March 3, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The ninth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team secured a 3-0 (30-26, 30-27, 30-18) victory against Ohio State (10-7) on Wednesday night. Penn State improves to 12-2 overall.
Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led the Lions with 13 kills on .480 hitting, while also notching five total blocks. Junior Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) led the team with nine digs. Senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.), sophomore Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) and redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) all tallied nine kills, with Lipsitz posting a team-high six blocks. Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 43 assists and also had six digs.
The Nittany Lions attacked at a .451 clip, while the Buckeyes had a .291 attack percentage. Both teams totaled 49 kills, but the Buckeyes had 48 assists to PSU's 46 and 30 digs to PSU's 27. However, the Nittany Lions had five aces to OSU's two and 10.0 team blocks to the Buckeyes' 2.0.
Penn State opened the match with a 2-0 lead on back-to-back kills by Wolf. Despite the Buckeyes, tying the score at 4-4, the Nittany Lions jumped back out in front with a kill by freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) and a Goas ace. However, two PSU errors and two kills by OSU's Shawn Sangrey had the Buckeyes in front, 9-8. The Buckeyes held on to the lead until a 5-1 PSU run put the Lions back ahead with a 16-14 edge. After an Ohio State timeout, the Buckeyes tied it up at 16-16, but a Price kill and a Turko ace helped Penn State stay ahead. The Nittany Lions maintained the lead for the remainder of set one despite the Buckeyes coming within one point of tying the set on five times. Penn State secured set one with a kill by Lipsitz for a 30-26 win.
Two Lipsitz kills and one by Wolf had Penn State leading 3-1 in the second set. The Buckeyes again tied the score at 4-4 and took the lead with a Sangrey ace, 5-4. Back-to-back Sunder kills would put the Lions in the lead, 6-5 and a put down by Price gave the Lions some breathing room, 7-5. OSU tied the score twice more before a 4-1 PSU run had the Lions leading by three, 14-11. Three OSU errors kept Penn State in the lead and forced the Buckeyes to take a timeout. The timeout allowed the Buckeyes within two, 18-16, but two more errors and a Price ace had the Lions leading, 21-17. Three kills, including two straight by OSU's John Klanac had Ohio State within two, 22-20, but a service error and a joint stuff by Turko and Price had Penn State ahead by four, 24-20. Following another Ohio State timeout, Sangrey tallied a kill and two PSU errors put the Buckeyes within one, 24-23. The two teams traded points until a Price kill followed by two OSU errors put Penn State in match point position. Goas closed out set two for Penn State with a kill for a 30-27 victory.
Penn State jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third and final set thanks to two Wolf kills, one by Sunder and two OSU errors. Penn State's advantage grew to six, 9-3, courtesy of three OSU errors. A 5-3 Penn State run kept the Lions safely in the lead and increased the gap to seven, 14-7. Ohio State took a timeout, but Penn State's lead continued to grow after a Price kill and a Lipsitz/Goas block. Following a second Buckeye timeout, Penn State moved ahead by 10, 19-9, as errors continued to plague the Buckeyes. Ohio State cut Penn State's advantage to eight, 21-13, but that was the closest the Buckeyes would get to the Nittany Lions. Penn State had a 10-point lead, 27-17, as the set began to wind down. Kills by Turko and Price and a Sunder ace finished off set three for PSU with the Lions winning 30-18.
The Nittany Lions return home on March 6 for a 7 p.m. matchup with George Mason in South Gym. Penn State heads on the road for matches against UC Irvine on March 10, BYU on March 12 and Long Beach State on March 13.
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.