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Feb. 6, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's volleyball (3-6, 1-0) powered past Erskine (7-2, 4-0) in straight sets (25-17, 25-14, 25-19) Friday evening at Rec Hall. With the victory, the Nittany Lions snap the Flying Fleet's seven-match winning streak to earn their third consecutive win.
Senior Aaron Russell and sophomore Chris Nugent led the offense with 12 kills each. Russell tallied four digs and three blocks, while Nugent logged two aces, and five blocks. Redshirt senior Nick Goodell finished next with seven kills and five digs, while redshirt sophomore Matt Callaway totaled five kills and five blocks.
Redshirt junior Taylor Hammond paced the team to a .500 hitting percentage, dishing out 32 assists as the Nittany Lions committed just four attack errors.
Redshirt senior Connor Curry rounded out the defensive effort with a match-high 10 digs.
With the score tied early, 5-5, Goodell followed a kill from Nugent with an ace to move Penn State ahead by two, 7-5, prompting Erskine to call a timeout. A Penn State error out of the break broke up the momentum, but PSU regrouped with 5-3 stretch finished off by two consecutive kills from Goodell to pull ahead 12-8.
The Flying Fleet answered with a 3-2 spurt to trim the lead back to three, 14-11, but the Nittany Lions surged with a 4-2 strike to build the advantage to as many as six, 19-13, causing Erskine to call a timeout. Penn State came out of the break with a 4-3 stretch to arrive at set point, 24-16. A PSU service error held off the attempt before Goodell locked up a 25-17 win in the first set with a kill.
Leading by one, 4-3, in set two, Nugent sparked a 3-0 spurt with a kill and block that lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by four, 7-3. Erskine cut off the run with a kill and an ace to move within two, 7-5, but Nugent opened up a 6-2 stretch with two kills and an ace to send Penn State up 13-7, forcing the Flying Fleet to call a timeout. The Nittany Lions came out of the break firing, using a 4-1 strike to bolster the lead to nine, 18-7, causing Erskine to use its final timeout of the stanza.
The Flying Fleet looked to regroup with a kill, 17-9, but an error and a block by Nugent and Callaway pushed the lead into double digits, 19-9. From there, Penn State didn't let the lead dip below nine as the Nittany Lions cruised to a 25-15 win in set two to enter the intermission with a 2-0 lead.
After trailing for most of the third set, Russell broke open a 10-all tie with an ace to spark a 6-1 streak that pulled the Nittany Lions ahead by five, 16-11. The Nittany Lions fired an ace out of the break, 17-11, but the Flying Fleet responded with a 4-2 strike in an attempt to mount a comeback, arriving within four,19-15.
An Erskine service error quickly cut off the run as PSU followed with 3-2 spurt to make it match point, 24-17. The Flying Fleet made one final attempt to settle into a rhythm, holding off three straight attempts, 24-19. Redshirt freshman Aidan Albrecht answered with a kill to close out a 25-19 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
Penn State men's volleyball is off from official competition tomorrow evening. In honor of alumni weekend, the Nittany Lions will host their annual PSU alumni match at 3 p.m. in south gym at Rec Hall. Penn State men's volleyball returns to action next week, traveling to Ohio State for a midweek matchup against the Buckeyes Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m., before returning home to host EIVA conference opponent George Mason Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.