Newark, N.J., March 26, 2004 The eighth-ranked Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team dropped a four game contest (26-30, 30-16, 28-30, 33-35) to Rutgers-Newark on Friday night. The Nittany Lions fall to 13-6 and 6-1 in the EIVA Tait division while the Scarlet Raiders improve to 12-8 and 8-2 in conference action.

Junior Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) and sophomore Kevin Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) both posted 17 kills while freshman Alex Gutor (Irving, Texas) added 15 and sophomore Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted 12. Penn State outhit Rutgers .457 to .377 in the match.

Sophomore setter Dan O¡¯Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) directed the Penn State offense with 63 assists while sophomore Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) topped the defense with seven digs and O¡¯Dell, Kowal and senior Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) all chipped in five.

The Nittany Lions won the blocking battle, 11.0 to 9.5 led by Kowal with seven and Proper with five.

Rutgers-Newark was led by Andrew Pink with 22 kills and Byron Goff chipped in 17.

Penn State travels to face Princeton on Saturday, March 27 before returning home on March 30 to face Big Ten-foe Ohio State at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall.

Please visit www.GoPSUsports.com for more information on the Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team.