March 21, 2009
University Park, Pa. - The seventh-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team swept No. 15 Loyola-Chicago (30-21, 30-23, 30-24) Saturday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 17-3 while the Ramblers fall to 10-8.
Junior outside hitter Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led the Lions with 10 kills as senior opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) posted eight kills. Senior middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio), junior middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) and redshirt freshman outside hitter Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) all posted five kills and senior outside hitter Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) notched two kills on an errorless three swings.
Redshirt freshman setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 31 assists and posted two kills while sophomore libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) provided several dazzling plays and 10 digs, his 10th double-digit dig match of the year.
Penn State dominated the service line, recording 12 aces while only committing 12 errors while Loyola-Chicago posted three aces and 22 errors. Holt racked up five aces as Sunder and Sweitzer both tallied three and Price notched one.
The Nittany Lions also outblocked the Ramblers, 10.0 to 4.5. Goas led the way with a career-high-tying six stuffs as Lipsitz tallied five, Holt posted three, Sweitzer and Sunder added two each and Stauffer and Price notched one apiece.
Penn State jumped out early to start the match, going up 14-6 on a Holt ace and two Price kills. A Lipsitz kill made it 17-8 but Loyola-Chicago fought back to within three at 18-16 aided by three blocks. But the Nittany Lions responded with a block of their own by Sunder, Lipsitz and Sweitzer to give Penn State the three-point cushion at 19-16. The teams traded points twice before Sunder rattled off three aces in the next four points to put the Nittany Lions ahead 25-18. A Holt ace, the sixth of the game for Penn State, made it 28-19, before a Rambler service error ended the stanza, 30-21.
The second game remained close early on, with a Lipsitz kill putting Penn State ahead 12-10. Two Rambler kills from Krisjanis Berzins knotted the game at 12-12 before two Lion attack errors put Loyola-Chicago ahead 14-12. A Holt kill evened the score at 18-18 before two Holt aces and two blocks - one from Goas, Lipsitz and Price and another from Goas and Lipsitz - pushed Penn State ahead 22-18. A Price kill helped the Lions maintain the advantage at 26-21 before a Goas, Holt and Stauffer block along with two Rambler attack errors ended the game, 30-23.
The Nittany Lions went up 12-7 on kills from Sweitzer and Price. Two Rambler attack errors and a Lion block from Lipsitz and Sweitzer pushed the Penn State lead to 17-11. A Stauffer kill along with a Lipsitz and Goas block made it 23-15 and a Price kill pushed the lead to 25-20. Two Sweitzer kills made it 28-23 before a Holt kill ended the game, 30-24.
Penn State remains at home, hosting Princeton and Mount Olive on Friday and Saturday, March 27-28 at Rec Hall at 7:00 p.m. ET each night. Saturday's contest with Mount Olive will be Senior Night, recognizing the efforts of the senior class prior to the match.
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.