March 28, 2009
University Park, Pa. - The eighth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team reached 20 wins for the season with a three-game win over Mount Olive College (30-20, 30-15, 30-23) Saturday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 20-3 while the Trojans fall to 11-7. Penn State needs just one more conference win to clinch its 25th EIVA title and secure home-court advantage for the EIVA Championship April 30 and May 2.
"This weekend we showed some pretty good stretches of volleyball," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "I was pleased with our blocking and serving and our offense is still building as we settle into the home stretch into EIVAs and NCAAs."
Prior to the match, a group of seniors were recognized for their contributions to Penn State and the men's volleyball program. Cheerleaders Ellen Leto, Alyssa Sirb and Allison Williams, team manager Dan Tseytlin and middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio), middle hitter Jon Sherrick (Mountville, Pa.), outside hitter Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) and opposite Ryan Sweitzer (Lancaster, Pa.) were all honored in front of the Rec Hall crowd.
Sweitzer led the Lions in the match with 13 kills on .458 hitting as Sherrick posted six kills on .417 hitting. Holt and Stauffer added in five kills while junior outside hitter Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) and sophomore outside hitter Thomas Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) both notched three kills. As a team, Penn State hit .394 for the match, including .450 for the first game.
Redshirt freshman setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 29 assists as sophomore libero Jesse Wagner (State College, Pa.) led the squad with six digs in two games. Stauffer posted five digs while sophomore libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) picked up four digs in the first game and Goas added in three. Holt, Sweitzer, Pereira, sophomore Jason Ambrose (Barrington, Ill.) and redshirt freshman Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) all contributed two digs in the contest.
Penn State dominated the blocking game, racking up 14.5 blocks, led by Sherrick with a career-high-tying seven. Holt added in five and Sweitzer posted four while Goas, Price and Stauffer all notched three.
Penn State went up 6-2 to start the match on a triple block from Sherrick, Price and Sweitzer. The Lions extended the lead to 16-9 on a Sherrick and Price block and pushed the advantage to 21-13 on consecutive kills by Sweitzer and Stauffer. A Sherrick kill and Holt ace made it 26-17 and a block by Sherrick and Goas pushed the score to 28-18 before a Mount Olive attack error ended the game, 30-20. Sherrick posted six blocks in the stanza.
The blocking onslaught continued in the second game with a triple stuff from Holt, Sweitzer and Stauffer putting Penn State ahead 8-3. Kills from Stauffer and Sweitzer made it 12-7 and a put-away from redshirt freshman Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) pushed the score to 15-10. A Sherrick kill and strong serving from Sunder aided the Lions in going on a 7-0 run to take the 24-11 advantage on a Stauffer kill. A solo Holt block made it 27-13 before two Sweitzer kills and a Holt ace ended the game, 30-15.
Two Holt kills put Penn State up 11-10 in the third game before a Pereira kill made it 12-11. The teams traded points several times, with a Stauffer, Sweitzer and Sherrick block giving the Lions the 17-15 lead. A Goas solo stuff made it 20-16 and kills from Sweitzer and Holt pushed the score to 22-17. A Sherrick put-away extended the score to 25-21 before kills from sophomore Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) and sophomore Brad McCoy (Irvine, Calif.) ended the game, 30-23.
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.