LONG BEACH, Calif., March 15, 2003 - The Penn State men's volleyball team dropped a three game contest (31-33, 25-30, 26-30) to fourth-ranked Long Beach State on Saturday. The Nittany Lions fall to 15-5 while the 49ers improve to 14-7.

Senior Zach Slenker (Dallastown, Pa.) led the Lions with 13 kills while junior Norm Keil (St. James, N.Y.) added 12. Juniors Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) and Richard Schneider (Virginia Beach, Va.) chipped in 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Long Beach State outhit the Nittany Lions .451 to .288 led by Scott Touzinsky, who hit .548 with 21 kills on 31 attempts.

Freshman setter Dan O'Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) directed the offense with 46 assists while junior libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) led the Lions with five digs and senior Zeljko Koljesar (Kitchener, Ontario) added four.

The 49ers outblocked Penn State 9.0 to 7.5 but Keil posted a match-high six blocks in the contest. The Nittany Lions recorded three service aces to Long Beach State's two, as Schneider, Slenker and Koljesar each posted an ace.

At the conclusion of the 2003 Long Beach State Beach Bash tournament, Kowal and Mattei were named to the all-tournament team. They join Ball State's Keith Schunzel and Josh Zuidema, USC's Mark Dusharme and Long Beach State's Jeff Wootton, who also earned the honor. Touzinsky of Long Beach State was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

The Lions remain on the road, traveling to Ball State (March 23) and Juniata (March 26) before returning home on March 28 to face Ohio State in a 7:30 p.m. match at Rec Hall.

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.