Feb. 4, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The fifth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team won its fourth straight match with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-17) victory against Cal-Baptist Saturday evening. The Nittany Lions remain at home on Feb. 10-11 for matches against EIVA foes Rutgers-Newark and NJIT. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.
Three Nittany Lions tallied eight kills apiece, including redshirt freshman Nick Goodell (Ambridge, Pa.), sophomore Peter Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) and redshirt senior Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa). Redshirt senior Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 30 assists and was second on the team with six digs. Goodell had a team-best seven digs and freshman Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) had a match-high seven total blocks.
Penn State registered a .397 hitting percentage and posted 38 kills, four aces, 27 digs and 10.0 total team blocks. The Lions held the Lancers to -.068 hitting with 18 kills, three aces, 21 digs and 2.5 team blocks.
The first set had neither team developing any momentum early. It wasn't until a 5-0 run by Penn State late in the set that the Nittany Lions grabbed control with a 20-15 lead. Cal-Baptist used a timeout, but Penn State moved ahead, 22-16, with an ace from junior Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) and a Lancer error. Two straight errors by PSU had the Lancers within four, 22-18. Goodell pounded a kill to send the Lancers to the bench. Despite a service error after the timeout, Goodell and Sunder each tallied a kill to close out the set for PSU, 25-19.
The Nittany Lions fell behind to start the second fram, 6-4, but three straight errors by the Lancers had Penn State with a slim lead, 7-6. Back-to-back Goodell kills and one from Turko pushed Penn State ahead by four, 10-6, before an A. Russell ace and a Sunder kill put the Lions in the lead by six, 12-6. Aaron McCalmont tried to cut off Penn State's run with a kill, but Sunder and Turko followed with two kills. The Lions registered a service error, but Sunder put down a kill to put Penn State back in control of the ball. Another service error sent the ball over to the Lancers but kills from Turko, A. Russell and Goas, along with three CBU errors had Penn State comfortably ahead, 21-9. The Lancers managed two final kills before a P. Russell kill and a joint stuff by Sunder and A. Russell ended the set in Penn State's favor, 25-11.
Penn State grabbed a 6-2 lead to start the third stanza and the lead grew to six, 11-5, when Cal-Baptist called its first timeout. The Nittany Lions followed the timeout with a 4-1 run to increase their advantage to seven, 15-8. Two PSU errors aided a 4-0 run by the Lancers that cut Penn State's leda to three, 15-12. Penn State called a timeout and thanks to four Cal-Baptist errors, the Lions lead increased to five, 20-15. After a Lancer timeout, a kill by sophomore Jace Olsen (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and two CBU errors had the Lions within two of taking the set, 23-17. A block by Goas and A. Russell had Penn State at match-point before a CBU attack error secured the set for Penn State, 25-17.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State men's volleyball 2012 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.