2006-07 News Archives

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., February 6, 2007 - The seventh-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team swept Juniata in three games (30-28, 30-21, 30-23) Tuesday night to open up play in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA). The Nittany Lions improve to 4-2 while the Eagles fall to 3-2 and 0-1 in conference action.

"After we got used to playing, I thought we did well," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "Physically we're as good as anyone in the country, mentally we sometimes falter. All in all, the offense is doing what it needed to do and I thought our blocking was good. We just weren't sharp tonight."

Senior Alex Gutor (Kiev, Ukraine) and sophomore Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) each posted 14 kills in the contest, with Gutor's coming on a season-high .522 hitting (14-2-23). Sophomore Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded nine kills on .571 hitting while senior Aaron Smith (Forest, Va.) and freshman Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) each contributed five kills. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .432 clip, including hitting .696 in the second game.

Junior Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) directed the offense with 42 assists while senior libero Ryan Walthall (Irvine, Calif.) topped the defense with a match-high 10 digs, his third double-digit dig match of the year.

Penn State outblocked Juniata 9.5 to 2.5, led by Smith, Holt and Anderson with four each and three by Lipsitz.

Dan Powers led the Eagles with 11 kills as Matt Fritz chipped in 10.

Juniata started the match out on fire, going ahead 7-4 aided by a Penn State attack error. The Eagles maintained their lead, taking the 17-12 advantage on a kill from Glenn DeHaven. The Nittany Lions started slowly chipping away at the deficit , pulling within four on a Gutor kill to make it 21-17. But Juniata maintained the lead, pulling ahead 25-20 on a kill by Matt Werle before a Holt kill sparked a 4-0 run to pull the Lions within one at 25-24. The teams traded points before a Gutor kill and Eagle attack error knotted the game at 26-26. Two ties ensued before an Anderson kill and a block by Anderson and Holt ended the game at 30-28. Anderson and Gutor each added five kills in the game.

Penn State started the second game strong, going on top 15-10 on a block by Holt and Murray. The Lions maintained the advantage, making the score 20-16 aided by two Lipsitz kills. Three consecutive Holt kills pushed the Lion lead to 25-18 before two Gutor kills made it 27-20 and an Anderson kill and Juniata attack error ended the game, 30-21.

The third game remained even early on, with Penn State going ahead 16-14 on a solo Smith block. Kills by Holt, Anderson and Gutor and a Smith ace extended the lead to 21-15 before a Holt ace made it 24-17. The Nittany Lions went up 27-20 on a triple block from Smith, Lipsitz and Anderson before a Gutor kill ended the game, 30-23.

The Nittany Lions remain at home in EIVA action, hosting Saint Francis on Friday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 p.m. before taking on George Mason on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8:00 p.m. in the South Gym of Rec Hall.



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2006-07 News Archives 2005-06 \| 2006-07 \| 2007-08 \| 2008-09 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., February 6, 2007 - The seventh-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team swept Juniata in three games (30-28, 30-21, 30-23) Tuesday night to open up play in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA). The Nittany Lions improve to 4-2 while the Eagles fall to 3-2 and 0-1 in conference action. "After we got used to playing, I thought we did well," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "Physically we're as good as anyone in the country, mentally we sometimes falter. All in all, the offense is doing what it needed to do and I thought our blocking was good. We just weren't sharp tonight." Senior Alex Gutor (Kiev, Ukraine) and sophomore Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) each posted 14 kills in the contest, with Gutor's coming on a season-high .522 hitting (14-2-23). Sophomore Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded nine kills on .571 hitting while senior Aaron Smith (Forest, Va.) and freshman Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) each contributed five kills. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .432 clip, including hitting .696 in the second game. Junior Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) directed the offense with 42 assists while senior libero Ryan Walthall (Irvine, Calif.) topped the defense with a match-high 10 digs, his third double-digit dig match of the year. Penn State outblocked Juniata 9.5 to 2.5, led by Smith, Holt and Anderson with four each and three by Lipsitz. Dan Powers led the Eagles with 11 kills as Matt Fritz chipped in 10. Juniata started the match out on fire, going ahead 7-4 aided by a Penn State attack error. The Eagles maintained their lead, taking the 17-12 advantage on a kill from Glenn DeHaven. The Nittany Lions started slowly chipping away at the deficit , pulling within four on a Gutor kill to make it 21-17. But Juniata maintained the lead, pulling ahead 25-20 on a kill by Matt Werle before a Holt kill sparked a 4-0 run to pull the Lions within one at 25-24. The teams traded points before a Gutor kill and Eagle attack error knotted the game at 26-26. Two ties ensued before an Anderson kill and a block by Anderson and Holt ended the game at 30-28. Anderson and Gutor each added five kills in the game. Penn State started the second game strong, going on top 15-10 on a block by Holt and Murray. The Lions maintained the advantage, making the score 20-16 aided by two Lipsitz kills. Three consecutive Holt kills pushed the Lion lead to 25-18 before two Gutor kills made it 27-20 and an Anderson kill and Juniata attack error ended the game, 30-21. The third game remained even early on, with Penn State going ahead 16-14 on a solo Smith block. Kills by Holt, Anderson and Gutor and a Smith ace extended the lead to 21-15 before a Holt ace made it 24-17. The Nittany Lions went up 27-20 on a triple block from Smith, Lipsitz and Anderson before a Gutor kill ended the game, 30-23. The Nittany Lions remain at home in EIVA action, hosting Saint Francis on Friday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 p.m. before taking on George Mason on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8:00 p.m. in the South Gym of Rec Hall.