STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 1, 2002 - The fifth-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team extended its win streak to 12 games with a two-hour, four-game (30-21, 24-30, 46-44, 30-24) victory over No. 13 Ohio State. The Lions improve to 13-2 on the season while the Buckeyes fall to 7-6. Penn State is a perfect 8-0 this season at Rec Hall.

Five Lions recorded double-digit kills in the winning effort, led by junior outside hitter Carlos Guerra (Tamaulipus, Mexico) with 21 and junior opposite Zeljko Koljesar (Kitchener, Ontario) with 19. Senior Jason Hawkins (Lake Mary, Fla.) recorded 15 kills on the night while junior Zach Slenker (Dallastown, Pa.) and sophomore Norm Keil (St. James, N.Y.) tallied 13 and 11, respectively.

Penn State began the match with a Guerra ace, which may have been a sign to come, but Ohio State would not give up that easily. While the Lions took the first stanza 30-21 behind a .643 team hitting percentage, the Buckeyes would come back to win the second game aided by seven kills from senior Pieter Olree, who hails from Reading, Pa.

And then the third game happened.

In what could possibly be the highest-scoring game Rec Hall has seen in awhile, the Lions finally got enough momentum to carry them through to the victory. With Penn State down 20-16, the Lions fought back to tie the game at 22-22 behind a triple-block from Guerra, Hawkins and senior setter Jos¨¦ Qui?ones (Bayamon, Puerto Rico). From then on, neither team would lead the game by more than two points, with 20 ties and four lead changes between 22-22 and the final score, 46-44. A sprawling dig by Slenker followed by a Guerra rollshot to open floor finally ended the game in Penn State's favor. OSU's Olree notched 14 kills in the third game alone while Penn State's Guerra and Koljesar had nine and eight, respectively.

As a team, Penn State outhit the Buckeyes .393 to .327 and outblocked them 12.5 to 7.5. Keil led the Lions in blocking with seven while Koljesar, who also hit .471 on the night, notched five stuffs, including four in the fourth stanza. Guerra recorded his third double-double of the season (21 kills, 10 digs) while Slenker posted his first (13 kills, 11 digs). Qui?ones directed the Penn State offense with 70 assists, also notching eight digs and a perfect attacking percentage on seven-of-seven hitting. Sophomore libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) provided precision passing and nine digs for the Lions.

Penn State remains at home for their next match, facing Ball State on Monday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. The match can be heard locally on 1450 AM WMAJ or on the web at www.GoPSUsports.com.