Penn State Defeats Pfeiffer, Extends Win Streak

Story posted February 9, 2014 in CommRadio, Sports by Zach Lacher

The Nittany Lions, winners of six straight and coming off of a three-set sweep of the Erskine Flying Fleet, pushed their winning streak to seven, after knocking off the Pfeiffer Falcons in straight sets on Saturday. The victory capped a streak of five games in eight days for Penn State. 

The Nittany Lions came out strong, breaking out to a quick 7-3 lead, with the help of a lot of strong play along the net.

Penn State Junior outside hitter Aaron Russell led the set with seven kills, followed by 15 assists from redshirt sophomore Taylor Hammond. Penn State claimed a 25-18 set victory.

The Falcons came out in the second set hungry to turn the match around.

Pfeiffer jumped out to a quick 6-4 lead, behind some solid plays from their defense.

The Nittany Lions were quick to respond, as they tied the match up 9-9, which resulted in Pfeiffer coach Paul Dawson calling a timeout.

Coming out of the Pfeiffer timeout, the Falcons were able to hang close, causing eight ties and four lead changes, but ultimately dropped the set 25-20. 

In, the third set, the Falcons continued to try to find answers to neutralize the Nittany Lion attack. Pfeiffer managed to keep the set tight and, coming out, exchanging point for point, before calling a timeout at 8-8.

The Nittany Lions came out of the break aggressive and refreshed, scoring four straight points to put Pfeiffer in a 12-8 hole. Their push continued, and claimed match victory, by securing a 25-19 set win.

After the game, Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik, noted that although his team has had a tough stretch playing so many matches so close together, he is proud of what his team has accomplished,

“It has made me feel like I’m on an NHL playoff run,” said Pavlik. “This team is really good at grinding things out but even better at walking into a training gym with the means of some reasonable reps.”

Aaron Russell, who finished the match with 17 kills, was pleased with how the offense performed despite short rest,

“I thought we ran an effective offense and spread it out pretty well. Their blockers are good and we just had to keep them guessing and I thought we did that well,” said Russell.

Penn State will have some time to rest and recover from this tedious stretch of matches before they take on the NJIT Highlanders on February 14th, at Rec Hall. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Zachary Lacher is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email zjl5023@psu.edu.