Season Outlook
Season Outlook
"Young but experienced" will be the phrase behind the 2008 Penn
State men's volleyball team. With only two seniors on the roster
and a wealth of young talent waiting in the wings, this season
should be an exciting one for the squad.
The Nittany Lions lost three senior starters to graduation but
return 10 players from last season's 22-8 EIVA Champion and NCAA
Semifinalist squad and also bring in six newcomers to the team.
Head Coach Mark Pavlik and his assistants Craig Dyer and Colin
McMillan will look to blend the squad into an EIVA and NCAA title
contender at the end of the season.
"This is going to be a very exciting year for Nittany Lion
volleyball," said Pavlik, who begins his 14th season
with the squad. "We have a lot of young talent who will take this
team as far as it wants to go."
Outside Hitters
One of the positions hardest hit by graduation is that of the
outside hitter with the loss of Aaron Smith and Alex Gutor. But
returning for the Lions is 2007 AVCA Second Team All-American Matt
Anderson along with a host of others.
"No doubt opponents will always identify Matt Anderson after the
year he had last year, but the ‘new' guys will be counted on
to round out our offense," said Pavlik. "Jay Stauffer will provide
solid passing and quickness and Ryan Sweitzer shows promise as a
physical outside presence. Alan Mars and Jason Ambrose will provide
some depth as they come off their redshirt year ready to
contribute. Freshmen Brad McCoy and Thomas Pereira may be able to
balance out our needs at the antennas this year. Freshman Joe
Sunder will redshirt this year but shows great promise with his
physical abilities, and transfer Will Price, who will sit out this
year as an in-conference transfer, will certainly raise the level
of our practice gym through the entire year."
A starter on the U.S. Junior National Team this summer, Anderson
led the Nittany Lions last season with 4.35 kills per game and
added in 33 service aces. He set a new career high and
rally-scoring record with 35 kills in the win at UC Santa Barbara
on March 12 and produced 24 double-digit kill matches for the
season. A primary passer at 6-10, Anderson also picked up at least
one dig in all but one match, providing five or more digs eight
times.
Stauffer has seen time at various roles throughout his career, both
as an outside hitter and serving specialist. Last season he
recorded 22 kills, eight aces, 27 digs and seven blocks, posting at
least one kill in 10 matches. He set a new personal best with four
aces against Mercyhurst on March 9 and had eight multiple-dig
matches.
Sweitzer played in 44 games and 20 matches as a serving specialist
while also seeing time at opposite last season. He recorded at
least one kill in eight matches, notching a season-best seven kills
on .400 hitting against Rutgers-Newark on March 8 and tallying four
kills on an errorless six swings to hit .667 at IPFW on Jan.
13.
Mars was a four-year member of the Gates-Chili High School varsity
volleyball team in Rochester, N.Y., leading the Spartans to a 17-3
overall record during his senior season as the team captured the
division championship.
Ambrose, one of the top 50 players in Illinois all four years of
high school, was a two-time all-state selection while helping his
Barrington High School squad to a second-place finish in the
Illinois State Championship with a 33-3 overall record in his
senior season.
McCoy, a native of Irvine, Calif., was a two-year varsity starter
at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, Calif. His Sea
Kings squad captured the 2006 and 2007 Pacific Coast Volleyball
League championship, also finishing as a 2006 CIF finalist and
earning the 2007 CIF Division II championship.
Hailing from Brasilia, Brazil, Pereira played club volleyball for
the Maryland Volleyball Program from 2002-2004 and for Apcef
Brasilia from 2004-2006. He helped his Apcef Brasilia team capture
the 2004 and 2005 state championships, with the same squad
finishing fourth at nationals.
Sunder was a four-year volleyball letterwinner at Hempfield Area
High School outside of Pittsburgh, Pa., and was named the WPIAL AAA
Most Valuable Player in 2007. He helped his Spartan squad to a 12-4
record in 2007 while recording 158 digs, 71 blocks and 199
kills.
Price, a transfer from George Mason, was also a starter on the U.S.
National team and led the squad in points with 129, an average of
4.78 points per game at the World Championship in Morocco. Last
season with the Patriots, he was named the EIVA Newcomer of the
Year, averaging 5.49 kills per game on .297 hitting, also providing
48 aces, 81 digs and 64 total blocks.
