April 9, 2010
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The ninth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (30-26, 30-25, 30-22) setback to No. 11 UC Santa Barbara on Friday, April 9. The Nittany Lions are now 20-6 overall heading into a match with No. 3 Cal State Northridge on Saturday, April 10 at 7 p.m PT. Live stats will be available via a link at GoPSUsports.com.
Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) led Penn State with 16 kills, as senior Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) had nine apiece. Redshirt sophomore setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 43 assists and had two solo stuffs. Junior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) and Sunder each tallied 10 digs. Lipsitz led Penn State with three total blocks.
The Gauchos attacked at a .348 clip, while Penn State registered a .234 attack percentage. The Nittany Lions had 51 kills to UCSB's 43, but the Gauchos tallied six aces to PSU's one. Penn State out-dug the Gauchos 33-25, but UCSB out-blocked PSU, 7.0-6.0.
The Nittany Lions took a 2-0 lead in set one with kills by sophomore Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) and Sunder. However, two PSU errors allowed the Gauchos to tie it up at 2-2. A UCSB service error put the Lions back in front before a putdown by Lipsitz and back-to-back kills by Sunder gave PSU a 6-4 lead. UCSB managed to tie it up at 9-9 but Penn State capitalized on another Sunder kill and a joint stuff by Wolf and Lipsitz for an 11-9 advantage. The Gauchos grabbed their first lead after a 3-0 run for a slim 13-12 edge. The Lions tied it at 13-13, but a PSU service error and a kill from UCSB's Scott Slaughter had the Gauchos leading 15-13. A 3-1 run by PSU, including a kill from Price and two from Wolf, allowed Penn State to pressure the Gauchos with the score knotted at 17. However, another PSU error put UCSB back in front. UCSB's lead grew to five, 28-23, after five Gaucho kills and a PSU service error. Penn State fought to within three, 29-26, with three kills, but another service error gave UCSB a 30-26 first set win.
A kill and a solo block by Wolf gave Penn State another 2-0 lead to start the second set, but two straight Gauchos kills had the score tied at 2-2. A 4-0 run by the Nittany Lions had Penn State out in front 6-2. The Lions maintained the lead until a 3-0 run by UCSB put the Gauchos ahead, 10-9. The score tied four times before a Blaine Nielsen kill and a PSU attack error allowed the Gauchos a two-point advantage, 15-13. UCSB's lead grew to four, 22-18, before a Lipsitz stuff and a Gaucho attack error had PSU within two, 22-20. However, two more PSU errors had the Lions trailing by four, 25-21. Penn State worked back to within two, 26-24, once more after a put-away by Sunder and a Goas ace. UCSB was not fazed and a 3-1 run put the Gauchos in match-point position. A service error by UCSB gave Penn State their final point of the set before a Jeff Menzel kill sealed set two for UCSB, 30-25.
Penn State once again grabbed the early lead in set three, 3-1, but a PSU error and a Nielson kill had the Gauchos tying it at 3-3. The Nittany Lions maintained the lead despite two UCSB ties until midway through the frame. A 7-0 UCSB run put the Gauchos ahead by five, 21-16. After a PSU timeout, UCSB's lead grew to six before the Lions used two UCSB errors to come within four, 24-20. However, the Nittany Lions were unable to develop any momentum and the Gauchos closed out the set with a 6-2 run for a 30-22 victory.
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.