UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. --- The #11 Penn State
University men's volleyball team had to dig deep, battling back
from a 1-0 deficit to earn the 3-2 (24-26, 25-12, 25-23, 22-25,
15-9) victory over Lees-McRae College on Saturday in non-conference
action.
Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Ryan Wolf (York, Pa.) paced
the Nittany Lions (11-3) with 34 kills on the day, with 19 and 15
respectively. Also helping to pace Penn State was Edgardo Goas (San
Juan, Puerto Rico) with a match-high 46 assists.
Matt Harpenau (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the Bobcat (8-7) attack
with a match-high .714 hitting percentage, blasting 10 kills on 14
attempts. Chad Mercado (Orlando, Fla.) added a team-high 17 smashes
on the afternoon, while Randy Ramirez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico)
tallied 45 helpers in the contest.
The Bobcats opened the match, taking the early 1-0 advantage
when Eduardo Gonzales (San Juan, Puerto Rico) landed an attack to
put Lees-McRae on the board. The teams battled back and forth, with
the Bobcats knotting the contest at 8-8 on a Harpenau service
ace. Penn State pushed the score to 11-9 before the Bobcats tallied
a 3-0 run to take a 12-11 lead on a Chris Flood (Louisville, Ky.)
ace.
The Bobcats refused to be denied, closing out the opening frame
forcing a Penn State error to the antenna to earn the 26-24 opening
set victory.
Penn State opened the second set on fire, registering a 3-0
tally to take the early advantage. The Bobcats countered with a 3-1
run of their own, cutting the margin to 4-3 following a Gonzales
smash. The Nittany Lions then continued their hot play behind a
.414 hitting percentage, tallying a 21-9 run to close the frame at
25-12 to even the match at 1-1.
In the third frame, the Nittany Lions opened with a 2-0
advantage with two kills from Wolf. The Bobcats battled back with a
5-3 run, capped by a John Lucas (Cincinnati, Ohio) service ace to
knot the frame at 5-5. Penn State pushed the issue with a 9-5 run,
capping the rally with a Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) kill to take
a 14-9 advantage in the set.
Lees-McRae pieced together a 7-2 run of their own, finalized by
a Harpenau and Lucas block to even the set score at
16-16. Following an 8-6 Penn State spurt, the young Bobcats
withstood the Nittany Lion pressure, fighting off a set point to
cut the score to 24-23 before Comfort finished the frame with a
smash off the block of Randy Ramirez to give Penn State the 2-1
match advantage.
In the fourth set, the Bobcats took the early 3-0 advantage when
Juan Ramirez (Miami, Fla.) set up Mercado for the smash. The
Nittany Lions rallied back, evening the score at 3-3 on a Wolf
blast. The teams traded points to stay even at 10-10; the Bobcats
then took the set advantage at 11-10 on a Penn State error and
never looked back. The Bobcats outscored the Nittany Lions 15-12
over the remainder of the frame, closing the set at 25-22 on a
Harpenau smash to even the match tally at 2-2.
In the final frame, the teams traded points over the early
portion of the set until the Nittany Lions pulled away on a 6-0
run, capped by a Comfort and Turko block, giving Penn State a 12-6
lead. The Bobcats battled, rallying to win three of the next five
points, cutting the tally to 14-9. The Nittany Lions closed out the
set and match with a Turko blast to earn the 15-9 victory, taking
the match 3-2.
The Bobcats return to the floor on February 27, traveling to
Limestone College to take on Washington Adventist University. Game
time in Gaffney, S.C. is slated for 11:00 a.m.
-LMC-
