Jan. 30, 2010
CHICAGO, Ill. - The No. 5 Penn State men's volleyball team (6-2) suffered a 3-2 (26-30, 30-22, 30-24, 24-30, 15-7) setback to Loyola-Chicago on Saturday night. Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led the Nittany Lions with 22 kills.
Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) finished second on the team with 19 kills, while senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) led the squad with nine blocks. He also recorded 17 kills in the match. Redshirt junior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) posted a career-high 13 kills and five blocks. Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 67 assists and led the team with 13 digs and junior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) finished second on the squad with 11 digs. Freshman Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) tied with Mars for second on the team with five total blocks.
Penn State attacked at a .275 clip, while the Ramblers did just slightly better at .293. The Nittany Lions registered 77 kills to Loyola's 68, 73 assists to their 67, five aces to their four and 14.5 total team blocks to 13.0 by the Ramblers. Loyola outdigged the Lions 51-49.
The Ramblers scored first in set one on a kill by Kris Berzins, but a dump by Goas had the scored tied at 1-1. A Sunder kill and a Loyola attack error but the Lions in the lead, 3-2, and a block by Mars and Hendries put PSU up by two, 4-2. Two Penn State errors allowed the Ramblers to tie the score at 4-4, but an attack error by the Ramblers put PSU back in the lead, 5-4. The score tied four times before two straight PSU errors put Loyola in the lead, 10-8. Back-to-back Penn State kills allowed the Lions to tie it up at 10-10, but Loyola tallied the next three points for a 13-10 advantage. Loyola managed to stay ahead until midway through the frame when a Price kill and two Hendries' aces tied it up again at 16-16 forcing the Ramblers to take a timeout. A joint stuff by Lipsitz and Mars and a Sunder kill gave PSU the lead, 18-16, but it was shortlived thanks to two PSU errors and two Rambler kills. The score tied once more at 21-21 before Loyola 6-2 run for a 27-23 lead. The Lions managed three more points, but a Mike Bunting kill secured set one for Loyola, 30-26.
Price and Lipsitz each put down a kill in set two for a slim 2-1 lead, but another Bunting kill and a dual block put Loyola up, 3-2. Two Rambler errors and a block by Price and Hendries had the Nittany Lions back in front, 6-4, and PSU never looked back. The Nittany Lions stayed ahead by at least one point until a 7-3 run gave them a five point lead, 17-12. The Ramblers fought back to within two, 19-17, but Penn State maintained control. An 8-1 run gave Penn State a 28-20 lead. The Ramblers managed two additional points, but kills from Sunder and Price gave PSU a 30-22 second set win to tie the match at 1-1.
Sunder and Lipsitz gave Penn State a 2-0 lead in set three and Goas increased the advantage to three with a kill. The Ramblers managed to tie the set at 5-5 after two PSU errors, but Penn State was right back in front with a Sunder kill. The score tied three more times before kills from Lipsitz and Mars gave Penn State an 11-9 edge. Two Sunder kills and a block by Lipsitz and Hendries moved Penn State ahead by four, 15-11, and Loyola called a timeout. The timeout failed to slow the Lions, until a Berzins kill, a triple block by the Ramblers and a PSU error allowed Loyola within one, 19-18. Penn State called a timeout and tallied the next two points for a 21-18 lead. After a second Loyola timeout, Penn State took off on a 7-3 run for a 28-21 lead. Mars put the Lions in set-point position and a Loyola attack error would secure the set for PSU, 30-24.
The fourth set was close from the start with nine ties before the Ramblers capitalized off a PSU error, as well as a kill and an ace of their own for a 12-9 lead. The Lions called a timeout and managed to cut the lead to one Lipsitz and Price had the score tied at 16-16. The score tied four more times before the Ramblers managed a two-point lead, 22-20, to force Penn State to head to the bench. Two Lipsitz kills, one form Hendries and an ace had the Lions right back in it with the score tied at 24-24. However, Loyola closed out the set on a 6-1 run for a 30-25 third set win to tie the match at 2-2.
Penn State was on the board first in the fifth and final set, but two Loyola kills and a PSU error had the Ramblers up, 3-1. A Lion timeout did nothing to slow Loyola's momentum as two more PSU errors increased LC's lead to 5-1. Price put down a kill, but two straight Loyola blocks kept the Ramblers in control, 7-2. Penn State called a second timeout, but the Lions notched another error to increase Loyola's lead to six, 8-2. Price, Lipsitz and Mars all tallied kills as the final set began to come to a close, but two PSU errors and five Loyola kills would give the Ramblers a 15-7 fifth set victory.
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.