Jan. 9, 2010
HONOLULU, Hawaii - The No. 5 Penn State men's volleyball team earned a 3-1 (30-16, 30-27, 24-30, 30-25) victory against No. 10 Ohio State (0-3). Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) led all players with 17 kills.
Seniors Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) and Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) also tallied double-digit kills with 15 and 13, respectfully. Lipsitz also contributed a team-best nine total blocks. Freshman Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) finished the match with seven kills, a team-best four aces and four total blocks, including two solo. Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished our 49 assists, while junior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) made 18 saves.
Penn State (2-1) recorded a .299 attack percentage. The Nittany Lions totaled 57 kills, 51 helpers, eight aces, 47 digs and 16.0 total team blocks. The Lions held the Buckeyes to .169 hitting. Ohio State tallied 54 kills, 48 assists, eight aces, 40 digs and 11.5 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions took a 5-1 lead to start the match as errors plagued the Buckeyes early on. OSU came within two, 6-4, after an ace and a PSU error, but Penn State was soon up by five after a kill and ace by Price and a block by Lipsitz and Sunder. The Nittany Lions maintained a four-point lead until two Buckeye kills and an ace put Ohio State within two, 12-10. Penn State took off on a 13-2 run to increase its advantage to 25-12. A kill from OSU's Shawn Sangrey cut off the run, but Price tallied another kill and an ace to make it 27-13. The Buckeyes managed three more points before a kill by Comfort and a joint stuff from freshman Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) and Sunder closed out the set for PSU, 30-16.
Ohio State jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set, but back-to-back kills by Lipsitz had the set tied at 3-3. Penn State took the lead on a Price kill and increased their lead to two, 6-4 on another Price ace. The Buckeyes came within one on eight occasions before the Nittany Lions earned some breathing room after two straight OSU errors, 15-12. The score tied three times before another Ohio State error and a Lipsitz kill put Penn State up by two, 19-17. After a Buckeye timeout, OSU worked to within one, 21-20, on two kills and an ace. However, the Nittany Lions managed to stay at least one step ahead of the Buckeyes and were soon up by three, 26-23, forcing another OSU timeout. The timeout slowed Penn State enough to allow the Buckeyes to come within one, 27-26. The Nittany Lions took a break and after an OSU service error, Lipsitz put down two for a 30-27 set two win.
The Buckeyes came out on fire in the third set taking an 8-3 lead. Penn State's three points came on a Lipsitz kill and two OSU service errors. The Lions worked within four but the Buckeyes failed to slow and were soon ahead by seven, 12-5. Two OSU errors and a block by Goas and Lipsitz soon had PSU within four, 12-8. Each team registered a service error before two Ohio State kills had the Buckeyes leading by six 15-9. Ohio State's lead expanded to seven, 19-12, before the Lions began making a comeback. Three OSU errors and a Lipsitz kill put the Nittany Lions within four, 20-16. Ohio State regrouped and was soon back ahead by six. Another OSU error and a kill and solo stuff by Lipsitz had the Lions within three, 22-19. Ohio State never slowed and held the Lions to 24 points to secure set three.
The fourth set was close from the start. The score tied 11 times before Ohio State grabbed a slim two-point lead, 14-12. Kills from Comfort and Sunder tied the set at 14-14, but the Buckeyes maintained control with back-to-back kills to move ahead by two, 16-14. Ohio State's lead increased to three before Penn State managed to tied it up at 20-20 with a monster kill by Lipsitz. The Nittany Lions took the lead for the first time since early on in the set, 23-20, and forced the Buckeyes to the bench. Shortly after a Comfort ace had the Lions leading 25-21. Three kills, an OSU error and a Penn State stuff secured the set, 30-25, for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State is back in action on Friday, Jan. 15. The Nittany Lions host Saint Francis (Pa.) at Rec Hall with action 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.