May 26, 2010
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Former Nittany Lions men's volleyball player Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) aided the U.S. Men's A2 Volleyball Team in a 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 26-28, 15-9) defeat of Mexico on Tuesday night in the Pan American Cup in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The U.S. Men's A2 Team is now 1-0 in pool play and faces host Puerto Rico at 9 p.m. ET tonight to determine the pool winner.
Lipsitz , who started at middle blocker, finished the match with nine points on six kills, two blocks and one ace. He competed against former Nittany Lion Ivan Contreras (`97), the starting opposite for Mexico, who tallied 27 points, including a match-high 26 kills.
Lipsitz will meet up with another PSU men's volleyball alum tonight when the U.S. Men face Puerto Rico. Ramon Hernandez (`94) is an assistant coach for Puerto Rico.
A three-time AVCA All-American, Lipsitz guided the 2010 Penn State men's volleyball team to a 24-8 record and the program's sixth NCAA Championship match appearance. Lipsitz, a 2010 first team Academic All-District honoree, led the nation with a .524 hitting percentage and led the Nittany Lions in blocking, averaging 1.42 blocks per set. He ranked third on the team in 3.61 kills per set.
2010 U.S. Pan American Cup Roster
1 Dustin Watten (L, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach State)
2 Robert Tarr (OH, 6-6, Cape Canaveral, Fla., Long Beach State)
3 Matt McKinney (OH, 6-9, Satan Ynez, Calif., UCLA)
4 J.D. Schleppenbach (OH, 6-4, Ventura, Calif., Pepperdine)
5 Brian Thornton (S, 6-3, San Clemente, Calif., UC Irvine)
6 Dean Bittner (Opp., 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)
7 Max Lipsitz (MB, 6-7, Williamsville, N.Y., Penn State)
8 Kawika Shoji (S, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
10 David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
11 Tyler Hildebrand (S, 6-5, Mesa Ariz., Long Beach State)
12 Carson Clark (Opp., 6-5, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine)
13 Theo Brunner (BM, 6-7, Ridgefield, Conn., UC Santa Barbara)
16 Jayson Jablonsky (OH, 6-5, Yorba Linda, Calif., UC Irvine)
19 Andrew McGuire (L, 6-0, Manhattan Beach, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
Head Coach: Rick McLaughlin (UC Santa Barbara)
Team Manager: Chris Birch (Penn State)
Assistant Coach: John Hawks (Long Beach State)
Therapist/Trainer: Brian Baise (Harvard)
Technical Coordinator: Chris Birch (Penn State)
Tournament Schedule (All times ET)
Pool A
May 24, 4 p.m.: Brazil def. Columbia, 3-1 (25-17, 25-14, 24-26, 25-23)
May 25, 7 p.m.: Brazil def. Canada, 3-2 (16-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-8)
May 26, 4 p.m.: Colombia vs. Canada
Pool B
May 24, 9 p.m.: Puerto Rico def. Mexico, 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18)
May 25, 9 p.m.: USA def. Mexico, 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 26-28, 15-9)
May 26, 9 p.m.: USA vs. Puerto Rico
Pool C
May 24, 7 p.m.: Argentina def. Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-22)
May 25, 4 p.m.: Argentina def. Venezuela, 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-22)
May 26, 7 p.m.: Venezuela vs. Dominican Republic
May 27, 4 p.m.: Classification 9
May 27, 7 & 9 p.m.: Quarterfinals
May 28, 4 p.m.: Classification 7/8
May 28, 7 & 9 p.m.: Semifinals
May 29, 4 p.m.: Classification 5/6
May 29, 7 p.m.: Third place match
May 29, 9 p.m.: Championship match