March 25, 2011
PRINCETON, N.J. - The 10th-ranked Nittany Lion men's volleyball team (18-5, 8-0) used a balanced offense to defeat EIVA foe Princeton, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-16). Penn State remains undefeated in the EIVA and takes on Rutgers-Newark on Saturday, March 16 at 7 p.m.
Freshman Jace Olsen (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) led the Nittany Lions with nine kills on .538 hitting. Sophomore Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) was second on the team with seven kills, while senior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) and junior Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) had six kills each. Redshirt junior Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 21 assists and shared setting duties with junior Tor Covello (Yardley, Pa.) tallied 12. Wolf led the team in the back row with seven digs, while both Goas and sophomore Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) put up three blocks.
The Nittany Lions attacked at an impressive .414 clip and posted 41 kills, five aces, 21 digs and 6.5 team blocks. The Tigers finished the match hitting .105 with 25 kills, four aces, 15 digs and 5.0 team blocks.
Penn State opened the match taking a convincing 6-1 lead, capitalizing on five Princeton errors. The Tigers fought to within four, 7-3, but Penn State worked up to a six-point lead with the aid of two kills by Wolf and one from Comfort. The Tigers failed to slow the Nittany Lions as their lead grew to nine, 18-9, after three straight Princeton errors and back-to-back Olsen kills. A PSU error and a kill from Jeff Stapleton cut the gap to seven, 19-12. A Princeton service error put the ball in PSU's hands, but a Princeton kill and two PSU errors had the Tigers trailing by only five, 20-15. Princeton's surge of momentum continued, as a 5-3 run had the Tigers within three, 23-20. However, kills from Wolf and Mars closed out the set for PSU, 25-21, before the Tigers could challenge the Lions further.
The second frame began much different than the first with Princeton grabbing the early lead, 5-3. However, three straight errors, a Turko ace and a Comfort kill pushed Penn State into the lead, 9-5. The Tigers stayed close until an 8-0 run by the Lions had Penn State with an 11-point advantage, 23-12. Stapleton cut off the run with a kill and a PSU error brought PSU's lead back to single digits. Olsen put the Lions at set point, 24-14, but two errors kept the set going. Comfort pounded a kill to secure set two for the Lions, 25-16.
The third set started out close until kills from Wolf, Olsen and freshman Scott Kegerreis (Honeybrook, Pa.) gave the Lions a three-point edge, 9-6. The Tigers held Penn State to a three-point lead until a 4-1 run saw the Lions increase the lead to six, 16-10. A 3-0 run by Princeton cut Penn State's lead to three, 16-13, but three Tiger errors and kills by Olsen and Kegerreis had the Lions charging ahead, 21-13. Michael Dye cut off the run with a kill before a PSU error and a Princeton ace moved Tigers within six, 22-16. The Nittany Lions didn't allow the Tigers to tally any additional points as freshman Peter Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) pounded two kills to help Penn State claim the final set, 25-16.
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.