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Feb. 27, 2015
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Penn State men's volleyball (5-9, 3-0) downed Sacred Heart (4-7, 1-3) in straight sets (25-16, 25-11, 25-21) to remain unbeaten in EIVA conference action Friday evening on the road at the William H. Pitt Center.
Senior Aaron Russell and sophomore Chris Nugent fueled the offense with double figure kills, tallying 11 each. Registering a team-high .556 hitting clip, Russell added three aces and two blocks, while also tying for first on the team with six digs. Nugent added four digs and three total blocks, including two solo stuffs.
Redshirt senior Nick Goodell finished with seven kills, while also logging three aces and a block. Redshirt sophomore Matt Callaway totaled three kills on six errorless swings, adding one dig and two blocks.
Redshirt freshman Aidan Albrecht powered the blocking unit with a match-high four blocks. Redshirt senior Connor Curry rounded out the defensive output with six digs.
Leading by just two early in set one, 6-4, a Sacred Heart attack error sparked an 11-2 run featuring four kills from Russell that lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by as many as 10, 16-6. The Pioneers looked to mount a scoring streak with a kill before a PSU error, 16-8, but Penn State answered with a 7-3 stretch to make it 23-11.
SHU made another attempt to get back on track with four unanswered points, 23-15, but two kills from Callaway and Goodell in between a late PSU error put away a 25-16 win in set one for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State shot out to a 12-4 lead in the second set before a service error interrupted the momentum. PSU regrouped with back-to-back kills from Goodell and Russell to open up a 4-0 strike that brought the Nittany Lions up 16-5, causing the Pioneers to call a timeout. Sacred Heart came out of the break with a kill, 16-6, but PSU followed with a 7-4 stretch to bolster the advantage to 13, 23-10.
The Pioneers looked to mount a comeback with a kill, 23-11, but Callaway and Goodell came through once again with two consecutive kills to secure a 25-11 win in the second set to put Penn State up 2-0 at the intermission.
The Nittany Lions got out to another hot start in the third frame, using a 12-7 run to build an early lead that prompted the Pioneers to call a timeout. Nugent and Albrecht came out of the break with a block, 13-7, but Sacred Heart fired back with a 7-6 stretch to cut the advantage back to five, 19-14. A Penn State service error and an SHU kill brought the Pioneers as close as three, 19-16, but a kill from Nugent gave the Nittany Lions some space, 20-16.
Penn State continued to battle point-for-point, arriving at match point with the score 24-20. The Pioneers held off just one attempt before a kill from Callaway sealed a 25-21 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
Penn State returns to action tomorrow night, traveling to Harvard to take on the Crimson at 7 p.m. in Malkin Arena.