Conference News
No. 7 Nittany Lions Sweep Ball State
No. 7 Nittany Lions Sweep Ball
State
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Feb. 19, 2010 - The seventh-ranked
Penn State men's volleyball team earned a convincing 3-0 (30-18,
30-15, 30-22) victory against Ball State of the MIVA. The Nittany
Lions (8-2) are back in action tomorrow night at Rec Hall hosting
IPFW at 7 p.m. in South Gym.
Senior Will Price (Gaithersburg, Md.) led the Lions with 15 kills
on a season-high .571 hitting percentage. Redshirt sophomore Joe
Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) was second on the team with 13 kills with
only one error in 17 swings (.706%) and senior Max Lipsitz
(Williamsville, N.Y.) finished third with 12 kills on .733 hitting.
Redshirt sophomore Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) tallied 24
assists while splitting time with sophomore Tor Covello (Yardley,
Pa.) who posted 18 assists and two locks. Lipsitz led the team in
blocks with five, while Price registered a team-high eight
digs.
The Nittany Lions posted a season-high .566 attack percentage,
while holding the Cardinals to a meager .079. Penn State totaled 52
kills, 48 assists, one ace, 28 digs and 9.0 total team blocks. Ball
State finished the match with 31 kills, 29 assists, two aces, 12
digs and 8.0 team blocks.
Lipsitz put the Lions on the board in set one with a kill before a
Price kill and a BSU error gave PSU a 3-1 lead. Despite a service
error, back-to-back Penn State kills moved Penn State ahead by
three, 5-2. The Cardinals fought to within one three times, but
kills by Price, Lipsitz and Sunder had Penn State leading 13-9 when
Ball State called a timeout. After the timeout, Ball State tallied
a kill before the Nittany Lions took off on a 7-3 run for a 20-13
advantage. Kills from Lipsitz, sophomore Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) and
Goas increased Penn State's lead to nine, 23-14, to force the
Cardinals to take another timeout. The Cardinals notched two blocks
as the set began to wind down, but six attack errors would give
Penn State set one by a score of 30-18.
The Cardinals to a 2-0 lead to start off set two, but Penn State
took a 3-2 lead after putdowns by Price and Goas and a Goas/Lipsitz
block. The score tied twice before a 7-2 Penn State run moved Penn
State ahead, 11-6. Ball State called a timeout, but it failed to
slow the Lions. PSU took off on a 12-4 run to increase the gap to
13, 23-10. Lipsitz and Price each had two kills in the run, while
freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) and Sunder put down one
apiece. After a Ball State timeout, Covello set Sunder for another
kill before Price, Sunder and Turko posted a joint stuff for a
25-10 lead. The Cardinals managed two kills and an ace, but five
errors would give Penn State a 30-14 set two win.
The third set was close from the start with the score tying five
times before Ball State two a 7-5 lead on a joint block by Ethan
Pheister and J.D. Gasparovic. Soon after a Wolf kill and a BSU
attack error had the set tied at 9-9. A PSU service error put the
Cardinals back in front, but four Penn State kills and a block from
Covello and Lipsitz gave Penn State a comfortable 14-10 lead. BSU's
Matt Sprague brought the Cardinals within three, 15-12, but it was
the closest Ball State would come for the remainder of the match. A
7-3 Penn State run forced the Cardinals to take a timeout. Lipsitz
put down a kill following the break and a kill by freshman Tom
Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) had Penn State's lead at eight, 24-16.
Despite kills from Sprague and Adam Schulte, two kills by Sunder
and one each from Lipsitz and Comfort would secure the third set
for Penn State, 30-22.








