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Feb. 20, 2015
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Penn State men's volleyball (4-8) fell short in four sets (15-25, 28-26, 18-25, 20-25) on the road at No. 2 Lewis (12-1) Friday evening at Neil Carey Arena.
Redshirt senior Nick Goodell and senior Aaron Russell led the Nittany Lion offense with a pair of double digit kill performances. Goodell tallied a match-high 20 kills for his first 20-kill performance of the season, while also adding nine digs.
Russell followed close behind with 17 kills to go along with five digs.
Redshirt sophomore Matt Callaway finished third on the team with five kills while redshirt freshman Aidan Albrecht and redshirt sophomore Spencer Sauter chipped in four kills each. Albrecht tied for first on the team with two blocks, including one solo stuff.
Connor Curry led the defensive effort with 11 digs, marking his sixth double figure dig performance of the season.
Redshirt junior Taylor Hammond paced the team to a .375 hitting clip, dishing out 43 assists, while also posting eight digs.
Trailing by two early in set one, 7-5, Penn State used a 2-1 burst powered by a pair of kills from Russell to move within one, 7-8. The Nittany Lions and the Flyers continued to trade points but Lewis managed to remain on top, 10-8. A Lewis service error and a kill from Goodell quickly tied the frame, 10-10. Both teams continued to keep it tight until the Flyers broke open a 12-12 tie with four in a row to go ahead by four, 16-12, forcing the Nittany Lions to call a timeout.
Lewis came out of the break with a kill and a block before a PSU error prompted Penn State to use its final timeout of the set, trailing 19-12. A Flyer attack error out of the break broke up the run, 19-13, but Lewis regrouped with a 4-1strike to widen the margin to nine, 23-14. Goodell looked to spark some momentum with a kill, 23-15, but the Flyers put down two more kills to take set one, 25-15.
Tied at 4-4 in set two, Lewis put down two kills and a block to pull ahead by three, 7-4, causing the Nittany Lions to call a timeout. The Flyers used a kill and an ace out of the break to move ahead by five, 9-4, but a kill from Sauter and a pair of Lewis attack errors lifted PSU within two, 9-7. The Flyers answered with two consecutive kills, but Goodell and Russell followed with back-to-back kills to keep within two, 11-9.
Lewis cut off the run with a kill, 12-9, but Penn State responded with a 4-1 streak to knot the score, 13-13. The Flyers broke up the rhythm with a kill, but PSU used a 3-1 spurt helped out by two kills from Callaway to go up by one, 16-15. Lewis answered with a 4-2 stretch to jump back on top, 19-18. Penn State regrouped a 4-1 run featuring a pair of kills and an ace from Russell to take over a two-point lead, 22-20. With PSU unable to sustain the momentum, the Flyers rebounded with three straight to move back up by one, 23-22.
Rallying, a Lewis service error and a kill from Sauter made it set point for the Nittany Lions, 24-23. The Flyers held off three attempts before a Lewis error and a kill from Russell secured set two, 28-26 in favor of PSU to tie the match.
Penn State called an early timeout in set three, trailing 12-7. Unable to get back on track after the break, the Flyers surged ahead by as many as eight, 18-10, helped out by a 6-3 run. A Lewis error temporarily interrupted the stretch, but a pair of PSU errors sent the Flyers ahead, 20-11. Penn State battled back with a 4-1 strike to trim the deficit back to six, 21-15.
The Nittany Lions were unable to hold off the offensive pressure as Lewis used a 4-3 stretch to arrive at set point, 24-18, before posting up for a block to take set three, 25-18.
PSU jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set four, forcing the Flyers to call an early timeout. Lewis responded with a 6-2 run to shave the advantage back to one, 9-8. A Lewis service error broke up the run, but the Flyers followed with three in a row to take over a one-point lead, 11-10. Penn State fired back with a 3-1 strike to pull ahead 13-12, but a Lewis kill and a pair of PSU attack errors gave the Flyers the lead, 15-13.
Penn State halted the momentum with a 3-1 spurt to tie the score, 16-16. Lewis pulled ahead, 18-16, with an ace following a PSU error, prompting the Nittany Lions to call timeout. Penn State came out of the break with a 3-1 burst to tie it up, 19-19, but a 3-0 Flyer run gave Lewis the edge, 22-19. Goodell looked to spark a comeback with a kill, 22-20, but two blocks and a kill from Lewis gave the Flyers a 25-22 win in set for to claim a 3-1 win in the match.
Penn State is back in action tomorrow night, traveling to Loyola Chicago to take on the top-ranked Ramblers. First serve from Gentile Arena is set for 8 p.m. ET.