University Park, Pa., Feb. 17, 2004 - It was a team effort as the 12th-ranked Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team pounded St. Francis (Pa.) in three games (30-21, 30-13, 30-26) Tuesday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 7-4 overall and 3-0 in the EIVA while the Red Flash fall to 7-9 and 0-5 in league action.
¡°We played an unemotional, workman-like match,¡± said head coach Mark Pavlik. ¡°We didn¡¯t do anything more than we had to do. The younger players competed hard and there wasn¡¯t a falling-off in terms of level of play no matter who was on the floor. They were comfortable and played hard.¡±
Nine different Penn State players posted at least one kill in the match, led by seniors Rhonee Rojas (Mililani, Hawaii) and Josh Mowrey (DuBois, Pa.), junior Phil Small (Lansdale, Pa.) and sophomore Kevin Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) who all tallied six kills. Junior Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) and freshman Alex Gutor (Irving, Texas), who earned his first start of the season, both chipped in five kills while sophomore Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) added four. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .333 clip while holding St. Francis to hitting .000.
Sophomore setter Dan O¡¯Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) started the match, dishing out 17 assists before freshman Ryan Walthall (Irving, Calif.) took over and recorded 22 assists, also adding three digs, one block and one kill.
Rojas led the squad with eight digs while Proper added six and Mowrey chipped in four. Wentzel also posted two of Penn State¡¯s five service aces in the contest.
The Nittany Lions outblocked the Red Flash, 12.0 to 10.0, led by Gutor with four and Kowal and Small with three apiece. Mowrey, Proper and sophomore Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) notched two each.
For St. Francis, Chris Kennedy led the squad with 10 kills while Jeff Wiegers directed the offense with 25 assists. Brandon Kelly and Ryan Bullard both recorded two service aces as Zach Nanni notched a team-high nine digs. Steve Connell posted a match-high seven blocks while Brandon Kelly chipped in six.
Please visit www.GoPSUsports.com for more information on the Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team.
