Match Notes

University Park, Pa., Feb. 9, 2006 -- The 11th-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team (4-4) takes to the road fresh off the upset of third-ranked Long Beach State last weekend at the Penn State Invitational. The Nittany Lions face Ohio State on Friday, Feb. 10 at 6:00 p.m. in the first match of the Volleyball Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Mass. Penn State then squares off with Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6:00 p.m.

Previewing Penn State
For the season, senior Matt Proper leads the squad with 4.25 kills per game on .347 hitting as senior middle hitter Nate Meerstein chips in an average of 3.00 kills per game on a team-high .493 hitting. As a group, five Nittany Lion players are averaging more than 2.00 kills per game, including senior Kevin Wentzel (2.11 kpg) and freshman Matt Anderson (2.67 kpg) starting on the outside and junior Alex Gutor (3.05 kpg) off the bench.

Senior setter Dan O¡¯Dell directed the Penn State offense last weekend, dishing out 109 assists, including a season-high 60 in the match against Long Beach State. For the season he has 250 total assists for an average of 8.93 assists per game. Sophomore setter Luke Murray has provided 136 total assists for an average of 9.07 assists per game.

Junior libero Aaron Smith tops the defense with an average of 2.50 digs per game while Proper chips in 1.39 digs per game and Wentzel provides 1.32 digs per game.

Freshman middle hitter Max Holt leads the blocking front with 1.62 blocks per game as Meerstein averages 1.14 blocks per game and Proper and Anderson tally 0.96 blocks per game.

As a team, Penn State is hitting .304 with 15.45 kills per game, 1.31 service aces per game, 8.69 digs per game and 3.50 blocks per game.

The Series
? Penn State leads the series with Ohio State, 52-21. The last meeting was a five-game Buckeye victory (22-30, 30-24, 30-27, 31-33, 17-15) on Jan. 20 in the final match of the 2006 Outrigger Invitational in Honolulu.

? Penn State leads the series with Stanford, 4-2. The last meeting was a four-game Nittany Lion win (31-29, 30-26, 27-30, 30-25) on Feb. 2, 2002 in State College, Pa.

The Nittany Lions remain on the road next weekend, traveling to St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday, Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. Penn State returns home on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m. against Rutgers-Newark.