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Jan. 8, 2015
HONOLULU - No. 3 Penn State men's volleyball (0-1) came up short in its season-opening comeback as No. 8 UC Irvine (1-1) edged the Nittany Lions in five sets (17-25, 18-25, 25-18, 25-22, 7-15) in the opening match of the Outrigger Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center Thursday evening.
Senior Aaron Russell led the way with a match-high 19 kills and nine digs, while also adding two aces and two blocks. Redshirt senior Nick Goodell also posted double-digit kills, finishing second on the team with 10, adding seven digs and two blocks.
Redshirt sophomore Andrew Roberts posted a career-high mark, serving up two aces. Redshirt junior Matt Seifert and redshirt sophomore led the blocking unit with three blocks each.
Following some early back-and-forth action, Penn State broke open a 5-5 tie with a 3-1 strike to go up by three, 8-5. UC Irvine continued to chip away at the advantage, using a 6-3 stretch to knot the frame, 11-11. The Nittany Lions and the Anteaters continued to battle point-for-point, tying the score five more times, 16-16, until UCI pulled ahead with a kill after a PSU service error, 18-16, forcing Penn State to call a timeout.
UC Irvine came out of the break with another kill following a PSU attack error to move ahead by as many as four, 20-16, causing Penn State to use its final timeout of the stanza. Seifert halted the momentum with a kill, 20-17, but UCI answered with a 5-1 run capped off by two consecutive aces to close out a 25-18 win in the opening frame.
Maintaining a two-point advantage in set two, 8-5, UC Irvine erased the PSU lead with three straight to tie it up, 8-8. Penn State and UCI continued to trade points, until the Anteaters used a 4-1 streak to crack open an 11-11 tie and move ahead 15-12. The Nittany Lions looked to regroup with a kill following a UCI service error but two PSU attack errors widened the UC Irvine lead to four, 18-14.
Sophomore Chris Nugent looked once again to cut off the run with a kill, 18-15, but the Anteaters followed with three consecutive kills to move ahead, 21-16, prompting the Nittany Lions to call a timeout. Penn State could not put together a run out of the break as UCI used a 4-2 stretch to take set two, 25-18.
Penn State opened set three on a 3-0 run before UC Irvine answered with a 4-1 streak to knot the score, 4-4. PSU and UCI continued to keep it tight throughout the frame. Tied up at the midway point, 14-14, Penn State used 4-1 run to pull ahead by three, 18-15. The Anteaters looked to spark a run with a triple block, 18-16, but the Nittany Lions wrapped up the frame with 7-2 streak capped off by back-to-back aces from Roberts to secure set three, 25-17.
The Nittany Lions shot out to a 10-6 lead in set four, forcing UC Irvine to call an early timeout. Penn State came out of the break with an ace from Seifert, sparking a 4-3 stretch that put PSU on top, 14-9. The Anteaters responded with a 4-1 strike to arrive within two, 15-13, prompting the Nittany Lions to call a timeout. Russell came out of the break with a kill to open up a 4-1 run that brought PSU back up by four, 19-15.
UC Irvine came battling back with a 4-2 stretch to trim the gap to two, 21-19. Russell and Callaway put down kills in between one from UCI to build the advantage to three, 23-20. A UC Irvine block and a Penn State attack error moved the Anteaters within one, 23-22, but a kill from Russell and an ace from Goodell locked up a 25-22 win in the fourth frame, sending the match into a deciding fifth set.
UC Irvine jumped out to a 7-2 lead before Goodell looked to cut off the momentum with a kill to make it 7-3. The Anteaters followed with a kill to head into the crossover leading 8-3. Rallying, Penn State rebounded with a 3-1 spurt featuring a kill and an ace from Russell to narrow the gap to three, 8-5.
The Anteaters responded with three straight to move ahead by as many as six, 11-5, causing Penn State to use its final timeout. The Nittany Lions couldn't get back on track out of the break as the Anteaters used a 3-2 spurt to arrive at match point, 14-7. Goodell held off the attempt with a kill, but UC Irvine followed with a kill to take set five, 15-7, and the match, 3-2.
Next up, Penn State closes out the Outrigger Invitational with a matchup against tournament host Hawaii. The Nittany Lions and the eighth-ranked Rainbow Warriors square off at 12 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10. Fans can catch a live stream of the event with a paid subscription as well as listen to a free audio stream.