Feb. 6, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The eighth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team remained undefeated in conference play with a 3-1 (30-14, 27-30, 30-25, 30-24) victory against Springfield. Penn State is 8-2 overall with a 4-0 record in EIVA play.
Three Nittany Lions tallied double-digit kills with senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) leading the team with 16. Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) posted 14 and senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) had 13. Junior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) led the team with 13 digs, while sophomore Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) registered 10. Lipsitz had a team-best six total blocks.
Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 40 assists as the Lions attacked at a .294 clip. PSU totaled 67 kills, 57 assists, three aces, 46 digs and 10.0 total team blocks. The Pride was held to .121 hitting, 45 kills, 41 assists, two aces and 42 digs. However, Springfield outblocked the Lions with 14.0 total team blocks.
Penn State dominated set one right from the start. Price, Wolf, Goas and Lipsitz all tallied kills and with the help of a Springfield attack error, PSU took a 5-0 lead. The Nittany Lions then embarked on a 6-2 run for an 11-2 lead. Springfield's two points came from Penn State service errors. By midway through the frame, Penn State led 15-3 and after two kills from Wolf and one each from redshirt junior Alan Mars (Rochester N.Y.), Sunder and Goas, the Lions had a thirteen-point advantage, 20-7. After a Springfield timeout, the Pride fought back to within ten, 22-12, but Penn State closed out the first set on an 8-2 run for a 30-14 win.
Goas opened set two with a kill and a joint stuff with freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) for a 2-0 PSU edge. Two PSU errors allowed the Pride to tie the set at 2-2. The score tied five times before Springfield grabbed a two-point lead after a Mike Pellitier kill and a PSU attack error. Penn State came back to tie it at 11-11 and took the lead thanks to a Pride service error. The Lions' lead grew to two, 13-11, after a Wolf ace, but three kills by the Pride had the score knotted at 14-14. The teams stayed close until kills by Price and Turko moved PSU ahead by two, 20-18. Springfield called a timeout, but the Nittany Lions' lead grew to four, 23-19. A kill from Springfield's Cal Palumbo and two PSU attack errors brought the Pride within one, 23-22. Penn State called a timeout, but an ace by Pride member Eric Shoemaker had Springfield and PSU tied at 23-23. The Lions managed to take the lead twice more, but the Pride did not back off. A block and a Palumbo kill moved Springfield ahead by two, 27-25. Despite two kills from Price, the Pride took set two, 30-27.
The third set was neck-and-neck. Penn grabbed a three-point lead by the halfway point, 16-13, only to have Springfield fight back and tie it at 16-16. The score tied again at 17-17, but a Sunder kill put the Lions in the lead for good. The Pride came within one, 21-20, but a joint block by Lipsitz and Goas gave PSU some breathing room, 22-20. Two Pride attack errors and a Price kill increased Penn State's lead to four, 25-21, and forced the Pride to take a timeout. It failed to slow Penn State as the Nittany Lions won set three, 30-25.
The fourth set started out much like set one with PSU jumping out to a 6-1 lead. Sunder and Lipsitz each had two kills and Lipsitz also had a solo stuff for the lead. The Pride called an early timeout, but PSU's lead grew to eight, 12-4, courtesy of three Pride errors and a block by Wolf and freshman Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.). Springfield managed an 11-4 run to trail by one point, 16-15. The Nittany Lions to a timeout to slow the Pride's momentum. However, Springfield managed to tie the set at 18-18 on a Palumbo put down. The score tied once more before a Price kill gave the Lions the lead for good, 20-19. The Pride stayed within two until the Lions began its final break away. Leading by three, 26-23, Lipsitz and Sunder each tallied a kill before two Springfield errors gave Penn State a 30-24 fourth set win.
The Nittany Lions are back in action on Feb. 12-13 when they host Laval. The match on Feb. 12 will be played in South Gym at 7 p.m., but the Penn State returns to the main gym of Rec Hall on Feb. 13 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.