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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., April 8, 2005 - The third-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team (25-3) hosts Princeton (6-11) in its final regular-season home match of the year Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions are winners of nine straight, including the last 11 contests at home. Admission to the match is free.
Gametracker will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
Prior to the match, Penn State will honor senior middle hitter Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) for his outstanding contributions to Penn State volleyball.
Previewing Penn State
The last three Penn State matches have gone to four games, with the last a four-game win at No. 12 Ohio State (30-32, 30-25, 30-20, 30-21) on Sunday, April 3 in Columbus, Ohio.
Five Nittany Lion players are averaging more than 2.00 kills per game, led by junior Matt Proper (Guys Mills, Pa.) with 4.01 kills per game. Sophomore outside hitter Alex Gutor (State College, Pa.) is posting 3.12 kpg, junior middle Nate Meerstein (Pittsburgh, Pa.) is averaging 2.97 kpg, senior middle Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.) is recording 2.55 kpg and junior outside hitter Kevin Wentzel (Pittsburgh, Pa.) is putting away 2.18 kpg. In addition, sophomore outside hitter Aaron Smith (Richmond, Va.) is chipping in 1.51 kills per game.
Junior setter Dan O¡¯Dell (Rochester, N.Y.) directs a majority of the offense with 12.54 assists per game as freshman Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) has played in 34 games and averages 5.82 assists per game.
Freshman libero Gary Vogel (Lancaster, Pa.) leads the team defense with 2.33 digs per game as Smith chips in 1.33 digs per game and Proper posts 1.14 digs per game.
Kowal leads the Penn State blocking machine with 1.71 blocks per game, good for first in the nation. Meerstein ranks fourth in the country with 1.41 blocks per game and Proper is tied for 10th with 1.32 blocks per game. In addition, Smith chips in 0.94 blocks per game and O¡¯Dell adds 0.89 blocks per game.
As a team, Penn State is hitting .357, third-best in the nation, while averaging 15.36 kills per game, 14.33 assists per game, 1.23 service aces per game, 8.50 digs per game and 3.91 blocks per game.
Last Time Out
Penn State downed No. 12 Ohio State in four games on Sunday afternoon in Columbus, 30-32, 30-25, 30-20, 30-21. Matt Proper and Nate Meerstein each contributed 16 kills in the winning effort as Kowal collected 12 kills and 12 blocks for his second double-double of the season. Kevin Wentzel and Aaron Smith both notched season highs in kills, recording 13 and 10, respectively. Penn State tallied 17.5 team blocks in the match, including seven from Dan O¡¯Dell and five each from Proper and Smith.
What¡¯s Next
The Nittany Lions take to the road to face No. 15 George Mason in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday, April 16. Penn State defeated the Patriots in the previous meeting this season on April 1, 30-16, 27-30, 30-19, 30-25, in State College.
The Nittany Lions will host an opponent yet to be determined in the EIVA Quarterfinals on Saturday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall. Should Penn State advance, Rec Hall will host the EIVA Semifinals and Championship on Thursday and Saturday, April 28 and 30. The EIVA Championship match will be televised live on CSTV at 7:15 p.m. ET. The winner of the EIVA Championship earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Semifinals, hosted by UCLA on Thursday, May 5. The National Championship match is slated for Saturday, May 7 in Los Angeles.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.
