Feb. 13, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 9 Penn State men's volleyball team came away with a 3-1 (19-30, 30-25, 30-23, 30-23) victory against Laval in the second match in as many days between the two teams. Five Nittany Lions posted double-digit kills as a balanced offense guided Penn State to the win.
Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led Penn State with 16 kills, while sophomore Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) finished second on the team with 13. Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) and senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) each tallied 12. Freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) rounded out the group with 10 kills on 11 errorless swings (.909%). Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas dished out 59 assists and was second on the team with five total blocks. Sunder had a team-best 10 digs and Lipsitz had a match-high nine total blocks.
The Nittany Lions registered a .403 hitting percentage, while holding Laval to .248. Penn State finished the match with 68 kills, 67 assists, five aces, 37 digs and 11.0 total team blocks. The Rouge et Or finished the evening with 50 kills, 49 assists, four aces, 26 digs and just 4.0 team blocks.
The first set started out close until a 5-2 run by the Rouge et Or had Laval leading, 10-6, and Penn State taking a timeout. The Lions managed to tally the next point on a Lipsitz kill, but three PSU errors helped Laval take a five-point lead, 15-10, by halfway through the set. Kills from Price and Wolf made it a four-point set, 16-12, but three Laval putdowns, two PSU errors and a huge Laval block moved the Rouge et Or ahead by seven, 21-14. Wolf posted a kill on the next play, but a service error put the ball back in Laval's hands. Laval failed to slow down and despite a Penn State timeout, the Rouge et Or closed out the set taking a convincing 30-19 win.
Penn State took an early 3-1 lead in set two before a Laval kill and a PSU error had the set tied at 3-3. The score tied again at 4-4, but kills by Price and Turko put Penn State up by two, 6-4. Laval tied it up one last time at 7-7 before the team committed a service error to put the Lions in front for the remainder of the set. By midway through the set, the Lions were holding on to a two-point edge 15-13. Two Sunder kills and one from Lipsitz sandwiching a Laval putdown, had Penn State move ahead by three, 18-15. Laval took a timeout and came within one, 18-17. However, two Price kills and one from Turko increased Penn State's lead to four, 23-19. When Penn State's lead increased to five, 25-20, Laval called a second timeout. It failed to slow the Nittany Lions who managed to hold on to the five-point advantage for a 30-25 second set win.
Laval was on the board first in set three, but a Price kill and Laval attack error had Penn State leading, 2-1. The score tied four times before a 5-1 Penn State run gave Penn State a 10-6 lead. Laval called a timeout and crept within one, 10-9, but a Lipsitz kill and a Price ace gave the Lions a 12-9 lead. The Rouge et Or fought to within one point of tying the set five times, but could never grab enough momentum to take control. Leading 17-16, Penn State took off on a second 5-1 run for a 22-16 lead forcing Laval back to the bench. Laval fought to within four, 23-19, thanks to two kills form Jonathan Marcoux and two PSU errors. Penn State held off the Rouge et Or with a 7- 4 run to close out the set, 30-23. Price, Turko, Wolf and Lipsitz each had a kill in the run.
Penn State wasted no time in getting ahead in the fourth set with a 4-1 lead. Lipsitz teamed up with Goas and Wolf for two blocks to help Penn State early on. Laval tallied a second point on a PSU service error, but the Lions posted three straight kills for a 7-2 advantage. The Rouge et Or scored two more points thanks to PSU service errors. Leading by four, 8-4, the Lions' lead grew to six, 12-6, after a Goas dump, a kill from Wolf and two putdowns by Sunder. Despite Laval coming within three, 13-10, Penn State was leading 15-10 at the halfway point of the set. Sunder, Turko and Price all notched kills in a small 5-3 run by the Lions, which was capped off by a Sunder ace for a 20-13 lead. Laval called a timeout and slowed PSU's momentum enough to fight to within four, 22-18, with three kills and an ace. Penn State called a timeout of its own and capitalized off two Laval errors and a huge Sunder kill for a 25-19 lead. The teams traded points as the match began to wind down before Turko closed out the set with two kills.
The Nittany Lions are back in action at Rec Hall three more time in the month of February. Penn State hosts Ball State on Feb. 19, IPFW on Feb. 20 and Saint Francis on Feb. 24. All matches 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.