Jan. 29, 2010
ROMEOVILLE, N.Y. - The No. 5 Penn State men's volleyball team dealt Lewis a 3-1 (30-26, 28-30, 30-25, 30-20) loss on Friday night. Penn State improves to 6-1 overall.
Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led the team with 26 kills, while also tallying nine digs. Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) posted a career-high 20 kills and finished tied for second on the team with 11 digs. Senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) finished third on the team with 16 kills on .562 hitting with a team-best five blocks. Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) paced the Penn State offense with 65 assists and had 11 digs, while junior Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) led the team with 17 digs.
Penn State outhit the Flyers with a .342 attack percentage holding Lewis to .213. The Nittany Lions totaled 74 kills, 69 assists, four aces, 60 digs and 10.0 total team blocks. Lewis finished the match with 60 kills, 55 assists, two aces, and 46 digs and out blocked PSU with 13.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions took a 2-0 lead to start the first set after a joint stuff by Goas and Lipsitz and a Lewis attack error. A PSU service error put the Flyers on the board, but a Lipsitz ace and a one kill each from Price and Sunder had the Lions leading 5-1. Penn State held onto to the lead until a quick 4-0 run by the Flyers had the set tied at 7-7. A Sunder kill and a solo block by freshman Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) put the Nittany Lions back in the lead, 9-7. Despite coming within one point on seven occasions, Lewis was unable to tie the set again and take the lead. With Penn State leading 17-16, Lewis posted three straight errors and called a timeout. The Flyers fought back to within one of PSU, 21-20, but the Nittany Lions maintained control of the lead. A 7-4 run by PSU put the Lions in set-point position, 29-25, and despite a Lewis kill, Sunder put one down to give Penn State a 30-26 first set win.
A PSU error put Lewis on the board first in set two, but a Goas dump and solo stuff by Hendries gave Penn State an early 2-1 edge. Lewis tied the score twice before three consecutive errors and a Sunder kill put the Lions ahead, 7-3. The Nittany Lions held onto the lead until four Flyer kills allowed Lewis to tie the set at 13-13. A Sunder kill put the Lions back in the lead. Penn State's lead was short-lived, however, as Lewis capitalized on three straight PSU errors to take a 21-20 lead late in the set. Two Penn State timeouts failed to slow the Flyers, but two Lipsitz kills and another putdown by Goas had the Lions within one, 28-27. Lewis called a timeout and managed to hold onto its slim lead for a 30-28 second set win.
Penn State had a 3-1 lead early in the third set thanks to kills by Lipsitz and Sunder and a Lewis error. The scored tied eight times before a PSU attack error put Lewis ahead by one, 14-13. Penn State managed to tie the score, but it took back-to-back kills by Price for Penn State to regain the lead, 17-15. The Nittany Lions maintained the lead for the remainder of the set. After a Lewis timeout, PSU increased the gap to give, 27-22 after three PSU kills and a Lewis service error. Despite two Lion errors, Lipsitz tallied two kills and Sunder one to give Penn State a 30-25 third set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
A Lewis kill and a PSU error had the Flyers taking a 2-0 lead to start off the fourth set. Kills by Lipsitz and Sunder allowed the Lions to tie it at 2-2, but the Flyers had a 6-3 advantage before PSU began its comeback. The Lions tied the set, 9-9, on an ace from redshirt junior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) and a Goas/Lipsitz block put Penn State ahead for good, 10-9. By midway through the frame, PSU's lead had grown to four, 17-13. When the Lions' lead increased to six, 22-16, after two Lewis errors and a joint block by Lipsitz and Sunder, Lewis called a timeout. The timeout failed to slow the Nittany Lions who closed out the fourth and final set on an 8-3 run for a 30-20 win.
Penn State is back in action tomorrow night versus Loyola-Chicago at 7 p.m CT. The Nittany Lions return home for six straight matches beginning on Feb. 5 against Rutgers-Newark.
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.