Los Angeles, Calif., March 8, 2006 ¨C The eighth-ranked Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team fell in three games to No. 14 Southern California Wednesday night in Los Angeles, 26-30, 22-30, 27-30. The Nittany Lions fall to 11-6 while the Trojans improve to 9-11.

Senior opposite Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) led Penn State with 12 kills as senior middle hitter Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) provided 10 kills on .692 hitting. Freshman middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied eight kills as both senior Kevin Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and freshman Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) each added seven kills. As a team, the Trojans outhit the Nittany Lions, .323 to .240.

Senior setter Dan O¡¯Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) dished out 40 assists as Anderson led all players with nine digs and O¡¯Dell chipped in five. Proper also recorded both of Penn State¡¯s service aces.

Southern California won the blocking battle, 11.0 to 9.0. Meerstein and O¡¯Dell led the Nittany Lions with four blocks apiece as Wentzel fell just shy of his season high with three and Holt and Anderson each contributed two blocks.

Juan Figueroa and Chris Jones led the Trojans with 13 and 10 kills, respectively, as Jimmy Killian handed out 44 assists. As a team, USC racked up eight service aces, led by Joao Grangeiro with four and Matt Mosko with three. C.J. Schellenberg, Figueroa and Mosko all tallied a team-high four blocks in the contest.

Penn State remains on the road, heading to NYU on March 18 before returning home for a Wednesday, March 22 contest with Ohio State at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall. Admission to the contest is free.

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