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Jan. 10, 2015
HONOLULU - No. 3 Penn State men's volleyball (0-2) fell short in three sets (24-26, 19-25, 18-25) to No. 10 Hawaii (3-0) in the final match of the Outrigger Invitational Saturday evening at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Senior Aaron Russell and redshirt senior Nick Goodell fueled the offense with double-digit kills. Goodell put down a match-high 14, while Russell tallied 10. Russell also led the team in digs for the second consecutive outing, posting eight digs to go along with a match-high three aces.
Redshirt sophomore Spencer Sauter finished third on the team with seven kills, while also totaling seven digs and two blocks. Redshirt sophomore Matt Callaway led the team with a squad-best four blocks.
Trailing by two, 6-4, early in set one, Goodell and Russell sparked a 4-0 run with three consecutive kills to move Penn State ahead, 8-6. Keeping it close, the Nittany Lions and the Rainbow Warriors continued to trade points, until Hawaii pulled away from a 12-12 tie with three straight to go up 15-12 heading into the media timeout.
Penn State and Hawaii exchanged points out of the break, but the Rainbow Warriors remained in control, 17-14. Regrouping, PSU used a 3-0 spurt featuring a kill and a block from Russell to knot the frame, 17-17. A pair of Nittany Lion errors lifted Hawaii up by two, 19-17, but Russell cut off the streak with a kill to move Penn State back within one, 19-18.
Hawaii responded with two more kills to extend the Rainbow Warrior lead to three, 21-18, forcing Penn State to call a timeout. Goodell and Russell came out of the timeout with back-to-back kills to trim the lead back to two, 22-20. A service error halted the momentum, but the Nittany Lions responded with a 3-1 strike powered by two kills and an ace from Russell to arrive at set point, 24-23.
The Rainbow Warriors held off two attempts with a kill and a block to pull ahead, 25-24, prompting Penn State to use its final timeout of the stanza. Unable to mount a comeback, Hawaii put down a kill following the break to take set one, 26-24.
Down by four in set two, 7-3, Goodell looked to get the Nittany Lions back on track with a kill, 7-4. Hawaii responded with a 6-2 stretch to build the lead to as many as seven, 13-6. Rebounding, Penn State used a 4-0 streak powered by a kill and back-to-back aces from Russell to trim the deficit to three, 13-10, causing the Rainbow Warriors to call a timeout.
Behind by four at the media timeout, 15-11, Sauter lifted Penn State within two with a pair of consecutive kills out of the break, 15-13. The Rainbow Warriors put an end to the run with a kill, but the Nittany Lions used a 2-1 strike to remain within two, 17-15. Penn State couldn't spark a run as Hawaii used a 7-2 streak to arrive at set point, 24-17.
A kill from Callaway and a triple block by Goodell, Sauter and redshirt junior Matt Seifert held off two attempts, 24-19, but Hawaii answered with a kill to secure set two, 25-19 for a 2-0 lead in the match.
Tied at 3-3 in set three, the Rainbow Warriors put together a 4-1 run to take over a 7-4 lead. Goodell halted the streak with a kill, 5-4, but Hawaii responded with a 6-1 strike to widen the margin to six, 11-5, causing PSU to call a timeout. The `Bows tallied four more points before two kills from Goodell and a block by Russell and Callaway broke up the rhythm, 15-8. The Nittany Lions could not complete a comeback as Hawaii battled to a 25-18 win in the third set to claim a victory in the match.
Penn State remains on the road next week for another set of non-conference matchups. The Nittany Lions travel to Ball State to take on the Cardinals Friday, Jan. 16 before heading to IPFW to square off against the Mastodons Saturday, Jan. 17.