Conference News
Penn State Defeats Mason, 3-0
Penn State Defeats George Mason, 3-0Anderson leads the Lions with 21 kills on .567 hitting
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Feb. 15, 2008 - The second-ranked Penn State
men's volleyball team crushed No. 13 George Mason in three games
(30-20, 30-19, 30-24) Friday night in the South Gym of Rec Hall in
front of 1,214 fans. The Nittany Lions improve to 13-0 and 4-0 in
the EIVA Tait with the win and take on Princeton on Saturday at
4:00 p.m. at Rec Hall. Gametracker and free live video will be
available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
Junior outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led all
players with 21 kills on a season-high .567 hitting as junior
middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied 11 kills without
an error on 15 attacks to hit .733. Junior opposite Ryan Sweitzer
(Lancaster, Pa.) added in nine kills as the Nittany Lions attacked
at a .519 clip, their second consecutive match hitting .519 or
higher against a Top 15 team.
Senior setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) dished out 45
assists and added two kills as Anderson led all players with a
match-high five digs. Sweitzer chipped in four digs while junior
outside hitter Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) and freshman libero
Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) each picked up three
digs.
Five different Lion players tallied a service ace in the contest,
including Holt, Sweitzer, Anderson, Stauffer and Murray.
Penn State outblocked George Mason, 9.5 to 4.5. Holt led the way
with five stuffs as Anderson and Sweitzer each provided four and
Murray and sophomore middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville,
N.Y.) chipped in three blocks each.
Kyle Gramit led George Mason with 11 kills and Hudson Bates notched
eight kills. Ryan Kwiatkowski directed the offense with 30 assists
and Gramit and Mark Burik each tallied four digs. Bates and Brandon
McLaughlin both recorded two blocks in the contest.
Penn State claimed the 13-7 lead in the first game on back to back
blocks, including a triple effort form Holt, Sweitzer and Anderson.
Three Anderson kills aided the Lions in going up 19-13 and kills
out of the middle from Lipsitz and Holt pushed the score to 21-15.
A Sweitzer kill and Murray ace made it 25-19 and after trading
service errors, kills from Anderson and Lipsitz and a George Mason
attack error ended the game, 30-20. Anderson pounded nine kills in
the stanza.
The Nittany Lions again jumped out to the early lead, going up 15-8
on an Anderson kill and Lipsitz and Sweitzer block. Kills from Holt
and Stauffer pushed it to 20-11 and putaways from Lipsitz and
Sweitzer made it 25-14. Another Holt kill coupled with a Sweitzer
ace gave Penn State the 26-16 advantage before a Lipsitz and Murray
block ended the game, 30-19.
Kills from Holt and Anderson along with an Anderson service ace put
Penn State up 14-8 before an Anderson and Holt block extended the
lead to 19-12. The Nittany Lions maintained the cushion, going
ahead 24-15 on an Anderson kill and 27-20 on a Lipsitz putaway
before kills from Holt and Anderson ended the game, 30-24.








