Honolulu, Jan. 18, 2006 ¨C The 11th-ranked Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team dropped a three-game contest to No. 7 Hawaii in the opening day of the Outrigger Invitational, 19-30, 21-30, 32-34. The Nittany Lions fall to 1-2 while the Warriors improve to 2-1.
Senior Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and freshman Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led the Lions with eight kills each, a career high for Anderson. Junior Alex Gutor (Kiev, Ukraine) chipped in seven kills as senior Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) posted six. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .234 clip.
Sophomore setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) directed the offense with 33 assists as Proper and junior libero Aaron Smith (Richmond, Va.) each picked up eight digs.
Penn State outblocked Hawaii, 10.0 to 7.0, led by freshman Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) with five and three each from Proper, Gutor and Anderson.
Hawaii took the lead in the first game on two kills and an ace before Penn State fought back to knot the score at 5-5. But the Warriors claimed the next five points on a kill and block and three Nittany Lion errors to go up 10-5. A Wentzel kill trimmed the lead to four at 11-7 and a Proper kill and ace pulled Penn State to within three at 14-11. The teams traded points several times before Hawaii rattled off two strings of four points each to take the 28-17 lead. The squads exchanged points and a Warrior kill gave them the game, 30-19.
The second game remained even early on, with a Murray kill putting Penn State on top, 4-3. A Wentzel kill knotted the score at 6-6 and the squads exchanged points before three consecutive Warrior kills gave them the 10-7 lead and forced a Nittany Lion timeout. Out of the break, a Proper kill trimmed the deficit to two at 10-8. The teams traded kills but Hawaii scored four of the next five points to go up 15-10. Back to back Proper kills brought Penn State to within three at 16-13 and another Proper kill and a block from Meerstein and Anderson kept the deficit at three at 19-16. The teams traded points twice and Hawaii scored the next four points to take the 25-18 lead. A Murray kill and a Warrior attack error pulled the Nittany Lions to within five at 26-21 but Hawaii rattled off the next four points to take the set, 30-21.
A solo Holt block tied the third game at 4-4 and the score remained even, with a Gutor kill, a triple block from Gutor, Meerstein and Murray, and a Meerstein kill off of great Proper defense putting Penn State up 12-11. A Murray and Holt block maintained the Lion lead at 14-13 and Gutor and Meerstein kills extended the Penn State advantage to three at 19-16. Out of a Warrior timeout, the teams traded service errors before Hawaii caught fire, recording five of the next seven points on kills to tie the score at 22-22 and force a Penn State timeout. The teams battled out of the break, with a Gutor kill and a block from Holt and Proper putting the Nittany Lions up 26-24. But Hawaii fought back with a kill, block and ace to take the 27-26 advantage. A triple block from Holt, Anderson and Gutor knotted the score at 27-27 and a solo Anderson stuff pushed the Lions ahead but a Hawaii kill and block switched the momentum to the Warriors before another triple block from Holt, Anderson and Proper evened the score at 29-29. The teams traded kills three times before back to back Hawaii putaways gave it the game, 34-32.
Penn State continues action in the Outrigger Invitational, taking on No. 5 UCLA on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 4:00 p.m. HT (9:00 p.m. ET).
Quotes:
Head Coach Mark Pavlik:
¡°This match was a microcosm of our first three matches. I¡¯m disappointed that we come out here to this prestigious tournament and this fantastic facility and crowd and look that bad. Our passing settled down in the second game but the offense wasn¡¯t there. The guys gotta understand that they have to be ready to play from the beginning of the match. I know they¡¯re frustrated and their confidence isn¡¯t very high right now, but hopefully they¡¯ll pull themselves out of it.¡±
Senior Matt Proper:
¡°We didn¡¯t start off passing too well but it calmed down in the second game. We have a tough time starting matches and whenever you set that tone, it¡¯s hard to pull out of it.¡±
On if the time changes and travel affected the team:
¡°I don¡¯t want to make excuses on how we played because of the time. We just have a lot of things to figure out.¡±
Sophomore Luke Murray:
¡°We got settled in game three but we should have played better than that. Hawaii is a very tough-serving team and they have quick middles and a very balanced attack from all areas. We need to work on our serving. But mostly, we need to have more fun and not get so caught up.¡±
