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Feb. 28, 2015
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Penn State men's volleyball (6-9, 4-0) rallied from behind to top Harvard (9-5, 3-2) in four sets (21-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-22) Saturday evening on the road at the Malkin Athletic Center.
Having won their fourth consecutive EIVA conference match, the Nittany Lions remain unbeaten in league action on the year.
Redshirt senior Nick Goodell powered the offense with his second 20-plus kill outing of the season, matching a career-high mark with a match-high 25 kills on .450 hitting. He added two aces and two digs. Senior Aaron Russell finished second on the team with 15 kills, adding two aces, four digs and three blocks, including two solo stuffs.
Sophomore Chris Nugent finished second on the team with eight digs, adding a team-high three aces and seven kills. Redshirt sophomore Matt Callaway finished tied for second on the team with a pair of blocks, while also chipping in six kills.
Redshirt freshman Aidan Albrecht notched a career-high mark with two aces as PSU out-aced the Crimson 10-1.
Defensively, redshirt senior Connor Curry led the way with a match-high 12 digs. Redshirt junior Taylor Hammond paced the team to a .268 hitting percentage, dishing out 49 assists to pair with six digs and two blocks.
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Leading by three points in set one, 10-7, Harvard put down two consecutive kills before a PSU attack error to tie the frame, 10-10. With neither team able to pull away, both Penn State and Harvard knotted the score three more times until the Crimson broke away from a 14-all score with a kill and a block to go up 16-14. Harvard continued to pull away, using a 4-3 stretch to widen the margin to three, 20-17, causing the Nittany Lions to take a timeout.
Goodell followed a Harvard service error with a kill out of the break to make it 20-19, but the Crimson responded with four straight to arrive at set point, 24-19. A Harvard service error and a Goodell kill held off a pair of attempts, but the Crimson closed out a 25-21 win with a kill to take set one.
Penn State shot out to a 9-5 advantage in the second set to take over an early lead. The Crimson looked to cut off the momentum with a kill, 9-6, but PSU followed with a 4-0 run featuring three Harvard attack errors to bolster the advantage to eight, 14-6.
The Crimson looked to get back on track with back-to-back blocks,14-8, but the Nittany Lions did not look back using a 10-6 scoring streak to arrive at set point, 24-14. Callaway capped off a 25-14 win in the second set with a kill to even the match, 1-1 at the intermission.
Trailing by four in set three, 13-9, Russell opened up a 5-0 run with a service ace to vault the Nittany Lions within one, 14-13, forcing Harvard to call a timeout. Russell came out of the break with a kill to tie the score, 14-all, but neither team could generate momentum to pull away with a lead.
With the score locked at 22-22, a costly Harvard attack error gave Penn State a one-point edge, 23-22, prompting the Crimson to use its final timeout of the stanza. Capitalizing on the opportunity, the Nittany Lions came out of the break with two kills from Russell in between one from Harvard to secure set three, 25-23.
PSU jumped out a 10-5 lead in set four before a Harvard kill and a block trimmed the advantage back to three, 10-7. The two teams continued to trade points, but the Nittany Lions managed to maintain a steady three-point lead, 17-14. The Crimson used a 3-0 spurt to tie the score at 17-17, but a kill from Goodell gave Penn State some space, 18-17.
PSU was unable to pull away as both Harvard and Penn State continued to trade points down the stretch. Tied up at 22-22, Goodell and Russell put down two clutch kills to make it match point, 24-22, causing Harvard to call a timeout. Goodell came out of the break with one final kill to wrap up a 25-22 win in the fourth set to give Penn State a 3-1 win.
The Nittany Lions have a bye week on deck, before heading to the west coast for a spring break trip. First up, Penn State travels to USC to take on the Trojans Tuesday, March 10. Then it's off to the Asics Tournament to square off against CSUN Friday, March 13 and tournament host Long Beach State Saturday, March 14.