Conference News
No. 9 Penn State Earns 3-0 Win Against George Mason
No. 9 Penn State Earns 3-0 Win
Against George Mason
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., March 6, 2010 - The ninth-ranked Penn
State men's volleyball team earned a 3-0 (30-24, 30-22, 30-16) win
against George Mason on Saturday evening. Penn State is now 13-2
overall with a 6-0 record in EIVA play.
Redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) led the Lions with
14 kills on .542 hitting, while senior Will Price (Gaithersburg,
Md.) finished second on the team with 10. Redshirt sophomore setter
Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 36 assists and was
second on the team with four blocks. Junior libero Dennis Del Valle
(Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) had a team-best 14 digs and senior Max
Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) had a match-high seven blocks.
The Nittany Lions finished the match with a .432 attack percentage
and held the Patriots to .158. Penn State finished the match with
48 kills, 44 assists, eight aces, 34 digs and 9.0 team blocks.
George Mason closed the evening with 37 kills, 34 assists, three
aces, 27 digs and 5.5 team blocks.
The first set started out close with the score tying eight times
before the Nittany Lions began their breakaway. With the score tied
at 10-10, Lipsitz teamed up with Sunder and Goas for two blocks for
a 12-10 lead. A service error had the Patriots within one, but
kills by Sunder and freshman Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) had the
Lions soon up by three, 14-11. Soon after a monster Sunder kill
forced the Patriots to call a timeout. After the timeout, George
Mason fought back to within one, 18-17, but three straight errors
had Penn State leading by four, 22-18. Following a second GMU
timeout, Penn State's lead grew to six, 26-20, after two George
Mason errors, a Lipsitz kill and an ace by redshirt junior Alan
Mars (Rochester, N.Y.). The Patriots managed to come within five,
29-24, but a service error would give Penn State the first set win,
30-24.
The Nittany Lions took an 8-4 lead to start set two and sent George
Mason to the bench for an early timeout. Penn State's lead grew to
six, 10-4, after a Price kill and PSU block. The Patriots came
within three, but by midway through the set, Penn State was ahead
by five, 15-10. A 6-4 run by George Mason had the Patriots back
within three, 19-16, but kills by junior Thomas Pereira (Brasilia,
Brazil) and Sunder and a Price ace put PSU in front by six, 23-17.
Penn State's lead continued to grow and after two kills by Price
and another by Sunder, the Lions closed out the set by a score of
32-22.
Penn State jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the third set. After three
straight Patriot attack errors, George Mason headed to the bench.
Despite a Patriot kill, Penn State's momentum only grew and the
Lions lead grew to double-digits, 14-4. The Patriots called a
second time out, but Penn State's lead continued to grow thanks to
kills from Sunder and Turko and a Sunder ace. Five GMU errors with
a Lipsitz kill mixed in kept Penn State in a comfortable lead,
24-9. The Patriots managed a small 4-2 run cutting Penn State's
lead to 12, 26-14. However, the Nittany Lions managed to close out
the match with two kills from freshman Ian Hendries (Cardiff,
Calif.) and two errors by the Patriots for a 30-16 victory.








