Feb. 5, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The second-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team improved to 10-0 with a three-game win over Juniata Tuesday night at Rec Hall (30-21, 30-22, 30-20). The Nittany Lions also improve to 3-0 in the EIVA Tait while the Eagles fall to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
"I thought, for the most part, we did what we had to do," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "We were sloppy at the beginning of game two, but we're a tough team for inexperienced teams to play against. I thought Max (Holt) and Max (Lipsitz) did a nice job in the middle and the guys who don't normally get a chance to play did a great job in the third game. I'm pleased with the outcome and it's a good way to start the week."
Eleven different Lion players recorded a kill or a dig in the match as every eligible player on the roster saw action. Offensively, junior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) led Penn State with 11 kills on .529 hitting and junior outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) contributed 10 kills in two games. Junior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) tallied nine kills as sophomore middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) notched four, junior middle hitter Jon Sherrick (Mountville, Pa.) and freshman outside hitter Thomas Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) each posted three kills and senior setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.), junior outside hitter Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) and freshman outside hitter Brad McCoy (Irvine, Calif.) all recorded two kills, with McCoy's his first collegiate kills. Senior setter Travis Foltz (Westlake Village, Calif.) and redshirt freshman outside hitter Jason Ambrose (Barrington, Ill.) each tallied one kill. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .407 clip for the match, including hitting .448 in the third game.
Murray directed the offense for the first two games, dishing out 26 assists as Foltz provided 15 assists. Freshman libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) picked up seven digs in two games as Stauffer recorded five.
Penn State recorded seven service aces while not allowing Juniata any. Holt and Murray both produced two winners as Lipsitz, Sweitzer and Sherrick all added in one.
The Nittany Lions also recorded 6.5 team blocks, led by Lipsitz with four and Murray, Holt and Sweitzer with two each.
Matt Fritz and Zach Bock both provided eight kills for the Eagles as Matt Werle dished out 22 assists. Fritz and Anthony Damiano both recorded eight digs and Werle led the squad with four blocks.
Penn State opened the match with a 7-2 lead on two Holt kills. The Nittany Lions maintained the lead, going up 13-4 on a Sweitzer kill and 16-7 on an Anderson putaway. A Sweitzer ace and kills from Murray and Anderson pushed the Lion lead to 20-9 but a Juniata block and two Lion errors helped pull the Eagles to within seven at 22-15. An Anderson kill helped halt the run and a Sweitzer kill made it 26-16 before a Juniata attack error ended the game, 30-21.
The second game remained even early on, with a Bock kill and Penn State attack error giving Juniata the 13-12 lead. An Eagle service error out of a Lion timeout evened the score at 13-13 and a Holt and an Anderson kill put Penn State on top 15-13. The teams traded points three times before Lion put-aways from Lipsitz and Sweitzer gave Penn State the 20-16 advantage. A Lipsitz ace and Holt kill continued the run and a Sweitzer kill made it 25-19 before two Eagle hitting errors ended the game, 30-22.
Kills from Pereira and Sweitzer gave Penn State the 10-7 lead in the third game before a Holt kill and Sherrick put-away pushed the score to 17-11. Another Pereira kill made it 20-13 before an Ambrose kill extended the score to 22-16. A Lipsitz kill and a block by Foltz and Lipsitz pushed the lead to 27-18 before two McCoy kills helped close out the game, 30-20.
Penn State remains at home this weekend, hosting No. 12 Loyola-Chicago on Friday, Feb. 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the South Gym of Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions then take on No. 10 IPFW on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 p.m. in Rec Hal's main gym.
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