Feb. 15, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The second-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team crushed No. 13 George Mason in three games (30-20, 30-19, 30-24) Friday night in the South Gym of Rec Hall in front of 1,214 fans. The Nittany Lions improve to 13-0 and 4-0 in the EIVA Tait with the win and take on Princeton on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at Rec Hall. Gametracker and free live video will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
Junior outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led all players with 21 kills on a season-high .567 hitting as junior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied 11 kills without an error on 15 attacks to hit .733. Junior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) added in nine kills as the Nittany Lions attacked at a .519 clip, their second consecutive match hitting .519 or higher against a Top 15 team.
Senior setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) dished out 45 assists and added two kills as Anderson led all players with a match-high five digs. Sweitzer chipped in four digs while junior outside hitter Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) and freshman libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) each picked up three digs.
Five different Lion players tallied a service ace in the contest, including Holt, Sweitzer, Anderson, Stauffer and Murray.
Penn State outblocked George Mason, 9.5 to 4.5. Holt led the way with five stuffs as Anderson and Sweitzer each provided four and Murray and sophomore middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) chipped in three blocks each.
Kyle Gramit led George Mason with 11 kills and Hudson Bates notched eight kills. Ryan Kwiatkowski directed the offense with 30 assists and Gramit and Mark Burik each tallied four digs. Bates and Brandon McLaughlin both recorded two blocks in the contest.
Penn State claimed the 13-7 lead in the first game on back to back blocks, including a triple effort form Holt, Sweitzer and Anderson. Three Anderson kills aided the Lions in going up 19-13 and kills out of the middle from Lipsitz and Holt pushed the score to 21-15. A Sweitzer kill and Murray ace made it 25-19 and after trading service errors, kills from Anderson and Lipsitz and a George Mason attack error ended the game, 30-20. Anderson pounded nine kills in the stanza.
The Nittany Lions again jumped out to the early lead, going up 15-8 on an Anderson kill and Lipsitz and Sweitzer block. Kills from Holt and Stauffer pushed it to 20-11 and putaways from Lipsitz and Sweitzer made it 25-14. Another Holt kill coupled with a Sweitzer ace gave Penn State the 26-16 advantage before a Lipsitz and Murray block ended the game, 30-19.
Kills from Holt and Anderson along with an Anderson service ace put Penn State up 14-8 before an Anderson and Holt block extended the lead to 19-12. The Nittany Lions maintained the cushion, going ahead 24-15 on an Anderson kill and 27-20 on a Lipsitz putaway before kills from Holt and Anderson ended the game, 30-24.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.