Feb. 26, 2010
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Penn State men's volleyball team took on the Princeton Tigers (4-5, 0-2 EIVA) Friday evening and secured a 3-0 (30-16, 30-13, 30-25) victory. The Nittany Lions improved to 11-2 overall with a 5-0 record in EIVA play.
Sophomore Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) and redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) led the Lions with 11 kills apiece on .615 and .533 hitting, respectively. Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) finished the night with nine kills. Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and sophomore Tor Covello (Yardley, Pa.) shared the setting duties with Goas tallying 21 assists and Covello 19. Wolf had a team-high nine digs and senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) had three total blocks.
The Nittany Lions registered a .468 attack percentage, while holding the Tigers to just .109. Penn State finished the night with 47 kills, 44 assists, eight aces, 28 digs and 7.0 team blocks. Princeton totaled 31 kills, 28 assists, three aces, 12 digs and 3.0 team blocks.
After the Tigers opened the match with a 2-1 lead, Lipsitz served three straight points for the Lions for a 5-2 lead. Penn State held on to at least a two-point lead until a 3-0 run had the Nittany Lions leading by five, 15-10, midway through the first set. Michael Dye notched a kill to put the Tigers within four, 15-11, but a 6-1 run by PSU had Penn State's lead at nine, 21-12. Wolf teamed up with freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) for two blocks in the run. A service error had the Tigers within eight, 22-13. However, Penn State four straight points for a 25-13 advantage. The Tigers managed just three additional points, as two Princeton service errors and kills by Lipsitz and Price gave Penn State a 30-16 set one win.
Penn State jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set after two aces by Price and kills from Lipsitz, Price and Sunder. Jeff Zhao notched a kill for the Tigers, but Lipsitz put up a solo stuff and Price put down a kill for a 9-3 PSU lead. After a Princeton timeout, Penn State's lead continued to grow as PSU took off on a 6-0 run for a 15-3 lead. Sunder had two kills in the run, Goas and Wolf had one kill each and Lipsitz had an ace. Carl Hamming cut off the Nittany Lion run with a kill, but after a PSU kill and a block, the Tigers went on a 6-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to seven, 17-10. Two Tiger errors had Princeton calling a timeout. Penn State failed to slow down and allowed Princeton to register just two more point. Penn State closed out set two on a 11-2 run for a 30-13 win.
Set three started much like the second with Penn State taking a 6-2 lead and Princeton taking an early timeout. Following the break, Covello served four straight points for PSU as its lead grew to eight, 11-3. However, A Zhao kill sparked a 6-2 Princeton run that cut Penn State's lead to three, 12-9. Two Wolf kills and a Princeton attack error put the Lions back up by five, 15-10, halfway through the frame. Penn State continued to dominate the Tigers as the Nittany Lion lead increased to 21-14. Princeton took a second timeout and this time it slowed Penn State. The Nittany Lion lead hovered around seven points until a 5-3 run by the Tigers, including back-to-back kills by Dye, cut Penn State's lead to only three, 27-24. A kill by Thomas Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil), a Princeton service error and a joint stuff by freshmen Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) gave Penn State a 30-25 third set victory.
The Nittany Lions are back in action at Ohio State on Wednesday, March 3. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. Penn State returns to the South Gym of Rec Hall on Saturday, March 6 to host George Mason 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.