Jan. 26, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 5 Penn State men's volleyball team secured a 3-0 (30-19, 30-27, 30-18) sweep of EIVA foe Juniata on Tuesday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 36-0 all-time against the Eagles.
The Nittany Lions had three players tally double-digit kills led by redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) who posted 11. Seniors Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) each tallied 10 kills, with Price also registering four aces. Redshirt sophomore setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 40 assists and was one of three players to make five blocks. Lipsitz and freshman Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) also put up five blocks apiece, with Hendries recording six kills on eight errorless swings (.750%). Junior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) made a team-high 10 saves.
Penn State registered a .349 attack percentage, while holding JC to .115. The Nittany Lions posted 47 kills, 45 assists, seven aces, 26 digs and had 11.0 total team blocks. Juniata finished the night with 32 kills, 31 assists, two aces, 15 digs and 9.0 blocks.
PSU wasted no time in set one taking a 7-1 lead. Lipsitz put the Lions on the board with a kill before teaming up with Goas for a block. Sunder posted three kills and also joint stuff with Lipsitz. Following a Juniata timeout, Penn State's lead grew to 9-1 before JC's Chris Vrooman put down a kill and had a service ace. The teams traded service errors before Juniata's Evan Haltman had a kill to bring the score to 12-5 in favor of PSU. Goas set Hendries for a kill before Hendries joined forces with freshman Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) for a block to make it 14-5. After a kill by Lipsitz, two more Penn State blocks gave the Nittany Lions a 10-point lead, 19-9. Comfort and Hendries registered another block a short time later to increase the gap to 12 and force Juniata to take a timeout. The Eagles managed to cut PSU's advantage to nine, 25-16, but it was the closest JC would come for the remainder of set one. The Eagles held the Lions in set-point position for two serves, but a monster Lipsitz kill secured the set for Penn State, 30-19.
The second set had the two squads close early on before an 11-5 PSU run put the Lions up by seven, 14-7. Juniata called a timeout and fought back to within four, 16-12, thanks to three kills, a triple block by Mike Kraft, Vrooman and Halteman and two attack errors by Penn State. Penn State increased its advantage to six after a Sunder kill and JC error, but the Eagles never let the Lions break away. Trailing by five, Juniata embarked on a quick 6-3 run to cut the deficit to two, 23-21. Penn State took a timeout to slow Juniata's momentum. Despite never being able to tie the set, the Eagles came within one on five occasions. A kill from Hendries and another from Price gave the Lions some much-needed breathing room, 29-26. Juniata's Zach Wanner managed one final point for the Eagles before Price closed out the set for PSU, 30-27.
The Lions grabbed a 5-0 lead to start the third set with Lipsitz registering two early kills and Price notching an ace. Wanner put down a trio of kills to bring the Eagles within three, 6-3, but three straight JC errors had Penn State leading by six. By midway through the set after an 8-5 run by PSU, the Lions were up by nine, 17-8. Juniata had five errors during the run and Sunder, Price and Hendries each had a kill. After a JC timeout, the Nittany Lions' lead increased to 12, 20-8, after two dumps by Goas and a Price kill. Back-to-back Sunder kills brought the score to 22-9 before a Vrooman kill put the Eagles into double-digits. Despite being aided by six PSU errors, the Eagles were too far behind to challenge the Nittany Lions any further. Two kills by redshirt junior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) and one each from freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) and Hendries would secure a convincing third set win for the Lions, 30-18.
Penn State is back in action with two matches this weekend. The Nittany Lions travel to Lewis on Friday, Jan. 29 before heading to Loyola-Chicago on Jan. 30. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.
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.