Feb. 20, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's volleyball team (10-2) earned a convincing 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 30-20) win against IPFW on Saturday evening in the South Gym of Rec Hall. Three Nittany Lions posted double-digit kills against the Mastodons.
The Nittany Lions registered a .462 attack percentage and held the Mastodons to just .118. The Lions posted 49 kills, 48 assists, three aces, 29 digs and 13.5 total team blocks. IPFW finished the match with just 34 kills, 34 assists, two aces, 12 digs and 4.0 team blocks.
Seniors Mac Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) each posted 12 kills. Lipsitz attacked at a team-best .846 clip (12-1-13) and led the team with nine total blocks, including two solo. Price was one of three players to tally an ace and led the team with 10 digs. Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) was the third Nittany Lion with double-digit kills closing out the night with 11. Redshirt sophomore setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 44 assists and also put up four blocks.
Penn State got off to a 6-2 start to open the match courtesy of five IPFW errors and a Lipsitz kill. A kill from Mastodon Darryl Shank and a PSU error had IPFW within two, but Penn State's lead was back up to four, 10-6, on a Price kill and IPFW service error. The Lions' lead grew to five, 12-5, but my midway through the frame PSU was only ahead by two, 15-13. Kills by Price and Sunder and a joint stuff by Sunder and freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) had Penn State's lead at four, 18-14. However, two PSU errors had the Mastodons within two, 18-16. A 5-1 run by the Nittany Lions gave them a 24-18 advantage and forced IPFW to call a timeout. The timeout failed to slow PSU as the Lions capitalized off two IPFW errors and a Sunder/Turko block for a 28-20 lead. IPFW took a second timeout, but a Shank service error and a kill from Sunder secured a 30-21 set one win for PSU.
The second set started out much like the first with Penn State grabbing a 6-2 lead early. Lipsitz posted three kills in the early run, while also putting up two blocks. The two teams traded points with the Mastodons coming no closer than four points until halfway through the set with IPFW fought to within three, 15-12, after an ace and a PSU error. It was the closest the Mastodons would get to the Lions for the remainder of the set. Lipsitz put down another kill and teamed up with Goas for a stuff for a 20-15 lead. Two Sunder kills counteracted an IPFW kill and a PSU error to keep Penn State head by five, 22-17. Despite two PSU service errors, the ball ended up back in Penn State hands after a Turko kill as the Lions kept up the five-point lead, 24-19. Penn State closed out the set on a 6-4 run for a 30-22 win.
The third set differed greatly from the first two as the score tied seven times before a 4-1 PSU run gave the Lions their largest lead of the stanza, 12-9. A kill by Oliver Kook had IPFW within two, 12-10, but a 3-0 PSU run had the Lions leading by five, 15-10. Sunder and Price each tallied a kill, while junior Thomas Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) joined forces with Lipsitz for a block in the run. The Lions held on to at least a four-point lead until back-to-back kills by IPFW's Elon Fyfield had the Mastodons within three, 18-15. However, two consecutive putdowns by Sunder and an IPFW attack error had Penn State surging ahead with a 21-15 lead. Following an IPFW timeout, Penn State's lead grew to seven, 23-16, with the help of two Mastodon errors. Penn State's momentum continued to increase and the Nittany Lions finished the match with a 7-3 run for a 30-20 third set triumph.
The Nittany Lions are back in action on Friday, Feb. 26 at Princeton. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. Penn State does not play at home again until March 6 when the Lions host George Mason in South Gym 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.