March 23, 2012
NEWARK, N.J. - The No. 8 Penn State men's volleyball team (15-3, 8-0 EIVA) defeated NJIT, 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20) Friday night in their six straight road contest. The Nittany Lions are back in action on Saturday, March 24 at Rutgers-Newark at 7 p.m.
Redshirt senior Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) led the Lions with 19 kills on .441 hitting and redshirt freshman Nick Goodell (Ambridge, Pa.) was second on the team with 11. Redshirt senior setter Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) paced the offense with 46 assists. Defensively, redshirt freshman Connor Curry (Newport Beach, Calif.) tied his personal best with 13 digs and freshman Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) had a team-high four blocks.
Penn State registered a .300 hitting percentage and finished the match with 53 kills, four aces, 37 digs and 7.0 total team blocks. The Nittany Lions held the Highlanders to .132 hitting as NJIT totaled 39 kills, two aces, 29 digs and 9.5 team blocks.
NJIT grabbed a 6-3 lead to start the match, but Penn State rallied early with a 12-1 run for a 15-7 advantage. NJIT tallied five errors to aid Penn State's run, while Sunder pounded five kills. NJIT used both timeouts during the run. The teams went back and forth with Penn State maintaining at least a six-point lead, which the Nittany Lions stretched to nine, 21-12. Despite two errors, kills from Russell and Goodell helped the Nittany Lions take a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-15 victory.
Again in the second frame it was the Highlanders who grabbed the early lead, 6-3. For a second time Penn State took off on a 5-0 run to take an 8-6 lead. NJIT called a timeout and tied it up at 8-8. The score tied four more times before a Goodell kill and an NJIT error had the Lions leading by two, 14-12. The Nittany Lions' lead grew to four, 18-14, after an NJIT error, an ace from sophomore Peter Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) and a joint stuff by Sunder and Aaron Russell. The Highlanders called a second timeout and closed the gap to one, 20-19. Junior Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) gave the Lions a two-point cushion with a kill, but a service error turned the ball over to NJIT. An NJIT attack error and two PSU kills moved Penn State into set point position, 24-20. The Highlanders scored one final point before a Peter Russell kill secured set two for PSU, 25-21.
The third stanza started out close before the Nittany Lions grabbed a three-point lead near the midpoint of the set, 12-9. A 4-0 NJIT run moved the Highlanders into the lead, 14-13, but a Sunder kill had the score at 14 all. NJIT moved ahead by two, 16-14, but a Sunder kill and a Highlander error had the score tied again, this time at 16-16. The score tied three more times before two straight NJIT points had the Highlanders leading by two, 21-19. Penn State called a timeout, but it failed to faze NJIT who continued to maintain a two-point edge. With NJIT leading 23-21, Penn State used its second timeout to no avail. A service error by the Highlanders proved to be PSU's final point as NJIT won set three, 25-22.
Penn State wasted no time in the four set grabbed a 5-3 lead, which quickly grew to 11-6. After an NJIT timeout, the Highlanders came within three, 13-10, but a 5-1 Penn State run had the Lions with a seven-point lead, 18-11. Penn State held on to at least a five-point lead until a short 3-0 run by the Highlanders had NJIT trailing by only four, 23-19. Despite an NJIT kill, two Sunder putdowns had the Lions with the fourth set win, 25-20, for the match victory.
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.
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