STATE COLLEGE, Pa., February 2, 2002 - The sixth-ranked Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team used a two game lead to seal their two-hour, four-game victory (31-29, 30-26, 27-30, 30-25) over second-ranked Stanford Saturday night at Rec Hall in front of 2,014 fans. Penn State improves to 5-2 on the season while Stanford falls to an even 5-5.
Four Lions were in double-digit kills, led by junior Zeljko Koljesar (Kitchener, Ontario) with 19. Junior Carlos Guerra (Tamaulipus, Mexico) recorded Penn State¡¯s first double-double of the season, as he racked up 14 kills and 14 digs while also adding two aces. Junior Zach Slenker (Dallastown, Pa.) tallied 13 kills in the match, six of which came in the first stanza. Also in double-digits for the Lions was senior Jason Hawkins (Lake Mary, Fla.) with 11.
Leading Penn State in blocking was sophomore Norm Keil (St. James, N.Y.), who tallied six blocks while also going eight-for-ten in hitting with only one error (.700). Slenker and setter Jose Quinones (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) added four blocks. Quinones directed the Penn State offense with 54 assists and also added six kills. Libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) tallied eight digs on the night, as did Koljesar and Quinones.
As a team, Penn State outdug the Cardinal 46-26 and recorded nine service aces, four of which came from Slenker, to Stanford¡¯s five. While the Lions were outblocked 10-13, they outhit Stanford .376 to .301, including limiting the Cardinal to a .174 hitting percentage in the final stanza. Penn State set a new season record of 71 kills in a four-game match, breaking their old mark of 60 at Ohio State on Jan. 11. Their 20 block assists also bettered their mark of 10 against the Buckeyes.
For Stanford, Curt Toppel led the team with 21 kills while Marcus Skacel and Billy Strickland had 11 and 10 respectively. Patrick Bomhack tallied seven blocks while Skacel added six. Freshman setter Kevin Hansen directed the Cardinal offense with 51 assists, added five digs and four blocks as well.
The Lions remain home this week, facing EIVA-foe Juniata on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Match time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Rec Hall.
For complete game statistics, visit the men¡¯s volleyball homepage at www.GoPSUsports.com
In the first match of the evening, 10th-ranked Lewis needed five games to defeat George Mason, 26-30, 30-24, 28-30, 30-24, 15-9. Lewis improves to 5-3 while the Patriots fall to 1-3. Gustavo Meyer led the Flyers with 24 kills while Fabiano Barreto added 16, Victor Bird 14 and Kevin Miller 13. James Elsea recorded eight blocks for Lewis while Miller added seven.
For George Mason, Shaun Powell led the team with 23 kills while Art Kulans tallied 18. Jonathan Hanners dished out 68 assists and added a team-leading seven blocks in the losing effort. Scott Kittleson also notched seven blocks for GMU.
