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March 28, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Behind 20-plus kill performances from senior Aaron Russell and redshirt freshman Jalen Penrose, No. 8 Penn State men's volleyball (12-9, 6-0) held off NJIT (8-9, 1-6) in five sets (27-29, 25-15, 23-25, 25-16, 15-13) Saturday afternoon at Rec Hall. The win marks the Nittany Lions' eighth consecutive victory as PSU remains undefeated in conference action.
Russell led the offense with 26 kills on .362 hitting, adding a match-high 15 digs for his third double-double of the season. Russell also added three blocks to earn Mike Anderson Penn State Player of the Match honors.
Penrose logged a career-high 21 kills on a .308 hitting clip, while also tallying five digs and three blocks. Sophomore Chris Nugent finished third on the team with 10 kills, adding nine digs and three blocks.
Redshirt sophomore Matt Callaway led the blocking effort with a match-high seven blocks, while redshirt senior Connor Curry anchored the defense with 10 digs. Hammond matched a career-high mark with five total blocks, while also pacing the squad to a .311 hitting percentage with 59 assists.
Tied up early in set one, 5-5, Penrose sparked a 3-0 spurt with a pair of kills that lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by three, 8-5. The Highlanders looked to cut off the run with a kill, 8-6, but PSU followed with a 3-2 stretch to maintain a three-point lead, 11-8. NJIT continued to chip away at the lead, using a 3-1 streak to jump within one, 12-11.
Penrose opened up another 3-1 strike with two kills to build the advantage back up to three, 15-12. The Highlanders answered with back-to-back kills and an ace to knot the frame, 15-15. Penn State and NJIT continued to trade points, keeping it close.
With the score locked at 17-17, Russell sparked a 4-2 run that lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by two, 21-19, prompting NJIT to call a timeout. The two teams exchanged service errors out of the break, 22-20, before a Highlander kill brought NJIT within one, 22-21. Hammond, Callaway and Nugent answered with a block, 23-21, but two kills and a block from NJIT made it set point for the Highlanders, 24-23.
Russell held off one attempt before another NJIT kill gave the Highlanders another try, 25-24. A kill from Russell and an ace from Hammond set the Nittany Lions up for set point, 26-25. The Highlanders fought off another attempt before a PSU attack error made it set point NJIT, 28-27. The Nittany Lions made one final attempt to mount a comeback with a triple block, but an NJIT block thwarted the attempt handing the Highlanders set one, 29-27.
Penn State shot out to a 6-1 lead in set two, causing NJIT to call an early timeout. A PSU service error slowed the momentum, but the Nittany Lions regrouped with a 3-1 strike capped off by two consecutive kills from Russell to make it 9-3. The Highlanders followed two straight blocks to trim the gap to four, 9-5, but Penn State rallied with an 8-5 run to bolster the lead to as many as seven, 17-10, forcing NJIT to use another timeout.
Penn State came out of the break with a 6-3 scoring streak to push the lead into double figures, 23-13. The Highlanders looked to get back on track with two consecutive kills, 23-15, but two NJIT errors secured a 25-15 win in the second set for Penn State to tie the match, 1-1.
Holding on to a narrow one-point lead in set three, 4-3, Nugent sparked a 4-1 run with a kill to double the Nittany Lion advantage, 8-4, causing NJIT to call a timeout. Penn State and NJIT continued to trade points to keep the score close. Leading 13-11, Penrose and Russell put down back-to-back kills to open a 3-1 strike that pulled PSU ahead 16-12.
The Highlanders came battling back on a 5-1 run to tie the stanza, 17-17. Nugent cut off the momentum with a kill, 18-17, but NJIT answered with another 3-1 strike to take over a one-point lead, 20-19. Penrose halted the run with a kill to tie the score, 20-20, but the Highlanders score the next three in a row to go up 23-20, forcing PSU to call a timeout.
Russell came of the break with a kill, 23-21, but NJIT answered with a kill for set point, 24-21. Penn State managed to hold off two consecutive attempts before an NJIT block gave the Highlanders a 25-23 win in the third set.
Tied at 3-3 in set four, Penn State tallied four unanswered points to construct a four-point lead, 7-3. The Highlanders looked to regroup with a kill, 7-4, but PSU followed with an 11-5 scoring streak to stretch the lead to as many as 11, 18-9.
NJIT came back with a 4-1 run to trim the gap to six, 19-13, but PSU followed with a 4-1 strike to make it set point, 24-14. The Highlanders held off two attempts before Nugent put down a kill to close out a 25-16 win in the fourth set, sending the match into a deciding fifth frame.
Penn State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fifth set, causing NJIT to call an early timeout. The Highlanders battled back on a 5-3 stretch to arrive within one, 6-5. Penrose and Nugent responded with two consecutive kills to build a three-point advantage, 8-5. NJIT answered with another 3-1 spurt to get back within one, 9-8, but PSU matched the Highlanders point-for-point down the stretch to arrive at match point, 14-12. NJIT made one final attempt to mount a comeback with a block, 14-13, but Russell finished off a 15-13 win in the fifth set with a kill to wrap up a 3-2 win.
The Nittany Lions hit the road next week, traveling to George Mason for another EIVA matchup. Penn State takes on the Patriots for the second time this season Friday, April 3 at 7 p.m. in Fairfax, Va. Earlier this season, Penn State powered past GMU in three sets at home on Valentine's Day.