PENN STATE 3, HARVARD 0

Penn State has lost only one conference match since February of 2014. At home on Friday night, the No. 11 Nittany Lions (17-8, 10-1) were in no mood to lose another.

Limiting the Crimson to a .152 kill percentage, Penn State swept the visitors and maintained an iron grip on first place.

“We have all the confidence in the world that we can compete with them,” Schlossman said. “The first set, we had our chances late. We just have to do better in close points.”

The contest only took a lopsided turn midway through the second game, when the Nittany Lions used a 6-0 service run to turn a 17-16 deficit into a five-point lead.

Penn State claimed that frame, 25-18, and carried the momentum into the third. The hosts won seven of the first eight points and fended off a Harvard comeback to close play with a 25-17 win.

On an individual level, only sophomore middle blocker Riley Moore posted above-average numbers for the Crimson. He tied Clemens and sophomore outside hitter Brad Gretsch with six finishes but recorded a .625 kill percentage.

In the first frame, Harvard kept the score close all the way through 23-23. That’s when Nittany Lion Chris Nugent recorded two kills to claim the set and doom the Crimson to a week of uncertainty heading into the final slate of regular season games.

“We fought really hard and put in a lot of effort,” Clemens said. “[But] next weekend definitely became a lot more important.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.