Penn State Fends Off Lewis 3-1 in Home Opener

Story posted January 18, 2013 in CommRadio, Sports by Bradford Conners

Returning to the friendly confines of Rec Hall for the first time in 2013, the sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions men’s volleyball team (3-1) opened its eight-game homestand by battling the 12th-ranked Lewis Flyers (1-5) to a 3-1 victory on Friday night.

Both Penn State and Lewis got off to shaky starts, as the first seven points of the game were decided by either an attack error or service error. However, both teams quickly managed to settle in and play an entertaining, tightly-contested first set.

After Penn State opened up a 13-10 lead, Lewis responded with three straight points to knot the score at 13. The teams would then begin trading points, with neither side pulling ahead by more than a point, until a block from Penn State sophomore Aaron Russell and a Flyers’ hitting error gave the Nittany Lions a 19-17 advantage.

Following a timeout, Lewis responded to tie the set at 20, but the Flyers could never get over the hump. The Nittany Lions, who haven’t dropped the opening game yet this season, would come away with the 25-22 first set victory. Senior Tom Comfort led Penn State with seven kills on just nine swings in the opening frame.

In the second set, the competitiveness picked up right where it left off. Neither team led by more than a point in the early stages of the second game until a 5-0 Penn State run gave the Nittany Lions a 13-9 lead.

Lewis, though, would once again have an answer. The Flyers fought back to even the score at 20, but just like in the first set, Penn State would come through under pressure and escape with a narrow victory---this time by a 25-23 count---to take a commanding two-sets-to-none lead.

The Nittany Lions managed to win the second set despite posting a .184 hitting percentage and being out-blocked 7.5 to 2. However, Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik believes that his team’s scrappy play helped them overcome the fact that they weren’t at the top of their game.

“We’re playing January volleyball right now, but we created more opportunities because of our effort,” Pavlik explained, referring to his team’s 17 digs in the second set. “I think we’re going to outwork a lot of teams this year.”

In danger of being swept, Lewis came out firing in the third game. The set was tight most of the way, but the Flyers managed to break a 15-15 tie by going on a 9-3 outburst to take a 24-18 lead.

The Flyers would go on to take the third set 25-20, and they won it with superb defense. Lewis recorded 19 digs in the set, blocked 6.5 Nittany Lion shots, and held Penn State to just a .026 hitting percentage.

Any momentum that Lewis carried into the fourth set was erased almost immediately. With the Nittany Lions holding a slim 7-6 advantage, the wheels completely came off for Lewis. The
Flyers committed four straight attack errors, leading to a 7-0 Penn State run that essentially put the match out of reach.

Penn State senior Nick Turko was in control of the serve during Penn State’s 7-0 push, and he joked after the game that he may not have been able to pull it off without the help of Lewis head coach Dan Friend.

“I was getting tired towards the end there,” Turko said, “so I was thanking Lewis for taking a timeout. I was really out of breath.”

The Flyers hung around during the rest of the fourth set but could never close the deficit to anything less than six. Penn State held Lewis to a negative hitting percentage in the frame and cruised to a 25-18 fourth-set triumph to extend its winning streak to three matches.

Player of the game Tom Comfort led the Nittany Lions with 18 kills and also posted 12 digs. Sophomore Geoff Powell paced the Flyers with 13 kills, although he needed 38 swings in order to do so.

After playing its first three matches of the season in a tournament in Hawaii, Penn State was able to feed off the energy of the 748 fans packed into Rec Hall’s South Gym to propel itself to a win. Coach Pavlik believes that it is not just his team’s talent, but also its style of play, that gets spectators excited about their Nittany Lion volleyball team.

“I think what brings in a lot of the crowd is just sheer effort,” he said. “When they see somebody just go all out for a ball, I think that really resonates with the Penn State fan.”

After playing three Top 15 teams in the first four matches of the season, Penn State’s next six matches will all be against unranked opponents. Up next for the Nittany Lions is a match-up with Loyola-Chicago on Tuesday night. The first serve will be at 7:00, and the match can be heard right here on ComRadio.

Bradford Conners is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email btc5082@psu.edu.