Middle Hitters
A solid core of Lions return to the middle hitter
position, with two First Team All-EIVA performers forming the
nucleus. Junior Max Holt and sophomore Max Lipsitz, both starters
for the U.S. Junior National Team last summer, hold down the middle
slots with junior Jon Sherrick also competing for time.
"Max and Max have both benefited from international competition and
are intent on getting better," stated Pavlik. "Jon is a solid
middle who understands the position and has had the benefit of
playing against Max and Max in practice for more than a year now.
The middles will score us points from their hitting and blocking,
and will continue to put the team in point-scoring situations from
behind the service line."
Holt averaged 2.71 kills per game on .447 hitting last season for
the Nittany Lions, also setting a new Penn State record for aces in
a season with 55. He had 13 multiple-kill matches and recorded
multiple aces in 14 contests. Holt also led the squad with 129
total blocks, good for 13th on the all-time
single-season record chart and his 119 block assists places him
10th on the all-time list.
In his first collegiate season, Lipsitz averaged 2.21 kills per
game on .477 hitting, good for eighth on Penn State's single-season
record list. He recorded 11 double-digit kill matches and tallied
at least one block in 29 contests, providing a career-high 10
blocks at Juniata on March 28 for his first career double-double.
With the U.S. National Team, Lipsitz recorded 41 kills on .433
hitting, also producing a team-high 61% hitting
efficiency.
Sherrick, who sat out last season after transferring from Saint
Francis, averaged 2.19 kills per game on .384 hitting in 2006 for
the Red Flash. He provided 31 digs and 82 total blocks as a
sophomore and in his first season at Saint Francis, recorded 99
kills, 17 aces and 54 blocks.
Setters
Capable hands guide the setting position as seniors Luke Murray and
Travis Foltz provide multitudes of experience and talented freshman
Edgardo González is waiting in the wings.
"Luke and Travis have been through much in their respective
careers," said Pavlik. "Both have found themselves in big matches
and can keep the team at a high level in competitions, and more
importantly, in practice. With the addition of Edgardo and his
international experiences, the future of the Penn State setting
position is very promising."
The EIVA Championship Most Outstanding Player a year ago, Murray
started in 26 matches last season. He dished out 35 or more assists
19 times and led the team to a combined hitting percentage of .330,
also providing at least one kill in 20 matches. Murray collected
his first collegiate double-double with 51 assists and a
career-high 10 digs at George Mason on April 7, also providing 20
multiple-block matches.
Foltz played in 79 games last season at setter and serving
specialist, directing the offense in the middle of the season when
Murray was out with an injury. He recorded a career-high 59 assists
twice, both at Long Beach State on March 17 and at Rutgers-Newark
on March 23. With his serving, Foltz sparked the game-one comeback
win over George Mason on Feb. 10, serving seven consecutive points
en route to the 31-29 win.
González was the starting setter for both the Puerto Rican
Youth and Junior National Teams, earning the title of captain with
the Junior National Team. In the match against Cuba, he recorded
nine blocks, a Puerto Rican International competition record for
boys or men. Hailing from Colegio Marista High School,
González was a six-time Most Valuable Player and a
three-time Most Outstanding Player for the Seahawks.
Liberos
The other position hardest-hit by graduation is that of
libero, with the loss of two-year starter Ryan Walthall. But two
freshmen, Dennis Del Valle and Jesse Wagner, are primed to take
over and anchor the defense.
"The promise of the libero position is outstanding as two freshmen
have competed extremely well this fall," stated Pavlik. "Dennis and
Jesse bring athleticism and a great knowledge of the game to the
spot. Dennis has competed with the best in the world at his
position and Jesse backs down from no one. The explosiveness and
ability of our liberos will be a strength for us this year."
Del Valle was the libero for both the Puerto Rican Youth and Junior
National teams for the past two summers. At the 2007 Youth World
Championship, he was named "Best Receiver" of the tournament and at
the 2006 NORCECA Boy's Youth Championship, he made history as the
first men's player and only the second player ever in NORCECA
history to pick up the Triple Crown of defensive awards, "Best
Digger," "Best Receiver" and "Best Libero."
Hailing from State College, Pa., Wagner helped lead the Little
Lions to the PIAA AAA state championship tournament and an overall
record of 20-2 in 2007. He led the varsity squad in digs over his
last three years and also aided the team in capturing four
consecutive district championships.
