Jan. 28, 2009
University Park, Pa. - The top-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team crushed Juniata in three games (30-14, 30-12, 30-27) Wednesday night at Rec Hall to improve to 5-0 for the season.
"We were very much in control and we played well for a very long time tonight," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "I'm very pleased. We're more physical and that showed from behind the service line."
Penn State racked up 10 total team service aces, led by senior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) with eight, a career-high and rally-scoring-era school record. Junior outside hitter Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) and redshirt freshman Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) both added in one ace.
Sunder led the Lion offense with nine kills as Price added in eight kills on an errorless nine swings to hit .889 in two games. Junior middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) and senior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) posted six kills as Holt and sophomore Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) both contributed five kills in two games. Senior middle hitter Jon Sherrick (Mountville, Pa.) and redshirt freshman setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) each chipped in three kills. As a team, Penn State racked up 45 kills and hit .436.
Goas directed the offense with 34 assists and recorded a team-high four digs, as did Sunder and sophomore libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico). Senior outside hitter Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) notched three digs as Penn State posted 27 team digs.
The Nittany Lions outblocked the Eagles, 8.5 to 5.0. Lipsitz led the way with four stuffs as Goas posted three and Price, Holt and Mars all added in two.
Behind four service aces from Holt, Penn State jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the match. Two Sunder kills and one from Sweitzer pushed the advantage to 18-7 before consecutive Price kills and an ace made it 23-9. Another Sunder kill gave Penn State the 27-12 lead and kills from Holt and Price ended the game, 30-14. Price was a perfect six-for-six on his attacks as Penn State collected 16 kills on .750 hitting.
Holt again started off the second game serving and helped the Nittany Lions to an 11-0 lead, again bolstered by four aces. A Sweitzer kill, consecutive Juniata attack errors and a Sunder put-away pushed Penn State ahead 15-1. A Lion triple block from Sweitzer, Holt and Sunder made it 18-5 before a solo Goas block and a Holt kill gave the Lions the 22-7 advantage. A Sherrick kill, a Goas put-away, a block from the duo and a Sunder service ace ended the game, 30-12. Sweitzer was perfect on all four of his attacks as Holt went three-for-three on his swings. Penn State notched 15 kills on .636 hitting while siding-out at 92%.
The third game was more even, with a Sunder kill giving Penn State the 9-7 lead. Three straight Eagle attack errors pushed the Lions up 13-8 before a Mars kill and block by Lipsitz and Goas made it 17-12. Kills from Lipsitz and Sherrick pushed the Lion lead to 21-14. Another Mars put-away gave Penn State the 24-17 advantage and another put-away from Mars made it 27-23 before a Juniata attack error ended the game, 30-27. Lipsitz, Sunder and Mars all collected four kills in the set as Stauffer posted three digs and Goas, Sunder and sophomore libero Jesse Wagner (State College, Pa.) tallied two digs apiece.
Penn State travels to Saint Francis on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7:00 p.m. before returning home to host Springfield on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State men's volleyball 2009 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets At Hershey.