Feb. 29, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Behind its fifth match of hitting .500 or better as a team, the top-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team swept East Stroudsburg in three games (30-13, 30-22, 30-20) Friday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 17-0 and 8-0 in the EIVA while the Warriors fall to 1-10 and 0-4 in the conference.
Penn State attacked at a .542 clip for the match, led by junior outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.), who produced 10 kills on 11 attacks to hit a season-high .818. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) tallied a career-high eight kills while junior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) notched seven kills and junior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) produced five kills on .625 hitting. Sophomore middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) recorded four kills while juniors Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) and Jon Sherrick (Mountville, Pa.) along with freshman outside hitter Thomas Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) all posted three kills. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Jason Ambrose (Barrington, Ill.) and freshman outside hitter Brad McCoy (Irvine, Calif.) both recorded two put-aways.
Senior setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) directed the offense in the first game with 15 assists while senior setter Travis Foltz (Westlake Village, Calif.) dished out 29 assists in two games.
Penn State recorded nine service aces, led by Anderson, Stauffer and Ambrose with two each and Holt, Murray and Pereira with one apiece. Freshman libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) led the Lion defense with four digs while Anderson and freshman libero Jesse Wagner (State College, Pa.) chipped in three digs as libero in the third game.
The Nittany Lions also claimed the blocking battle, 7.0 to 4.0. Lipsitz, Holt and Anderson all tallied three blocks as Foltz, Pereira, Ambrose and Sherrick each posted one.
Chris Holden led East Stroudsburg with 14 kills while John Post dished out 24 assists. R.J. Roth picked up five digs and Don Hanna led the squad with three blocks.
A Stauffer ace and two Anderson kills helped Penn State take the 12-7 lead in the first game. A Sweitzer put-away and a block by Anderson and Holt pushed the score to 15-9 and consecutive Holt and Stauffer kills gave Penn State the 21-11 advantage. A Sherrick kill made it 23-12 and sparked a 9-1 run to give the Lions the game, 30-13. Penn State ended the first game on a 17-4 run, hitting .500.
Two Lipsitz kills and a Stauffer put-away gave the Nittany Lions the 13-7 advantage. An Anderson kill and two East Stroudsburg attack errors pushed the Penn State lead to 18-9. Another Anderson put-away coupled with a Holt service ace made the Lion cushion 21-12 before an Anderson kill and block by Holt and Foltz gave Penn State the 27-18 lead. A Warrior service error ended the game, 30-22.
In the third game, Penn State jumped out to the early 10-4 lead on a Mars kill. A Sherrick put-away and a solo Lipsitz block made it 15-10 and consecutive Mars kills along with a block from Ambrose and Lipsitz pushed the Lion lead to 18-11. The teams traded errors and another East Stroudsburg hitting error and an Ambrose kill and ace sparked a 5-0 Penn State run to give the Lions the 24-12 advantage. A McCoy kill made it 27-16 and a Sherrick put-away extended the score to 28-18 before an Ambrose overpass kill ended the game, 30-20. The Nittany Lions attacked at a .542 clip in the third game.
Penn State remains at home, hosting NJIT on Saturday, March 1 at 7:00 p.m. in South Gym of Rec Hall. Admission is free.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.