University Park, Pa. — The 10th-ranked Penn State men’s volleyball team (24-7) saw its 2011 season come to a close Thursday evening after a 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-22, 25-23) loss to No. 3 seed Ohio State (25-6) in the semifinals of the NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship at Rec Hall. The Buckeyes advance to the National Championship match where they will take on the No. 4 seed Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara. Action is set for 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.
Redshirt junior Joe Sunder (Greensburg, Pa.) led all players with 18 kills. Sophomore Nick Turko(Lewisberry, Pa.) was second on the team with seven kills with zero errors in 16 attempts for a .438 attack percentage. Redshirt junior Edgardo Goas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) paced the Nittany Lion offense with 39 assists and also tallied two blocks, an ace and two digs. Senior Dennis Del Valle (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico) tallied a match-high 10 digs. Senior Alan Mars (Rochester, N.Y.) and Turko each put up four blocks to lead the Lions at the net.
The Nittany Lions were held to .140 hitting, while the Buckeyes registered a .292 attack percentage. Penn State finished the match with 44 kills, three aces, 30 digs and 10.0 team blocks. Ohio State recorded 55, three aces, 36 digs and 14.5 team blocks.
The Buckeyes opened the match taking a 4-0 lead, but a 3-1 run with two Sunder kills had Penn State within two, 5-3. The teams went back and forth until three PSU errors and an Ohio State kill had the Buckeyes up by five, 10-5. After a PSU timeout, the Nittany Lions fought to within two, 12-10, with the help of five Ohio State errors. The Nittany Lions stayed within two or three points of the Buckeyes until a 6-0 run by Ohio State moved the Buckeyes ahead by seven, 21-13. Penn State used its second timeout and an OSU error and a Mars ace had Penn State trailing by only six, 21-15. However, three PSU errors soon had the Buckeyes at set-point, 24-16. Freshman Scott Kegerreis (Honeybrook, Pa.) pounded a kill and freshman Jace Olsen (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) kept the set alive for PSU, but OSU’s John Klanac secure set one for the Buckeyes with a kill, 25-18.
The Nittany Lions took a 5-3 to open the second frame, but a 4-0 run by the Buckeyes had Ohio State taking control, 7-5. Penn State called a timeout and managed to tie the set at 8-8 with kills from junior Ryan Wolf(York, Pa.) and Turko. The set tied three more times before back-to-back PSU blocks had Penn State back in the lead, 14-12. Ohio State called a timeout and used two kills to knot the score at 14-14. The score tied four more times until a block by Goas, sophomore Ian Hendries (Cardiff, Calif.) and Sunder and an OSU error moved Penn State back in the lead, 20-18. The Buckeyes called a second timeout and managed to not let the Nittany Lions develop any significant momentum. Penn State’s lead grew to three, 23-20, before two straight Buckeye kills had OSU within one, 23-22. The Lions used their final timeout and capitalized on a Turko kill and two Ohio State errors to grab a 26-24 victory.
Ohio State took control early with a 4-1 lead, but a 3-0 run by the Lions had the set tied up at 4-4. The score tied twice more before a 4-1 Buckeye run had OSU leading 10-7. The Nittany Lions headed to the bench and came back to capitalize on two OSU errors sandwiching a Sunder kill to tie the stanza at 10-10. The Buckeyes worked back up to a four-point advantage, but Penn State did not give up and used a 4-0 run to make it 16-16. Despite a Klanac kill, an OSU error and a Goas kill pushed Penn State into the lead, 18-17. Ohio State used a timeout and slowed the Lions enough to take back control, 20-18. Penn State used its final timeout, but it failed to faze the Buckeyes who closed out set three, 25-22.
The fourth and final set was close from the start with 12 tie scores. By midway through the frame, Ohio State had a slim 13-11 edge. Penn State took a timeout and tied it up at 13-13 after an OSU error and an Olsen kill. Grayson Overman put down a kill to put Ohio State back into the lead and soon after the Buckeyes were leading by three, 19-16. Two consecutive PSU kills, one from Turko and one from Goas, put Penn State within one, 19-18, and sent Ohio State to the bench. Sunder followed with two kills and sophomore Tom Comfort (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Mars put up a huge block to put Penn State in the lead, 21-20. Ohio State used its final timeout and a PSU service error tied the set at 21-21. Sunder pounded a kill to put PSU back in front, but two PSU errors gave control back to the Buckeyes, 24-22. Olsen tallied one final kill for PSU before Shawn Sangrey put away the match with a kill for a 25-23 fourth set win.