Feb. 7, 2015
By Matt Allibone, GoPSUSports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's volleyball team is starting to get accustomed to quick matches.
Against Erskine on Friday night, the Nittany Lions didn't lose a set, winning three straight by scores of 25-17, 25-14, and 25-19. The victory marked the third straight sweep for the Blue and White, who defeated Saint Francis and Mount Olive in similar matches last weekend.
The Flying Fleet entered the match 7-1 on the year and played tough throughout the match, but the Nittany Lions refused to allow them to develop any rhythm. According to head coach Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik, the goal for his team was to force their opponent to play "big-boy volleyball."
"This match was really won by our physicality behind the line," Pavlik said. "We ended up serving the ball really well and it gave them trouble. There were balls being binged off of people and not great passes. The best description of it was a workman-like approach. They punched the clock, came in and we did what we had to do and got out of there."
While Erskine managed to score the first point of each set and even led 3-0 to open up the first, the Lions were able to stay focused and took control of the match every time the Fleet seemed close to starting a run.
In the first, the two teams went back and forth for the first 29 points, with Penn State holding on to a 16-13 lead. At that point, the Lions began to heat up, going on a 6-0 run in which they forced Erskine to commit four errors.
That would be a theme throughout the three sets. While the Nittany Lions played a clean, disciplined game and only committed four attack errors, Erskine had 20 and hit just .118 overall.
"I thought the last seven or eight points [of the first set], all of a sudden we started to get really on-track with our serving," Pavlik said. "Any ball that came over we were putting back, we were literally running our offense at a pretty high efficiency in transition. We eventually wore them down in game one and they made their spurts in [sets] two and three early and we just settled into a, if not exciting level, a good level."
The Lions were certainly at a good level in the second, registering a .652 hitting percentage that helped them finish the match with an excellent .500 mark, high above their season mark of .254.
It was also in the second that the team's most reliable offensive player, senior Aaron Russell, began to heat up. After not finishing any kills in the first period, the outside hitter completed eight of 11 attempts in the second on his way to a team-high 12 and a .435 percentage.
"It was just kind of [junior setter] Taylor [Hammond] letting me settle in," Russell said. "I think I only had a few attempts (three) in the first too. In he next few sets I ended up with 23 total, so obviously I got settled a lot more."
Russell may have been reliable as usual, but he was not the only Nittany Lion to perform strongly on Friday. Senior Nick Goodell had seven kills, including six in the first set, Hammond was his steady self with 32 assists and sophomore outside hitter Chris Nugent tied Russell with 12 kills to go with a .526 hitting percentage.
Nugent's performance was especially pleasing for Pavlik to see, as it was the sophomore's second straight strong game, after he finished the Saint Francis match with six kills and seven aces.
"He's passing the ball," Pavlik. "And that's what we're looking for. If we can get Chris's offense and his passing can settle down and allow our offense to run as it needs to that's a bonus. We know he has a great arm, it's if his platform can keep up with it."
Having now won three straight matches (and nine straight sets) the Nittany Lions are beginning to establish some momentum after starting the season 0-6.
"I think it boost's [our confidence]," Russell said. "We've improved a lot, we're playing some good-level ball, and we're playing with some intensity so we're excited."