Jan. 17, 2015
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. - No. 10 Penn State men's volleyball (0-4) dropped a four-set decision (26-24, 20-25, 21-25, 19-25) on the road at No. 13 IPFW (3-2) Saturday evening.
Senior Aaron Russell and redshirt senior Nick Goodell led the team with double digit kills. Russell posted a match-high 20 kills on .531 hitting, adding two aces and three digs, while Goodell notched 10 kills, two aces, two digs and a squad-best three blocks.
Redshirt junior Matt Seifert and sophomore Chris Nugent finished tied for third on the team with five kills apiece.
Redshirt junior Taylor Hammond dished out 40 assists, while also adding six digs and one block. Redshirt senior Connor Curry led the defense with nine digs.
Penn State opened the match on a 5-3 run before a Mastodon kill closed the gap to one, 5-4. Capitalizing on a pair of IPFW errors, PSU responded with a 5-0 streak capped off by back-to-back aces from Seifert to pull ahead by six, 10-4. IPWF followed with a 5-2 stretch to narrow the margin to three, 12-9, but a kill from Nugent and a block by Goodell and Seifert brought the Nittany Lions up by five, 14-9.
The Mastodons looked to break up the momentum with a kill, 14-10, but the Nittany Lions matched IPFW point-for-point for the next six tallies to maintain the advantage, 20-16. Rallying, the Mastodons used a 5-1 run to tie the frame, 21-21. PSU and IPFW exchanged service errors before a kill from Russell lifted the Nittany Lions up by one, 23-22. The Mastodons came back with a kill, but a service error made it set point for PSU, 24-23. IPFW made one more attempt to mount a comeback with a kill to tie it, 24-24, but a service error and an ace from Russell locked up a 26-24 win for the Nittany Lions in set one.
Trailing by one 4-3, early in set two, Penn State used a 3-0 spurt capped off by two consecutive aces from Goodell to jump ahead by two, 6-4. The Mastodons answered with a 4-1 strike to move back on top, 8-7. PSU looked to halt the run with a kill from Russell, 8-8, but IPFW followed with a 3-1 stretch to maintain the advantage, 11-9. Regrouping, Penn State used a 4-2 stretch to knot the score twice, 12-12, before a block from Seifert and a kill from Goodell vaulted PSU on top, 14-12.
The Mastodons responded with back-to-back kills to keep the score tied, 14-14. Unable to slow the rhythm, IPWF responded with a 3-1 burst to take over a two-point lead, 17-15, forcing the Nittany Lions to call a timeout.
The Mastodons came out of the break with a 5-3 stretch to extend their lead to four, 22-18. Russell put down two kills in between a service error to trim the deficit to three, 23-20, but a pair of IPFW kills handed the Mastodons a 25-20 win in the second set to tie the match, 1-1.
Penn State and IPFW battled back-and-forth in the early portion of the third set until IPFW used a 4-1 run stretch a one-point lead to four, 9-5, prompting the Nittany Lions to call a timeout. The Mastodons came out of the break with a 5-3 run to bolster the lead to six, 14-8. Penn State quickly responded with four unanswered points to shave the deficit to two, 14-12, causing the Mastodons to call a timeout. PSU and IPFW traded kills out of the break, 16-13, until Russell put down two straight to move the Nittany Lions within one, 16-15.
PSU managed to tie the stanza, 18-18 off of a kill from redshirt freshman Jalen Penrose and an IPFW attack error, but back-to-back Mastodon kills set Penn State back, 20-18. Russell and Seifert put away a pair of kills in between a PSU service error to bring Penn State back within one, 21-20, but a 4-1 IPFW run gave the Mastodons a 25-21 win in the third set.
Trailing by one in set four, 3-2, IPFW used a 4-0 stretch to take over a three-point lead, 6-3, prompting PSU to call a timeout. Penn State came out of the break firing, using a 4-1 run to knot the frame, 7-7. The Mastodons used a block and a kill to move ahead, 9-7, but Penn State answered back with a trio of kills to get back on top, 10-9. Penn State and IPFW battled to two more ties until a Mastodon service error and a kill from Nugent lifted PSU ahead, 15-13.
IPFW responded with the next four points to climb back on top, 17-15, causing the Nittany Lions to call a timeout. Penn State could not get back on track out of the break as IPFW used an 8-4 run to capture a 25-19 win in the fourth set and a 3-1 win in the match.
Penn State returns home from the road next week to welcome a pair of teams to Rec Hall for the 2015 season home-opener. The Nittany Lions take on defending national champion No. 1 Loyola Friday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m., before hosting No. 5 Lewis Saturday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.