Conference News
Penn State Secures 3-1 Win Against Lewis
Penn State Secures 3-1 Win
Against Lewis
ROMEOVILLE, Ill., Jan. 29, 2010 - The No. 5 Penn State
men's volleyball team dealt Lewis a 3-1 (30-26, 28-30, 30-25,
30-20) loss on Friday night. Penn State improves to 6-1
overall.
Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led the team with 26 kills,
while also tallying nine digs. Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder
(Greensburg, Pa.) posted a career-high 20 kills and finished tied
for second on the team with 11 digs. Senior Max Lipsitz
(Williamsville, N.Y.) finished third on the team with 16 kills on
.562 hitting with a team-best five blocks. Redshirt sophomore
Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) paced the Penn State offense
with 65 assists and had 11 digs, while junior Dennis Del Valle (Toa
Alta, Puerto Rico) led the team with 17 digs.
Penn State outhit the Flyers with a .342 attack percentage holding
Lewis to .213. The Nittany Lions totaled 74 kills, 69 assists, four
aces, 60 digs and 10.0 total team blocks. Lewis finished the match
with 60 kills, 55 assists, two aces, and 46 digs and out blocked
PSU with 13.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions took a 2-0 lead to start the first set after a
joint stuff by Goas and Lipsitz and a Lewis attack error. A PSU
service error put the Flyers on the board, but a Lipsitz ace and a
one kill each from Price and Sunder had the Lions leading 5-1. Penn
State held onto to the lead until a quick 4-0 run by the Flyers had
the set tied at 7-7. A Sunder kill and a solo block by freshman Ian
Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) put the Nittany Lions back in the lead,
9-7. Despite coming within one point on seven occasions, Lewis was
unable to tie the set again and take the lead. With Penn State
leading 17-16, Lewis posted three straight errors and called a
timeout. The Flyers fought back to within one of PSU, 21-20, but
the Nittany Lions maintained control of the lead. A 7-4 run by PSU
put the Lions in set-point position, 29-25, and despite a Lewis
kill, Sunder put one down to give Penn State a 30-26 first set
win.
A PSU error put Lewis on the board first in set two, but a Goas
dump and solo stuff by Hendries gave Penn State an early 2-1 edge.
Lewis tied the score twice before three consecutive errors and a
Sunder kill put the Lions ahead, 7-3. The Nittany Lions held onto
the lead until four Flyer kills allowed Lewis to tie the set at
13-13. A Sunder kill put the Lions back in the lead. Penn State's
lead was short-lived, however, as Lewis capitalized on three
straight PSU errors to take a 21-20 lead late in the set. Two Penn
State timeouts failed to slow the Flyers, but two Lipsitz kills and
another putdown by Goas had the Lions within one, 28-27. Lewis
called a timeout and managed to hold onto its slim lead for a 30-28
second set win.
Penn State had a 3-1 lead early in the third set thanks to kills by
Lipsitz and Sunder and a Lewis error. The scored tied eight times
before a PSU attack error put Lewis ahead by one, 14-13. Penn State
managed to tie the score, but it took back-to-back kills by Price
for Penn State to regain the lead, 17-15. The Nittany Lions
maintained the lead for the remainder of the set. After a Lewis
timeout, PSU increased the gap to give, 27-22 after three PSU kills
and a Lewis service error. Despite two Lion errors, Lipsitz tallied
two kills and Sunder one to give Penn State a 30-25 third set win
and a 2-1 lead in the match.
A Lewis kill and a PSU error had the Flyers taking a 2-0 lead to
start off the fourth set. Kills by Lipsitz and Sunder allowed the
Lions to tie it at 2-2, but the Flyers had a 6-3 advantage before
PSU began its comeback. The Lions tied the set, 9-9, on an ace from
redshirt junior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) and a Goas/Lipsitz
block put Penn State ahead for good, 10-9. By midway through the
frame, PSU's lead had grown to four, 17-13. When the Lions' lead
increased to six, 22-16, after two Lewis errors and a joint block
by Lipsitz and Sunder, Lewis called a timeout. The timeout failed
to slow the Nittany Lions who closed out the fourth and final set
on an 8-3 run for a 30-20 win.








