April 2, 2010
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Despite losing set one, the ninth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team rallied to win sets two through three for a 3-1 (33-35, 30-24, 30-26, 30-18) victory at IPFW. Penn State improves to 20-5 with the win.
Senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) led the Lions with 23 kills on .588 hitting. Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) had 13 kills and redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) had 12. Redshirt sophomore setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 58 assists and junior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) had a team-best 11 digs. Lipsitz led the team with nine blocks, while Goas, Sunder and redshirt junior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) had seven blocks apiece.
The Nittany Lions recorded a .257 attack percentage and held the Mastodons to .149. Penn State tallied 68 kills, four aces, 44 digs and 19.0 total team blocks. IPFW posted 53 kills, three aces, 33 digs and 16.0 team blocks.
The Mastodons took the early lead in set one, but two kills from Price and one each from Sunder and sophomore Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) helped Penn State to a 10-8 lead. IPFW fought back with a 9-3 run to take a 17-13 lead. After a PSU timeout, the Lions answered back with a 7-3 run to tie the set at 20-20. IPFW called a timeout, but a Price kill gave PSU the lead, 21-20. Neither team was able to develop any momentum to create a substantial lead. The score tied 13 times with the lead changing hands five times. With the score knotted at 33-33, back-to-back PSU errors gave the set to IPFW, 35-33.
Penn State took control early in set two with a 4-0 lead. Wolf, Goas and Lipsitz teamed up for two blocks early on. The Mastodons worked to within one of PSU, 5-4, but soon after Penn State had a 10-5 lead as the Lions capitalized on three IPFW errors. The Mastodons kept it close, but Penn State was able to stay in front and had a small but comfortable three-point lead, 15-12, by midway through the set. IPFW stayed within two of PSU until an 8-2 Lion run had Penn State up by eight, 28-20. A 3-0 Mastodon run had IPFW within five, 28-23, but a joint stuff by Goas and Lipsitz and an IPFW attack error secured set two for PSU, 30-24.
The third set was close from the beginning with neither team developing a strong lead. The Nittany Lions moved ahead by two, 10-8, after a Price/Lipsitz block and an IPFW error. The Mastodons tied the set twice, but my halfway through Penn State was leading 15-12. A 6-3 Mastodon run had IPFW tying it up at 18-18 and forcing Penn State to take a timeout. However, an IFPW service error but the Lions back in the lead, 19-18. The Nittany Lions went on to use a 5-2 run to increase their lead to four, 24-20. A first IPFW timeout failed to slow the Nittany Lions, but a second break slowed PSU enough for the Mastodons to manage a 3-0 run to come within two, 27-25. Penn State called a timeout of its own and closed out the set with a 3-1 run for a 30-26 win.
Penn State took a 7-3 lead to start the fourth set. Two IPFW errors and a kill by Lipsitz moved Penn State ahead by six, 10-4. PSU's lead grew to seven, 13-6, before three straight PSU errors allowed the Mastodons within three, 15-12. A Sunder kill and a joint block by Lipsitz and Goas moved Penn State back ahead by six, 18-12. After an IPFW timeout, Penn State's lead grew to double-digits, 24-14, after five Mastodon errors and kills from Sunder and Goas. Two putdowns by Wolf and one each from Sunder, Price and Lipsitz guided Penn State to the convincing 30-18 triumph.
The Nittany Lions are back in action on April 9 at UC Santa Barbara before heading to Cal State Northridge on April 10. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m. PT.
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.