University Park, Pa., March 30, 2004 The ninth-ranked Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team topped 13th-ranked Ohio State in three games (30-22, 309-22, 30-23) Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions improve to 15-6 for the season while the Buckeyes fall to 14-8.

¡°I was pleased with our focus,¡± said head coach Mark Pavlik. ¡°Our intensity levels, our emotional levels and our performance levels were much higher than they have been for the past few weeks. We had an outstanding effort from everyone.¡±

Junior Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) led the Lions with a match-high 13 kills while hitting .550. Both sophomore Kevin Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and freshman Alex Gutor (Irving, Texas) provided 11 kills with Gutor¡¯s coming on a career-best .409 hitting percentage. Sophomores Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) chipped in eight and four kills, respectively. As a team, Penn State outhit Ohio State .418 to .124, including .417 to .038 in the first game.

Sophomore setter Dan O¡¯Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) dished out 46 assists and had six digs while Proper posted a match-high 10 digs. Senior libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) chipped in six digs and Kowal posted five.

Penn State outblocked the Buckeyes, 10.5 to 2.0, led by Kowal with eight, O¡¯Dell with four and Proper with three. Kowal also added a career-high two service aces.

For Ohio State, Mark Greaves recorded nine kills and Scott Spurlock posted eight. Mark Peckham tallied 35 assists and two blocks and Greaves topped the defense with seven digs.

Penn State plays host to George Mason on Friday, April 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the south gym of Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions then welcome Springfield on Saturday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m. in south gym.

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