Feb. 19, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The seventh-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team earned a convincing 3-0 (30-18, 30-15, 30-22) victory against Ball State of the MIVA. The Nittany Lions (9-2) are back in action tomorrow night at Rec Hall hosting IPFW at 7 p.m. in South Gym.
Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led the Lions with 15 kills on a season-high .571 hitting percentage. Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) was second on the team with 13 kills with only one error in 17 swings (.706%) and senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) finished third with 12 kills on .733 hitting. Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) tallied 24 assists while splitting time with sophomore Tor Covello (Yardley, Pa.) who posted 18 assists and two locks. Lipsitz led the team in blocks with five, while Price registered a team-high eight digs.
The Nittany Lions posted a season-high .566 attack percentage, while holding the Cardinals to a meager .079. Penn State totaled 52 kills, 48 assists, one ace, 28 digs and 9.0 total team blocks. Ball State finished the match with 31 kills, 29 assists, two aces, 12 digs and 8.0 team blocks.
Lipsitz put the Lions on the board in set one with a kill before a Price kill and a BSU error gave PSU a 3-1 lead. Despite a service error, back-to-back Penn State kills moved Penn State ahead by three, 5-2. The Cardinals fought to within one three times, but kills by Price, Lipsitz and Sunder had Penn State leading 13-9 when Ball State called a timeout. After the timeout, Ball State tallied a kill before the Nittany Lions took off on a 7-3 run for a 20-13 advantage. Kills from Lipsitz, sophomore Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) and Goas increased Penn State's lead to nine, 23-14, to force the Cardinals to take another timeout. The Cardinals notched two blocks as the set began to wind down, but six attack errors would give Penn State set one by a score of 30-18.
The Cardinals to a 2-0 lead to start off set two, but Penn State took a 3-2 lead after putdowns by Price and Goas and a Goas/Lipsitz block. The score tied twice before a 7-2 Penn State run moved Penn State ahead, 11-6. Ball State called a timeout, but it failed to slow the Lions. PSU took off on a 12-4 run to increase the gap to 13, 23-10. Lipsitz and Price each had two kills in the run, while freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) and Sunder put down one apiece. After a Ball State timeout, Covello set Sunder for another kill before Price, Sunder and Turko posted a joint stuff for a 25-10 lead. The Cardinals managed two kills and an ace, but five errors would give Penn State a 30-14 set two win.
The third set was close from the start with the score tying five times before Ball State two a 7-5 lead on a joint block by Ethan Pheister and J.D. Gasparovic. Soon after a Wolf kill and a BSU attack error had the set tied at 9-9. A PSU service error put the Cardinals back in front, but four Penn State kills and a block from Covello and Lipsitz gave Penn State a comfortable 14-10 lead. BSU's Matt Sprague brought the Cardinals within three, 15-12, but it was the closest Ball State would come for the remainder of the match. A 7-3 Penn State run forced the Cardinals to take a timeout. Lipsitz put down a kill following the break and a kill by freshman Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) had Penn State's lead at eight, 24-16. Despite kills from Sprague and Adam Schulte, two kills by Sunder and one each from Lipsitz and Comfort would secure the third set for Penn State, 30-22.
The Penn State men's volleyball team is back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. against IPFW. The match will be held in the South Gym of Rec Hall.
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.