Jan. 23, 2010
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The sixth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team traveled to Springfield on Saturday and defeated the Pride, 3-0 (33-31, 30-22, 30-26). The Nittany Lions improve to 4-1 overall with a 2-0 EIVA record, while Springfield moves to 1-3 overall with a 0-1 record in league play.
Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led all players with 22 kills on .364 hitting and senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) was second on the team with nine kills and a team-best six total blocks. Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 38 helps in the win with two aces and six digs. Junior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) tied his career-high with 18 digs.
Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) opened the match for Penn State with a kill before Price gave the Lions a 2-0 lead with an ace. Springfield managed to tie the set at 3-3 and twice more before two Price kills, one from freshman Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and a block by Lipsitz and Comfort had the Lions leading 9-5. PSU maintained the lead until midway through the set when the Pride tied it up at 14-14. Price put down a kill to give the Lions the lead again, 15-14, but the score tied twice more before PSU could develop any sort of lead. Three Springfield errors moved Penn State head by three, 20-17, and sent Springfield to the bench for a timeout. After the timeout, Penn State increased its lead to five, 26-21, and Springfield called a second timeout. The timeout slowed PSU's momentum enough for the Pride to fight to within one, 28-27. The Nittany Lions took a timeout and a Price kill had the Lions in set-point position. However, a kill by Springfield's A.J. Nally and a PSU had Springfield tying the set at 29-29. Another Price kill put Penn State ahead by one, 30-29, but a service error had the Pride threatening to take the lead. The score tied once more at 31-31, but a Price kill and an ace by Sunder secured a first set win for the Nittany Lions, 33-31.
Penn State took an early albeit slim lead in the second set and was up by three, 9-6, when a Price kill sparked a 7-2 run by the Nittany Lions for a 17-8 advantage. Springfield used both timeouts during the run in hopes of slowing Penn State's momentum, but the Nittany Lions continued to charge ahead. The Pride worked to within six, 18-12, thanks to three PSU errors. Penn State was soon back up by eight, 21-13, after as Springfield began to be plagued by errors. The Pride managed to come within six, 22-16, but that was the closest the team would come to challenging the Nittany Lions for the remainder of set two. A Lipsitz kill put the Lions in set-point position, and despite two errors, freshman Kyle Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) put the set away for PSU with a kill, 30-22.
Springfield was on the board first in the third set with a kill from Greg Falcone, but a service error gave Penn State its first point of the set. Mars gave Penn State a slim 2-1 lead, but a putdown by Springfield's Alberto Bravo had the teams tied at 2-2. Redshirt junior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) put PSU back in the lead, but a short time later two PSU errors gave Springfield its first lead of the match, 6-5. The squads would trade control of the set until a PSU error and two Springfield kills had the Pride leading by three, 13-10, and Penn State calling a timeout. The Pride held onto the lead until the halfway point of the set when a Price kill, two Springfield errors and a solo stuff by Goas put the Nittany Lions in front, 16-15. A Nally kills and an ace put Springfield back in front, 17-16, but an error and a PSU ace had the Lions taking an 18-17 lead. The Nittany Lions did not relinquish control from that point on. Springfield called two timeouts in an attempt to regroup and slow Penn State coming within two, 27-25, on a joint block from Falcone and Bravo. However, a Springfield service error, a PSU block and a kill by freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) gave Penn State a 30-26 third set win.
What's Next
The Nittany Lions are back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at home. Penn State takes on EIVA foe Juniata at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall. Live stats will be available at GoPSUsports.com and the match will be streamed live on BigTenNetwork.com.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State men's volleyball 2010 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets At Hershey.