BRONXVILLE, N.Y., Feb. 28, 2003 - The 11th-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team defeated Rutgers-Newark in three games (30-28, 30-22, 30-20) Friday night to improve to 10-3 overall, 6-0 in the EIVA Tait division. The Scarlet Raiders fall to 6-5, 4-2 in conference action.

Senior Carlos Guerra (Tamaulipus, Mexico) tallied a match-high 12 kills to lead the Lions while freshman Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) chipped in 10 kills and senior Zeljko Koljesar (Kitchener, Ontario) added nine. Junior Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) pounded eight kills on 10 swings with one error to hit .700 on the night and improve his season hitting percentage to a team-leading .460.

Penn State outhit Rutgers-Newark .278 to -.034, including posting a .400 hitting percentage (16-6-25) in the second game while limiting the Scarlet Knights to attacking at a -.290 (5-14-31) clip in the third game.

Freshman Dan O'Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) directed the Nittany Lion offense with 41 assists while junior libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) posted a match-high 11 digs. In comparison, Rutgers-Newark recorded 14 team digs.

Junior Norm Keil (St. James, N.Y.) led the squad with five blocks while Kowal and Guerra both added four. Penn State outblocked the Scarlet Raiders, 10.0 to 8.0.

Penn State remains on the road, traveling to Concordia on March 1 at 6:00 p.m. The Lions return home on March 4 to face EIVA-rival George Mason at 7:30 p.m. The contest with the Patriots can be heard in the State College area on WMAJ 1450 AM or on the web at www.GoPSUsports.com.

Please visit Penn State's official athletic website, www.GoPSUsports.com for updated statistics and news on the Nittany Lion men's volleyball team and Penn State's 28 other sports.