Jan. 9, 2009
HONOLULU, Hawaii - The top-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team improved to 2-0 with a three-game sweep of No. 10 Ohio State (30-27, 30-24, 30-19) Friday afternoon in Honolulu, Hawaii in its second match of the Outrigger Invitational.
Senior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) posted 15 kills as junior middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) and junior outside hitter Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) each collected 12 kills, with Lipsitz' coming on .579 hitting. Senior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) notched six kills as redshirt freshman Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) posted three kills on an errorless six swings in the third game. As a team, Penn State attacked at a combined .422 clip for the match.
Redshirt freshman setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 45 assists and added in eight digs as sophomore libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) posted a match-high 10 digs, his second straight double-digit dig effort. Price contributed seven digs as senior Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) posted six digs. The Lions outdug the Buckeyes, 35-25.
Penn State also claimed the blocking battle, 8.0 to 2.5. Lipsitz and Holt each recorded three stuffs as Goas, Price and Sunder all contributed two and Stauffer notched one.
The Nittany Lions again doubled up their opponent's service aces, recording eight aces while allowing Ohio State four. Holt added to his school-record career total with a match-high three aces as Goas and Price both posted two and Sunder added in one.
Ted Schoenfeldt led the Buckeyes with 13 kills as Robbie Klein tallied 11. Steven Kehoe directed the offense with 33 assists as Kehoe and Mik Berzins both posted six digs. John Albertson led the way with two blocks.
Penn State went up 6-3 to start the match on back to back kills from Sweitzer and Price. Two more kills by the duo put the Lion ahead 11-7 but Ohio State fought back to pull within one at 13-12. The teams traded service errors and a Sweitzer kill gave Penn State the 15-13 advantage. But the Buckeyes scored the next five points to go up 18-15 before a Price kill halted the streak. The teams traded points twice before a Lipsitz kill, a Goas ace and a Price put-away put Penn State back on top, 21-20. An Ohio State kill evened the score again and two more ties ensued before a Sweitzer kill and a Holt and Stauffer block put the Lions ahead 25-23. The squad exchanged points twice more, with a Goas kill after an extended rally giving Penn State the 27-25 lead and forcing an Ohio State timeout. Out of the break, a solo Price block pushed the score to 28-25 and the teams traded kills twice, with a Sweitzer kill ending the game, 30-27. Price and Sweitzer both collected seven kills in the stanza as Penn State attacked at a .429 clip as a team.
A Price kill and ace gave the Nittany Lions the 6-3 lead in the second set but the Buckeyes fought back to tie the score at 8-8 aided by a kill and a block. Two ties followed before a Price kill and a Goas ace pushed Penn State up 14-11. The Nittany Lions remained in the lead, going up 17-15 on a Sweitzer kill and 19-16 on a Holt and Goas block. Consecutive Sweitzer kills put Penn State ahead 21-17 and forced an Ohio State timeout. Out of the break, three Lipsitz kills aided the Lions in taking the 26-21 lead and a Sweitzer kill made it 28-23 before a Goas solo block and a Lipsitz overpass kill ended the game, 30-24. Sweitzer produced seven kills in the set as Lipsitz and Price each added in four.
A Holt ace and a block by Lipsitz and Sunder put Penn State ahead 6-4 in the third game. Kills from Lipsitz and Sunder along with aces from Sunder and Holt pushed the Lion lead to 13-8 and forced an Ohio State timeout. A Lipsitz and Price block along with a Sunder kill out of the back row made it 15-9 before kills from Lipsitz and Holt and a Holt and Sunder block gave the Lions the 19-13 advantage. The teams traded points twice, with a Holt ace that he chopped short falling to give Penn State the 22-15 lead. After an Ohio State kill, back to back Lipsitz put-aways and a Sunder back row kill off the block pushed the Lions ahead 25-16. Price produced a kill and ace to give Penn State the 28-17 before a Holt kill ended the game, 30-19.
Penn State closes out action in the Outrigger Invitational when it faces the host Warriors on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 7:00 p.m. HT (midnight ET). The Nittany Lions return home to host their annual Alumni match on Saturday, Jan. 17 before officially opening their season on Friday, Jan. 23 against Ball State 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.