| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
March 27, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 8 Penn State men's volleyball (11-9, 5-0) captured its seventh consecutive victory with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-23) win against Princeton (8-8, 4-2) Friday evening at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions also remain unbeaten in EIVA conference action with a two-game lead in the league standings.
Senior Aaron Russell and redshirt freshman Jalen Penrose led the Nittany Lion offense with double-figure kills. Russell notched a team-high 12 kills to go along with three aces, three digs and two blocks. Penrose was close behind with 10 kills on .571 hitting, adding three blocks, two aces and one dig to earn Mike Anderson Penn State Player of the Match honors.
Sophomore Chris Nugent finished third on the team with seven kills, adding four digs and two aces.
Redshirt junior Taylor Hammond paced the team to a .356 hitting clip, dishing out 23 assists. He added a match-high six digs. Redshirt junior Matt Seifert led the blocking unit with four blocks.
As a team, the Nittany Lions out-aced the Tigers, 6-4, while also benefiting from 28 Princeton service errors.
Penn State and Princeton kept it tight throughout the opening portion of the first set. Trailing by two, 11-9, Russell fired a kill and back-to-back aces to send the Nittany Lions on top by one, 12-11, prompting the Tigers to call a timeout.
Princeton came out of the break with a kill to keep it tied, 12-12, but PSU responded with a 5-3 stretch to remain ahead by two points, 17-15. The Tigers looked to spark some momentum with a block, 17-16, but Russell responded with two kills and a block to widen the advantage to four, 20-16.
A PSU service error slowed the rhythm, 20-17, but the Nittany Lions regrouped with four unanswered points to arrive at set point, 24-17. Another PSU attack error and a Princeton block held off a pair of attempts, but Penrose put down one final kill to secure set one, 25-19.
Tied up at 9-9 in set two, Penn State used a 3-0 spurt to pull ahead by three, 12-9. Princeton cut off the streak with a kill, 12-10, but PSU regrouped with 5-2 run to bolster the advantage to six, 17-12. The Tigers answered with a kill an ace to narrow the gap to three, 17-14. Pulling away, Penn State followed with a 6-4 stretch to build the lead back up to four, 23-19. A Penn State attack error lifted the Tigers within three, 23-20, but another Princeton service error made it set point, 24-20.
A Nittany Lion service error held off the attempt before one final Princeton serve into the net gave Penn State a 25-21 win in the second set for a 2-0 lead in the match.
With the score locked up early in set three, 6-6, a Princeton service error sparked a 3-0 strike that lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by three, 9-6. Princeton cut off the run with a kill, but PSU battled back on a 4-3 stretch to keep a comfortable three-point cushion, 13-10. The Tigers came charging back with a 4-1 spurt to knot the frame, 14-14.
The two teams traded points to keep the score tied, 15-15, but Penn State cracked open the score with a 4-1 run capped off by a pair of blocks from Penrose and Seifert to make it 18-15. Princeton looked to get back on track with a kill, 18-15, The Tigers halted the streak with a kill, but Penn State rallied on a 3-1 spurt helped out by two Princeton service errors, 20-17.
The Tigers continued to chip away at the lead as a kill and a PSU attack error pulled Princeton within one, 20-19. Penn State and Princeton traded points two more times, 21-20, before a Princeton service error gave PSU a two-point edge, 23-21.
Princeton fired a kill to keep it close, 23-22, but another service error made it match point for PSU, 24-22. The Tigers held off one attempt, before Nugent put down the final kill to secure a 25-23 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
Penn State returns to action tomorrow afternoon, welcoming NJIT to the court for another EIVA matchup. First serve between the Nittany Lions and the Highlanders is set for 4 p.m. ET in south gym.