March 14, 2010
LONG BEACH, Caiif. - The No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions defeating No. 6 Long Beach in three sets by scores of 30-28, 30-28 and 30-27. PSU improves to 15-3 overall this season and heads back east to take on Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday, March 19 at 7 p.m. in Loretto, Pa.
Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led the Nittany Lions with 21 kills and two aces, while senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) totaled 15 kills on a match-high .650 hitting. Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) rounded out the top offensive performers for PSU with 12 kills. Redshirt sophomore setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 53 assists pacing the Nittany Lion offense to a .368 attack percentage. Junior Thomas Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) led the team with nine digs and Goas and Lipsitz had three blocks apiece.
Penn State totaled 58 kills, 56 assists, three aces, 33 digs and 5.0 total team blocks. The 49ers finished the match with 53 kills, 50 assists, one ace, 35 digs and 5.0 team blocks.
Despite trailing for much of set one, the Nittany Lions rallied back for a 30-28 win. The 49ers took a 7-3 lead to open the match. Long Beach managed to hold on to at least a three-point lead until a Pereira kill and a Price ace had PSU within two, 10-8. The Lions managed to tie the set at 12-12 on a joint stuff by Goas and Lipsitz. The 49ers took back the lead with a kill by Jim Baughman, but kills by Sunder and freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) had the set tied at 15. LBSU jumped back out in front, but a Lipsitz putdown and another Goas/Lipsitz block knotted the set at 19-19. After a Long Beach timeout, an attack error by the 49ers put Penn State on top for the first time, 20-19. LBSU took the lead one final time after a Tommy Pestolesi kill, but a Sunder kill and a block by Goas and Turko put Penn State in the lead for good, 23-22. Price tallied four of Penn State final points with kills, while Lipsitz added two and Pereira one to secure the set one win.
Long Beach had the early lead in set two, but two Sunder kills and a LBSU attack error put the Lions ahead, 6-5. The score tied twice before a 3-0 Penn State run had PSU leading 10-7 and the 49ers taking a timeout. The 49ers answered with a 6-3 run to tie the set at 13-13, but another Sunder putdown gave PSU a slim 14-13 lead. Two PSU errors and a kill from LBSU's Dean Bittner allowed the 49ers to tie it up again at 16-16. The score tied nine times with the lead changing hands three times before back-to-back Penn State kills had the Lions leading 27-26 and LBSU taking a second timeout. A PSU service error had Long Beach tying the score at 27, but a Lipsitz kill had Penn State back in front. Long Beach's Antwain Aguillard kept LBSU in contention to take the second set, but a Price kill and a huge solo block by Sunder gave Penn State a 30-28 set two victory.
The third set started out close before a 5-1 Penn State run gave the Nittany Lions a 9-5 lead. After a Long Beach timeout, the Lions' lead only continued to grow as two Price kills had Penn State up 14-8. PSU held onto at least a three-point advantage until a 4-0 49er run had LBSU within one, 18-17. Penn State used a timeout to slow the 49ers' momentum. The Nittany Lions capitalized on two Long Beach errors to move back ahead by three, 21-18. Despite four kills by LBSU's Bittner and two from Aguillard had the 49ers back within one, 28-27. Penn State used its final timeout and Price closed out the set with a kill and an ace to give Penn State a 30-27 third set triumph.
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.