| Senior opposite Matt Proper collected a match-high 24 kills, three off his career high mark. |
Photos
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 22, 2006 - The ninth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team used a season-high 18.5 team blocks to defeat No. 11 Ohio State in four games (25-30, 30-25, 30-20, 30-24) Wednesday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 13-6 for the year while the Buckeyes fall to 15-7.
"This match was pretty indicative of the last two weeks," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "We had given the guys some time off, so I expected them to be rusty. We started to blocks some balls and the offense started to come together and that really turned things around."
Senior opposite Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) collected a match-high 24 kills, three off his career high mark, as senior outside hitter Kevin Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) provided a season-high 14 kills and junior outside hitter Alex Gutor (Kiev, Ukraine) notched 10 kills on .474 hitting. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .317 clip while holding Ohio State to hitting .176 for the contest.
Sophomore setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) collected 60 assists in his first career start at Rec Hall, just one shy off his career mark, set last weekend at NYU.
Gutor led the team with a match-high and career-high-tying 10 digs as junior libero Ryan Walthall (Irvine, Calif.) posted a career-best nine digs, Wentzel chipped in six and Murray added five.
Penn State overcame nine blocking errors to tie its season-best total for team blocks with 18.5, also recorded against Long Beach State on Feb. 4. Murray and freshman middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) each collected seven blocks, including two solo efforts from each, to lead the charge. Proper and senior middle hitter Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) both chipped in five blocks as Gutor posted three.
Stuart Katz led Ohio State with 13 kills as Sam Stevens tallied 12 and Andy Cole and John Albertson each posted 10. Daniel Mathews directed the offense with 51 assists as libero Dan Meske collected six digs. Mathews led the squad with five blocks as the team racked up 11.5.
The Buckeyes grabbed the early 8-4 lead to start the match on a solo block from Sam Stevens and an ace from Andy Cole. Penn State fought back to within one at 12-11, aided by back to back blocks and a kill from Holt. But Ohio State used consecutive blocks and a kill from Cole to take the 19-14 lead. A Penn State block from Holt and freshman outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.), followed by an Anderson solo stuff trimmed the Buckeye lead to three at 19-16 but Ohio State maintained the advantage, going up 22-18 on a kill from Katz and 25-19 aided by three Penn State errors. The teams traded three times before the Buckeyes claimed the first game, 30-25, on a kill from Albertson. Each team recorded 5.5 blocks in the stanza as Proper led all players with seven kills.
The second game remained even early on, with Penn State taking the 13-10 advantage on kills from Proper and Wentzel. The squads exchanged kills and three straight Ohio State put-aways from Stevens, Cole and Katz knotted the game at 14-14. A Gutor kill and a block from Gutor and Meerstein halted the run and put the Lions back on top, 16-14, and Penn State held onto the lead, going up 22-19 on kills from Proper and Wentzel. A Buckeye block from Mathews and Layne Dreven and a kill from Stevens forced a Penn State timeout with the Lions up 24-22, but a Proper kill out of a Penn State timeout gave the Lions the three-point cushion at 25-22. The teams traded points twice before a monster solo block from Murray and another huge solo block from Proper aided Penn State in taking the game, 30-25. Proper connected on seven of his 10 swings as Gutor added five kills in the set. The Nittany Lions hit .485 in the game.
Ohio State took the early 6-2 lead to start the third game before Penn State clawed back to take the 10-9 lead on a Murray service ace. The game remained even, with the Nittany Lions going up 13-11 on a kill from Proper, but a Proper ace sparked a 9-1 Penn State run to put the Lions ahead 24-15, capped by a block from Gutor and Murray. Kills from Holt and Proper pushed the Lion lead to 27-18 before an Ohio State service error ended the game, 30-20. Proper again led the Lions with four kills as Penn State attacked at a .350 clip while holding Ohio State to hitting .103 in the set.
Penn State grabbed the 9-4 lead on consecutive blocks from Meerstein and Murray and maintained the momentum, going up 10-6 on a Meerstein kill. The Buckeyes fought back to within three at 13-10 on a Lion attack error but Penn State would not relinquish the lead, taking the 19-4 advantage on a Wentzel kill. The squads exchanged points several times before a Buckeye attack error and a Holt kill gave Penn State the 24-17 lead and another Wentzel kill made the score 26-20 in favor of the Lions. Another solo Murray block pushed the lead to 29-23 before a Gutor kill ended the match, 30-24. Wentzel racked up seven kills in the game as Proper added six and Walthall and Gutor contributed four digs each.
The Nittany Lions take to the road for an EIVA showdown with No. 15 George Mason on Saturday, March 25 at 7:00 p.m.