March 20, 2009
University Park, Pa. - The seventh-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team defeated IPFW in three games (30-17, 30-21, 30-17) Friday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 16-3 while the Mastodons fall to 9-8.
Four Nittany Lion players reached double-digit kills in the match, led by senior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) with 14 kills and senior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio), junior outside hitter Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) and redshirt freshman outside hitter Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) all recorded 10 kills. Junior middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) collected five kills as Penn State attacked at a .453 clip for the match.
Redshirt freshman setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) directed the offense with 40 assists as Sunder and sophomore libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) both posted six digs while Goas notched five and Price recorded four. The Nittany Lions outdug the Mastodons, 25-16.
Penn State racked up eight service aces in the match, led by Holt with six and Sweitzer with two. The Nittany Lions also claimed the blocking battle, 8.5 to 6.0. Lipsitz topped the blocking list with four stuffs as Goas and Holt notched three each and Sunder recorded two.
Two Price kills, a Holt ace and two Sweitzer put-aways aided Penn State in taking the 8-2 lead to start the match. The Nittany Lions remained in control, going up 17-6 on a Goas and Lipsitz block and then 20-10 on a Sunder kill. A Sweitzer kill and ace pushed the score to 22-20 before consecutive Penn State blocks - one from Price and Lipsitz and another by Lipsitz and Goas - moved the lead to 26-14. A solo Lipsitz block ended the game, 30-17.
The second stanza remained close early on, with a Lipsitz kill putting Penn State ahead 10-8. A Holt put-away gave the Nittany Lions the 15-11 lead and a Price kill made it 20-14. Another Price put-away along with a triple block from Sweitzer, Holt and Sunder pushed the Lion lead to 23-18 before a Holt kill made it 26-21. Another Holt put-away along with an IPFW attack error gave Penn State the game, 30-21.
The Nittany Lions again took the early lead, going up 13-4 on a Holt and Goas block and a Mastodon attack error. A Sweitzer kill, IPFW error and Holt ace put Penn State ahead 17-10 and put-aways from Lipsitz and Sweitzer gave the Lions the 22-13 advantage. A Sweitzer kill-and-ace combination along with a Holt kill pushed the score to 26-14 before kills from Lipsitz and Sweitzer ended the game, 30-17.
Penn State remains at home, hosting No. 15 Loyola-Chicago on Saturday, March 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall. Admission to the contest is free and Gametracker and live video will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
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.