen in the first round May 2 in Amherst, N.Y. MEN'S LACROSSE: Seventh-ranked Penn State advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament by edging Johns Hopkins, 13-12, on April 26 at Panzer Stadium. Sophomore at- tacker Kyle Lehman scored 4 goals and added an assist for the third-seeded Nittany Lions, while a trio of midfielders — seniors Matt Traynor and Ethan Long and graduate Jack Aimone — contributed 2 goals apiece. The Lions led 11-7 going into the fourth quarter and withstood a 5-goal barrage by the sixth- seeded visitors to earn their second consecu- tive berth in the semifinal round. Penn State (10-3 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) was set to face second-seeded Maryland on May 1 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Fifth-seeded Rutgers and top-seeded Ohio State were on the opposite side of the bracket. WOMEN'S LACROSSE: Penn State's season ended with a 13-8 loss to ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals April 23 in College Park, Md. Junior attacker Erika Ho was one of seven goal-scorers for PSU, finding the net twice and adding an assist. However, the Lions fell behind early and weren't able to catch up. With the loss, Penn State fell to 7-9 overall and 5-3 in Big Ten play. Ho was the team's leading scorer on the season, with 56 points on 46 goals and 10 assists. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The Lady Lions made a key addition via the transfer portal when they signed former Rutgers shooting guard Kiyomi McMiller. As a freshman with the Scarlet Knights, McMiller averaged 18.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3 assists per game, earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. The 5-foot-9 McMiller had been a five-star recruit out of Life Center Acad- emy in Burlington, N.J. Penn State coach Carolyn Kieger described her as "a generational talent, a true creator with vision, flair and instincts that are simply unmatched." McMiller only played in 21 of Rutgers' 33 games last season. She was sus- pended in January for undisclosed reasons, and while she later returned to action, she didn't play in the team's final 10 games. BASEBALL: Penn State fell to 25-17 and 12-12 in Big Ten play when it was swept at UCLA in a three-game series April 25-27. Prior to the setbacks in Los Angeles, the Nittany Lions had won three of four, including a pair of victories over visiting Purdue and a 3-2 win over No. 17 West Virginia at Medlar Field. Through 42 games, junior outfielder Paxton Kling was batting .321 and was leading the team in slugging percentage (.618), runs scored (47) and home runs (12). SOFTBALL: Penn State went into the final weekend of its Big Ten campaign having already broken the school record for most runs scored in a season. Following a three-game sweep of host Mary- land April 25-27, the Nittany Lions had scored 322 runs this year. They surpassed the previous record of 289 runs, set in 2016, during a 10-2 romp over the Terps in the series opener. Heading into its final regular-season series against visiting Washington May 2-4, Penn State was 23-24 overall and 9-10 in Big Ten play. MEN'S GYMASTICS: The Nittany Lions posted a 317.258 score to finish fifth at the NCAA Championships April 18-19 at Ann Arbor, Mich. It was their best performance in the team race since 2016, when they also placed fifth. Senior Josh Karnes earned All-America hon- ors on the parallel bars and in the all-around. He was seventh in the former event with a 13.900 score, and sixth in the latter with an 80.232. TRACK AND FIELD: The women's distance medley relay team set a Penn State outdoor record at the Penn Relays. Graduates Zoey Goldstein, Maddie Ullom and Kileigh Kane and senior Allison Johnson finished in 10:55.31, placing fifth in the event April 25 in Philadel- phia. The previous record of 10:56.07 had stood since 2017. MEN'S TENNIS: The Nittany Lions concluded their season with a 4-1 loss to Indiana on April 20 at the Sarni Tennis Center. PSU finished 12-15 overall and 0-13 in Big Ten play. WOMEN'S TENNIS: The 12th-seeded Nittany Lions were swept by fifth- seeded Wisconsin, 4-0, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament April 23 at Ojai, Calif. Penn State concluded its season at 14-10 overall and 5-8 in conference play. MEN'S GOLF: Penn State placed 16th at the Big Ten Championships April 25-27 at the Baltimore Country Club. The Nittany Lions shot a 43-over 883 at the 54-hole event. Senior Jake Griffin (70-73-75) and sophomore Alex Creamean (71-73-74) tied for 32nd place in the individual standings. WOMEN'S GOLF: Senior Drew Nienhaus shot a 2-over 218 and finished 15th at the Big Ten Championships April 18-20 at Havre de Grace, Md. Penn State finished 15th as a team with a 37-over 901. — Matt Herb W I N T E R / S P R I N G S P O R T S N O T E B O O K Midfielder Matt Traynor scored twice to help Penn State defeat visiting Johns Hopkins, 13-12, on April 26 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Men's Lacrosse Tournament. PHOTO BY STEVEN WALTER/PENN STATE ATHLETICS