March 6, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The ninth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team earned a 3-0 (30-24, 30-22, 30-16) win against George Mason on Saturday evening. Penn State is now 13-2 overall with a 6-0 record in EIVA play.
Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) led the Lions with 14 kills on .542 hitting, while senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) finished second on the team with 10. Redshirt sophomore setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 36 assists and was second on the team with four blocks. Junior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) had a team-best 14 digs and senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) had a match-high seven blocks.
The Nittany Lions finished the match with a .432 attack percentage and held the Patriots to .158. Penn State finished the match with 48 kills, 44 assists, eight aces, 34 digs and 9.0 team blocks. George Mason closed the evening with 37 kills, 34 assists, three aces, 27 digs and 5.5 team blocks.
The first set started out close with the score tying eight times before the Nittany Lions began their breakaway. With the score tied at 10-10, Lipsitz teamed up with Sunder and Goas for two blocks for a 12-10 lead. A service error had the Patriots within one, but kills by Sunder and freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) had the Lions soon up by three, 14-11. Soon after a monster Sunder kill forced the Patriots to call a timeout. After the timeout, George Mason fought back to within one, 18-17, but three straight errors had Penn State leading by four, 22-18. Following a second GMU timeout, Penn State's lead grew to six, 26-20, after two George Mason errors, a Lipsitz kill and an ace by redshirt junior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.). The Patriots managed to come within five, 29-24, but a service error would give Penn State the first set win, 30-24.
The Nittany Lions took an 8-4 lead to start set two and sent George Mason to the bench for an early timeout. Penn State's lead grew to six, 10-4, after a Price kill and PSU block. The Patriots came within three, but by midway through the set, Penn State was ahead by five, 15-10. A 6-4 run by George Mason had the Patriots back within three, 19-16, but kills by junior Thomas Pereira (Brasilia, Brazil) and Sunder and a Price ace put PSU in front by six, 23-17. Penn State's lead continued to grow and after two kills by Price and another by Sunder, the Lions closed out the set by a score of 32-22.
Penn State jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the third set. After three straight Patriot attack errors, George Mason headed to the bench. Despite a Patriot kill, Penn State's momentum only grew and the Lions lead grew to double-digits, 14-4. The Patriots called a second time out, but Penn State's lead continued to grow thanks to kills from Sunder and Turko and a Sunder ace. Five GMU errors with a Lipsitz kill mixed in kept Penn State in a comfortable lead, 24-9. The Patriots managed a small 4-2 run cutting Penn State's lead to 12, 26-14. However, the Nittany Lions managed to close out the match with two kills from freshman Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) and two errors by the Patriots for a 30-16 victory.
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. The Lions take on Saint Francis (Pa.) on March 19 in Loretto, Pa. at 7 p.m. before returning home on March 21 to host Ohio State.
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.