Feb. 4, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The ninth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (21-25, 14-25, 25-22, 17-25) setback to No. 7 UC Irvine. The Nittany Lions (6-2) are back in action tomorrow against Cal State Northridge at 7:30 p.m. in Rec Hall. Ohio State takes on UC Irvine at 5 p.m.
Saturday's match against Cal State Northridge will be streamed live on BigTenNetwork.com. It will air on the Big Ten Network on Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. Live stats for both matches are available at GoPSUsports.com.
In honor of All-American Matt Anderson's father Mike Anderson, who passed away unexpectedly in 2010, the Penn State volleyball family has chosen to honor one Nittany Lion at the conclusion of each match in honor of Mike. Sophomore Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) was named the Mike Anderson Player of the Game for his efforts against the Anteaters. Redshirt junior Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) led all players with 16 kills, while Turko was second on the team with 11. Redshirt junior Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) tallied 46 assists and senior Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) posted a match-high 15 digs.
The Nittany Lions opened the match taking a 3-1 lead, but the Anteaters fought back to tie the score at 5-5. The score tied five times before a kill by senior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) and a Goas ace put the Lions up by two, 12-10. A 4-1 UCI run pushed the Anteaters into the lead, 14-13. The teams went back and forth with the score tying four times before a PSU attack error gave the Anteaters a slim 18-17 lead and sent Penn State to the bench. After the timeout, the score tied three more times before a 3-0 UCI run put the Anteaters ahead by three, 23-20. Penn State called a second timeout, and despite a kill by Sunder, back-to-back Irvine blocks secured set one for the Anteaters, 25-21.
The Anteaters leapt out to an 8-4 lead in set two forcing Penn State to call an early timeout. Four UCI errors and kills from Turko and junior Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) cut the gap to two, 11-9. An Irvine timeout stifled the Nittany Lions' momentum as a 5-1 run pushed the Anteaters ahead by six, 16-10. A second PSU timeout failed to slow the Anteaters as they allowed the Nittany Lions just four additional points before closing out the set, 25-14.
UCI took a 5-2 lead to start the third stanza, but Penn State never allowed them to develop any substantial momentum. A Penn State timeout with the Anteaters leading 11-8 failed to slow UCI enough to let Penn State take control. It wasn't until a 4-1 PSU run that the Nittany Lions tied the set at 17-17. Despite a kill by UCI's Cory Yoder, three kills by Sunder and one from Turko put PSU up by three, 21-18. A UCI timeout slowed the Lions enough to let the Anteaters within one, 21-20, but two more Sunder kills and one from freshman Scott Kegerreis (Honeybrook, Pa.) gave Penn State a 25-22 third set win.
The fourth and final set started out close, but two straight kills and an ace gave the Anteaters a three-point lead, 9-6. A Penn State time out failed to slow the Anteaters as their lead grew to six, 16-10, midway through the frame. Two PSU errors and a UCI kill sent Penn State to the bench for a second timeout. The squads traded points with Penn State unable to take any control away from Irvine. The Anteaters closed out the set with a kill for a 25-17 win.
What's Next?
The Nittany Lions remain at home for the next two weekends. On Feb. 11-12, Penn State hosts Rutgers-Newark and Princeton before welcome Mount Olive and Lees McRae to Rec Hall on Feb. 18-19.