Oct. 26, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Match 1 Box Score in PDF Format
Match 2 Box Score in PDF Format
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The Penn State men's volleyball team split a pair of preseason exhibition matches with Southern California Friday at Rec Hall. The Trojans captured the first match of the day in four games (25-30, 39-37, 31-29, 30-25) while the Nittany Lions won the second match in four games (28-30, 30-17, 30-23, 30-26).
Redshirt junior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) led Penn State in the first match of the day with 13 kills as redshirt freshman outside hitter Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) posted 10 kills. Junior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) contributed eight kills in two games of action while redshirt junior middle hitter Jon Sherrick (Mountville, Pa.) posted seven kills, freshman outside hitter Thomas Luiz (Brasilia, Brazil) notched six kills and redshirt freshman Jason Ambrose (Barrington, Ill.) provided five kills.
Redshirt junior setter Travis Foltz (Westlake Village, Calif.) dished out 46 assists and added eight digs while freshman libero Jesse Wagner (State College, Pa.) provided a match-high 10 digs.
Holt led the Lions with six blocks as Sherrick added in five and Mars, Foltz and freshman outside hitter Brad McCoy (Irvine, Calif.) all provided four blocks. USC claimed the blocking battle, 15.0 to 13.5.
For the Trojans, Sean Dennis led the squad in the first match with 19 kills as Matt Pavlovich provided 15 and Tyler Stevens notched 14. Riley McKibbin dished out 56 assists and Stevens led the defense with 1 digs. Dennis and Sean O'Connor each posted six blocks in the match.
In the late match, junior outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led all players with 19 kills while Sweitzer added in 14 kills and sophomore middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) provided 11 kills on .600 hitting.
Senior setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) dished out 46 assists in the win while freshman libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) led all players with 10 digs and redshirt junior outside hitter Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) recorded seven digs.
Penn State racked up 16 service aces in the contest, led by Lipsitz and Anderson with four apiece, Holt and Murray with three each and Sweitzer with two.
The Nittany Lions dominated the net, racking up 19.0 team blocks, led by Lipsitz with 10. Holt and Stauffer each added in six stuffs, Anderson and Murray provided five and Sweitzer chipped in four.
Juan Figueroa led the Trojans with 13 kills while Murphy Troy contributed 10 and Andrew Vernon posted seven. Jimmy Killian dished out 37 assists and Figueroa led the defense with six digs as Vernon topped the blocking list with five stuffs. The Nittany Lions open the season on the road at the Outrigger Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii, taking on the host Warriors, UCLA and Ball State Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 3-5. Penn State opens its home schedule the following weekend at Rec Hall, hosting Lewis on Friday, Jan. 11 at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall.
The EIVA Quarterfinals will be held on Saturday, April 19, with the top two seeds earning a bye, before the EIVA Semifinals and Championship will be held on Thursday and Saturday, April 24 and 26 on the campus of the top seed.
UC Irvine will host the 2008 National Collegiate Championship on Thursday and Saturday, May 1 and 3 at the Bren Center in Irvine, Calif.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.