April 13, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 13th-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team (19-7) suffered a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-14) setback to fourth-ranked UC Irvine Saturday evening.
Redshirt sophomore Nick Goodell (Ambridge, Pa.) led the team with nine kills, while sophomore Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) posted six. Redshirt sophomore Taylor Hammond (Mission Viejo, Calif.) posted 20 assists and was one of three players to tally three digs. Goodell had a team-high four digs and senior Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) had a team-high four blocks.
UC Irvine hit .368 and held the Nittany Lions to .130. Penn State totaled 23 kills, one ace and 7.5 total team blocks. The Anteaters finished the match with 42 kills, seven digs and 8.5 team blocks.
The first set started out close with neither team developing enough momentum to take a strong lead. Near the midpoint of the set the Anteaters moved ahead by two, 11-9, and Penn State called a timeout. Three more UCI points increased the Anteater lead to five, 14-9, forcing a second Nittany Lion timeout. The second break failed to faze Irvine as a 4-1 run gave the Anteaters a comfortable 18-10 lead. Goodell cut off the run with a kill and three straight UCI errors had PSU within four, 18-14. The squads traded points and Penn State came as close as three, 21-18. Despite a service error, three Anteater kills put UCI at set point, 24-19. Goodell, Russell and Hendries teamed up for a block, but Irvine closed out the set with a kill for a 25-20 win.
The second frame began much like the first with neither team grabbing the lead until UCI went up by two, 13-11, near the middle of the set. Two PSU kills and a solo stuff by Hendries moved the Lions into the lead, 14-13. However, two errors by the Nittany Lions and an Irvine kill put the Anteaters ahead by one, 16-15. A service error knotted the score at 16-16. The score tied three more times before the Anteaters pulled ahead by three, 22-19. After a Penn State timeout, Goodell pounded a kill, but two UCI kills and a block secured set two for Irvine, 25-20.
UC Irvine jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the third frame and Penn State headed to the bench. An Anteater error put the Lions on the board, and two more had Penn State within four, 7-3. The Anteater advantage grew to six, 9-3, but Russell pounded a kill to prevent a UCI run. After going back and forth, Goodell put down a kill to bring PSU within five, 13-8. Irvine answered with back-to-back points forcing a second Nittany Lion timeout. Irvine pounded a kill after the timeout, but Russell fired back to keep Penn State within seven, 16-9. Irvine went on a 3-0 run to increase the gap to 10, 19-9. Once again Russell cut off the run with a kill, but the Anteaters kept pushing tallying a kill and a block for a 21-10 lead. Penn State managed four final points before UCI claimed set three, 25-14.
Penn State concludes regular season play on April 19-20 when the Nittany Lions host Rutgers-Newark and NJIT. Action is set for 5:30 p.m. each day with both matches being played in South Gym.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State men's volleyball 2013 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.