| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | #6 Penn State
| 25 | 25 | 16 | 25 | 3 | | George Mason | 23 | 23 | 25 | 20 | 1 |
|
| |
| Penn State Statistical Leaders | | - Kills: C. Nugent - 16 -.367 (16-5-30) | | - Blocks: Two Tied - 4 | | - Digs: C. Nugent - 8 | | - Aces: Two Tied - 1 |
|
| Stat Comparison | PSU | GMU | | Kills | 43 | 50 | | Hitting Pct. | .221 | .241 | Assists
| 40 | 49 | | Aces | 2 | 7 | | Digs | 30 | 24 | Blocks
| 9.0 | 10.0 |
|
|
Feb. 27, 2016
Post-Game Notes
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 6 Penn State men's volleyball (12-2, 7-0) rallied past George Mason (5-10, 1-4) in four sets (25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 25-20) Saturday evening at Rec Hall.
Chris Nugent powered the Nittany Lion offense with 16 kills on .367 hitting, adding eight digs and one block. Spencer Sauter finished second on the team with eight kills, while also tallying five digs to earn Mike Anderson Penn State Player of the Match honors.
Matt Seifert chipped in five kills on .429 hitting, while also tying for first on the team with four total blocks. Matt Callaway and Taylor Hammond also logged four blocks apiece. Libero Royce Clemens rounded out the defensive effort with seven digs.
Penn State and George Mason opened the match trading points to keep the score tied up. With the score knotted, 10-10, back-to-back Patriot errors helped the Nittany Lions put together a 3-1 strike to move PSU ahead, 13-11. George Mason came battling back with four unanswered points to take over a two-point lead, 15-13, prompting Penn State to call a timeout.
A George Mason service error brought the Nittany Lions within one, 15-14, but the Patriots responded with a kill to go back up by two, 16-14. Penn State came storming back with a 4-2 streak to tie the score, 18-18. The Nittany Lions continued to roll, scoring another three straight to make a 7-2 run, bringing Penn State ahead, 21-18.
The Patriots called timeout and looked to regroup with a quick 2-1 spurt, arriving within two, 22-20. Two George Mason errors out of the break in between a Patriot block made it set point for Penn State, 24-21. The Patriots held off two attempts before a kill from Callaway secured a 25-23 win in favor of the Nittany Lions.
George Mason shot out to a 6-3 lead for an early advantage in the second set. Smith looked to break up the momentum with a kill, but the Patriots followed with a 7-6 stretch to move ahead, 13-9, prompting Penn State to call a timeout. A pair of George Mason errors in between a Patriot kill narrowed the gap to three, 14-11. Penn State responded with a 3-1 strike capped off with two kills from Sauter to pull within one, 15-14, causing the Patriots to call a timeout.
A kill from Nugent out of the break tied the score, 15-15, but George Mason used another 4-1 stretch to move ahead, 19-16, forcing Penn State to call a timeout. Penn State rallied out of the break with three straight to tie the score, 19-19. George Mason quickly responded with a kill and a block to maintain the edge, 21-19.
A kill from Albrecht and a block from Callaway and Nugent flipped the score, sending Penn State up by one, 22-21, prompting the Patriots to call a timeout. Penn State and George Mason briefly traded points out of the huddle, before a solo stuff from Sauter set the Nittany Lions up for set point, 24-23. The Patriots held off two attempts before Albrecht closed out a 25-23 win in the second set with a kill to send Penn State ahead 2-0 at the intermission.
The Patriots came out of the break firing, using a 10-5 run to construct an early lead, causing Penn State to call a timeout. PSU looked to get back on track with a kill and an ace from Nugent and Sauter, 10-7. Penn State could not halt the momentum as George Mason build its lead to as many as nine, 20-11, before taking the third set, 25-16 to send the match into a fourth set.
Penn State and George Mason battled back-and-forth in the fourth set. With the Nittany Lions trailing by one, 8-7, the Penn State used a 3-0 strike to take over a two-point lead, 10-8. The Patriots looked to cut off the run with a kill, 10-9, but the Nittany Lions used another 3-0 stretch to widen the advantage, 13-9, causing George Mason to call a timeout.
The Patriots scored three straight out of the break to arrive within one, 13-12, prompting Penn State to call a timeout. Penn State and George Mason continued to keep it close, battling to an 18-18 tie late in the frame. Pulling away, Penn State used a 5-2 run to surge ahead, 23-20, forcing George Mason to call a timeout. A kill from Nugent and a Patriot error gave the Nittany Lions a 25-20 win in the fourth set to complete the win.
