Jan. 15, 2011
HONOLULU, Hawaii - The No. 10 Penn State men's volleyball team defeated No. 5 Hawaii, 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 16-14) in its second match of the season. Redshirt junior Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) put down a career-best 33 kills with only five errors in 48 swings for s .583 attack percentage.
Sophomore Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) was second on the team with 11 kills, while freshman Jace Olsen (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) put down 10. Redshirt junior Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 52 assists and senior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) tallied a team-best five digs. Goas and Sunder each put up four blocks.
The Nittany Lions hit .394, while the Warriors attacked at a .396 clip. Penn State totaled 71 kills, two aces, 18 digs and 7.5 total team blocks. Hawaii posted 65 kills, three aces, 27 digs and nine team blocks.
The match opened with neither team taking firm control of the first set early on. It wasn't until midway through the frame that Penn State earned a three-point edge after kills from Olsen and Comfort and a Warrior attack error. Two straight kills by Hawaii's Steven Hunt had the Warriors within one, but kills from Goas and Sunder had PSU back up by three, 20-17. Hawaii tied it up at 20-20, capitalizing on two PSU errors and tallying a kill. Penn State called a timeout and used a kill from Sunder and a double block by Hendries and Sunder to take a two-point lead, 22-20. The Warriors fought to within one, 23-22, but two kills from Sunder secured set one for PSU, 25-23.
The Nittany Lions took a 3-1 lead to start set two, but the Warriors used a 5-1 run for a 6-4 advantage. Hawaii's lead continued to grow after a 4-0 run increased the gap to four, 11-7. A kill from Olsen moved the Lions within three, 11-8, but Hawaii's lead only continued to grow as four UH kills had the Warriors up by five, 16-11. Two putdowns by Comfort pushed PSU within three, 17-14, but the Warriors surged ahead with kills from Jonas Umlauft and Shane Welch forcing a Nittany Lion timeout. Penn State came within three on three occasions as the set began to wind down. Two kills by Sunder kept the Warriors within reach, 23-20. Umlauft put UH in set-point position, but Olsen used a kill to hold off the Warriors. A PSU service error earned UH the second set win, 25-21.
The third set was closed from the beginning with the score tying seven times before two PSU errors gave UH a 9-7 lead. A 3-0 run by the Nittany Lions, including kills from Sunder and Mars and a joint stuff by Goas and Mars, had Penn State in front, 10-9. After a Hawaii timeout, a 3-0 run by the Warriors had UH back in the lead, 12-10. A Warrior service error and a Sunder kill had the Lions within one, 13-12, before a UH attack error allowed PSU to knot the score at 13-13. The squads went back and forth until a UH service error and an ace by Comfort had Penn State up by two, 18-16. The Warriors came within one point of tying the score five times, but kills from Sunder and Olsen put PSU in set-point position. Hawaii called a timeout, but Sunder followed it with a monster kill from the back row for a 25-22 win.
UH leapt out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth frame, but three straight Warrior errors had the score knotted at 4-4. Two PSU errors put Hawaii in front by two, 6-4, and two additional Nittany Lion mistakes had the Warriors leading by three, 9-6. A 3-0 PSU run, including a kill from Hendries, had the score tied at 9-9. The score tied three more times before another 3-0 run by the Nittany Lions had Penn State up by three, 15-12. Goas had two blocks in the run. Penn State's lead grew to four, 16-2, before a 4-0 run by the Warriors had at tied at 16-16. The score tied three times before a huge putdown by Sunder put the Lions ahead, 20-19, and forced a UH timeout. The teams traded points until a Hawaii kill and a PSU error moved Hawaii into the lead, 22-21, and sent Penn State to the bench. A kill by Goas tied the score at 22-22, but a PSU service error put the Warriors back ahead. Sunder pounded a kill, but Umlauft maintained UH's slim lead with a kill of his own. Sunder pounded another kill to keep the set going, but Umlauft fired again to put the Warriors in set-point position a second time. A PSU attack error sent the match to a fifth set as UH claimed set four, 26-24.
Penn State took a two-point lead to start set five, 4-2. The Nittany Lions maintained the lead for the next several points until a 3-1 run by the Warriors had the set tied at 7-7. Sunder put the Lions back in the lead by one, 8-7, with a kill and a UH attack error moved PSU up by two, 9-7. Following a Warrior timeout, UH tallied a point, but a setter-dump by Goas kept PSU ahead, 10-8. Two kills by Umlauft had the set tied at 10-10 before a Sunder kill put PSU back in the lead, 11-10. Back-to-back service errors kept Penn State in control, 12-11. The score tied three more times before two UH errors gave Penn State a 16-14 victory.
What's Next?
Penn State closes out the tournament on Saturday, Jan. 15 against Ball State at 9 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State men's volleyball 2011 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets at Hershey.