Feb. 12, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 9 Penn State men's volleyball team (8-3, 4-0 EIVA) remained undefeated in conference play with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-23) sweep of Princeton Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) led all players with 12 kills.
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. Comfort was named the Mike Anderson Player of the Game for his efforts against Princeton.
Following Comfort was freshman Peter Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) who had eight kills on .583 hitting. Redshirt junior Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 21 assists and shared setting duties with junior Tor Covello (Yardley, Pa.) who tallied 18. Senior libero Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) led the team with nine digs and sophomore Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.), who had six kills on six errorless swings, had two blocks.
The first set started out close before a 6-0 run by the Lions had Penn State ahead by seven, 12-5. The Nittany Lions continued to dominate, increasing their lead to nine, 17-8, with kills from sophomore Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.), redshirt junior Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) and Russell. After a Princeton timeout, the Tigers fought to within five, 19-14. However, Penn State closed out the set with a 6-3 run for a 25-17 win.
Penn State took a 6-3 lead to start set two forcing an early Princeton timeout. Despite a kill by Jeff Stapleton, a 3-0 PSU run put Penn State up by five, 9-4. The Nittany Lions maintained at least a three-point advantage until a 7-2 run had the Lions up by eight, 20-12. Princeton burned a second timeout and managed a kill and a block to close the gap to six, 20-14. Two service errors sandwiching a Princeton kill had the score at 22-15 with Penn State serving. Comfort pounded a kill before a setting error had Penn State at set point, 24-15. Keenan McCarthy put down a kill for the Tigers, but Comfort closed out the set for PSU with a kill for a 25-16 victory.
The third set was close from the start with the score tying six times before a Princeton service error and a kill by Jace Olsen (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) moved PSU ahead by two, 8-6. The Tigers came within one, but three Princeton errors pushed Penn State up by four, 11-7. After a Princeton timeout, Penn State used an 8-3 run to take a comfortable 19-10 lead. Princeton, however, failed to give up and slowly worked to within four as the set was coming to a close, 24-20. The Tigers managed three points before junior Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) put the match away with a kill for a 25-23 third set win.
What's Next?
The Nittany Lions are back in action on Feb. 18-19 when they host Mount Olive and Lees McRae. Friday's match will be in South Gym at 7 p.m., while Saturday's match will be in the main gym at 3 p.m.
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.