Feb. 25, 2009

Saint Francis Men’s Volleyball Battles Penn State, But Falls 3-0 at Rec Hall

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Saint Francis men’s volleyball team threatened in the third set, but third-ranked Penn State pulled away at the end to hand the Red Flash their fourth straight defeat, 3-0, on Wednesday night at Rec Hall.

Juniors Nick Rivett (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) and Jordan Varee (Conneautville, Pa. / Conneaut Valley) had 16 and 13 kills, respectively, but the Nittany Lions stopped the rest of SFU’s hitters in a 30-19, 30-19, 30-24 contest. Senior setter Shane Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) had 34 assists.

Penn State was led by three players in double-digit kills, led by Max Lipsitz, who had 13 kills and just one error on 15 swings for an .800 hitting percentage. Jon Sherrick had 12 kills and Joe Sunder added 10. Edgardo Goas had 46 assists for the Nittany Lions.

The Red Flash, who fell to 7-8 overall and 3-3 in the EIVA Tait Division, will now travel to play a pivotal division match at 7 p.m. on Friday night, at George Mason. The Nittany Lions improved to 12-1 overall, and 5-0 in the EIVA Tait.

Penn State, which out-blocked SFU 13.0 to 5.0 in the match, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match by winning the first two sets by identical scores.

However, the Red Flash wouldn’t go quietly. The Nittany Lions jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but thre Saint Francis kills and two blocks brought the team within two at 11-9. The teams traded points several times before the Red Flash grabbed an 18-16 lead behind three more blocks. The squads exchanged kills several times before a Sunder kill, a Goas and Sherrick block and a Sherrick kill put Penn State back on top, 22-21. The Red Flash then trailed 24-23, but Penn State won six of the final seven serves to win the third set, 30-24, and take the match 3-0.