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| Freshman Max Holt had six kills and a career-high three aces in the Nittany Lions' 3-0 victory over Princeton. |
University Park, Pa., March 3, 2006 - Behind a season-high .458 hitting percentage, the ninth-ranked Penn State men??s volleyball team defeated Princeton in three games (30-15, 30-23, 30-22). The Nittany Lions move to 11-4 for the year and 8-0 in the EIVA while the Tigers fall to 3-8 and 2-4 in league action.
Freshman Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led all players with eight kills in two games played on a career-high .636 hitting percentage. Both seniors Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) and Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) collected seven kills on eight swings to hit .875, a career high for Proper and a season high for Meerstein. Junior Alex Gutor (Kiev, Ukraine) also chipped in seven kills as freshman Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted six and senior Andrew Price (Laytonsville, Md.) produced five. As a team in the first game alone, Penn State attacked at a .737 clip, with 15 kills on 19 attempts with only one error.
All three setters saw action in the match, with senior Dan O??Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) dishing out 14 assists in the first game, sophomore Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) collecting 15 assists in the second game and redshirt freshman Travis Foltz (Westlake Village, Calif.) providing a career-high 12 assists in the third game.
Price led all players with four digs as 10 of Penn State??s 14 players recorded at least one dig. Junior Ryan Walthall (Irvine, Calif.) served as libero in the third game, recording a season-high three digs as Proper, Gutor, junior Aaron Smith (Forest, Va.) and redshirt freshman Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) all collected two digs. Anderson, Murray, Foltz and junior Kevin Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) each picked up one dig.
Penn State outblocked Princeton 11.5 to 3.5, including 8.5 to 0.0 in the first game. Meerstein led the way with six blocks as Wentzel tallied four, Holt and Proper each added three, Anderson notched two and Smith, Price and Gutor all recorded one.
The Nittany Lions also won the battle from behind the service line, producing eight aces, including a career-high three from Holt and one each from Proper, Meerstein, Price, Gutor and Sweitzer.
Phillip Rosenberg led the Tigers with six kills as Michael Vincent notched five. Brandon Denham and Cameron Heggi each tallied two blocks for Princeton.
Penn State heads west to face No. 2 UC Irvine on Tuesday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. PT (10:00 p.m. ET) before taking on No. 14 Southern California on Wednesday, March 8, also at 7:00 p.m. PT (10:00 p.m. ET). After a Friday, March 18 contest at NYU, the Nittany Lions return home to host No 11 Ohio State on Wednesday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m.
For more information on the Penn State men??s volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.