University Park, Pa., Feb. 11, 2005 - The fourth-ranked Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team needed only an hour and seven minutes to defeat Mt. Olive College in three games (30-15, 30-18, 30-18) Friday night in the second match of the Penn State Invitational. The Nittany Lions improve to 8-2 for the year while the Trojans fall to 0-2 in only their second-ever varsity match.

Sophomore outside hitter Alex Gutor (State College, Pa.) recorded eight kills against Mt. Olive, who is coached by his father, Sasha. Senior middle hitter Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) also notched eight kills as eight other Penn State players posted at least one put-away in the match. Sophomore middle hitter Kyle Masterson (South Barrington, Ill.) tied his career high with five kills and junior outside hitter Andy Price (Laytonsville, Md.) also tied his career-best with two kills while both sophomore Dan Gwitt (Eden, N.Y.) and freshman Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) set new career marks with four and three kills, respectively. As a team, Penn State hit .471, including .667 in the first game, while holding Mt. Olive to a .000 hitting percentage (30-30-82).

Junior setter Dan O¡¯Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) directed the Penn State offense in the first game, dishing out 11 assists and adding a kill. Murray dished out 19 assists over the last two games, also hitting .750 and recording one ace and a career-high three blocks. Kowal led the defense with four digs as sophomore Ryan Walthall (Irvine, Calif.) notched three.

Penn State outblocked the Trojans 10.0 to 2.0 led by Kowal with five in two games. Gutor, Masterson and juniors Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) and Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recorded two blocks apiece.

For Mt. Olive, Alberto Napoles recorded eight kills while Julio Arnaiz chipped in seven and Michael Kren added six. Zach Wilson directed the offense with 26 assists and Kris Suarez topped the defense with seven digs. Arnaiz also led the blocking front with two blocks.

Rutgers-Newark and Mt. Olive College open play at 5:00 p.m. on the second day of the Penn State Invitational on Saturday night before the Nittany Lions take on Southern California at 8:00 p.m. Fans showing their Nittany Lion basketball ticket from earlier in the day on Saturday will be admitted to the match for only $1.

Gametracker will be available for all of the matches at www.GoPSUsports.com.

For more information on the Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com