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April 4, 2015
FAIRFAX, Va. - No.7 Penn State men's volleyball (13-9, 7-0) stretched its winning streak to nine consecutive matches as the Nittany Lions took down George Mason (9-11, 4-4) in straight sets (25-19, 25-22, 25-13) Saturday evening on the road at the RAC.
Three Nittany Lions powered the PSU offense with double figure kills. Senior Aaron Russell led the way with 15 kills on .700 hitting, adding two aces, one block and a team-high nine digs. Redshirt freshman Jalen Penrose logged his fourth consecutive double-digit kill performance with 13 kills on .450 hitting with four digs, two aces and a team-high two blocks. Sophomore Chris Nugent rounded out the group with 10 kills.
Redshirt senior Connor Curry finished second on the team with seven digs. Redshirt junior Taylor Hammond paced the team to a .520 attacking clip, dishing out 38 assists.
The Nittany Lions opened the match on an 11-6 run to take control of an early advantage, causing George Mason to take a timeout. Russell came out of the break with an ace, 12-6, but the Patriots answered back with a 6-3 stretch to narrow the lead to three, 15-12. Penn State quickly regrouped, using a 5-3 run to build the advantage back to as many as five, 20-15, forcing George Mason to use its final timeout of the frame.
A pair of Nittany Lion errors out of the break pulled George Mason within three, 20-17, but redshirt junior Matt Seifert sparked a 5-2 run capped off by kills from Nugent and Russell to seal a 25-19 win in the opening set.
Trailing by two in set two, 7-5, Russell and Penrose put down back-to-back kills to tie the score, 7-7. The two teams continued to trade points to keep the score knotted, 9-9, before GMU used a 3-1 burst to take over another two-point lead, 12-10. PSU continued to fight, answering with a 6-3 streak to take over a one-point advantage, prompting the Patriots to call a timeout.
A Nittany Lion service error out of the break kept the score tied, 16-16, but Penrose and Nugent put away a pair of kills to open up a 5-3 run that lifted PSU ahead, 21-19. A PSU service error cut off the run, 20-21, but another kill from Russell gave Penn State a two-point cushion, 22-20. Another PSU service error trimmed the margin to one, 22-21, but kills from Russell, Seifert and Nugent helped the Nittany Lions to a 25-22 win in the second set.
Much like the opening frame, Penn State shot out to an 11-6 lead in the third stanza, causing the Patriots to use an early timeout. George Mason looked to halt the momentum with a kill, 11-7, but Penn State followed with five unanswered points, featuring four kills from Russell to make it 16-7.
GMU attempted to get back on track with a kill, 16-8, but the Nittany Lions rolled to set point on an 8-4 run. The Patriots held off one attempt before redshirt sophomore Matt Callaway put down the final kill to secure a 25-13 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
The Nittany Lions return home from the road next week to conclude the 2015 regular season home slate. Penn State hosts Harvard Friday, April 10 at 7 p.m. before taking on Sacred Heart at 4 p.m. on senior night at Rec Hall. Both matches are set to take place in main gym.