Spikers win tourney without co-captain

By BRIAN EPSTEIN
Collegian Sports Writer

The men's volleyball team captured its fourth Golden Dome championship with ease Saturday afternoon, defeating host Rutgers-Newark (9-15, 15-12, 15-4, 15-9) to improve its winning streak to eight games.

Lion setter Carlos Ortiz totaled 73 assists, six kills and nine digs in the match and was named to the all-tournament team along with middle blockers Ivan Contreras and Kevin Hourican.

"I tried to get everybody involved by keeping a balance and distributing the ball in a way that wouldn't hurt us," Ortiz said. "Everbody did a good job filling in (for suspended co-captain Ed Josefoski)."

Contreras had a team-high 32 kills and added eight blocks, while Hourican exploded for a .625 hitting percentage (22 kills in 32 attempts) and 13 blocks, including six solo. Outside hitters Fred Matheis and Jason Kepner finished with 16 and 14 kills, respectively.

Rutgers-Newark's All-American opposite Jose Luis Estrada, who leads the nation with 8.3 kills per game, led all players with 38 kills and added 11 digs. Estrada and setter Estaban Rodriguez -- who collected 69 assists -- also received all-tournament recognition.

The No. 5 Lions (9-2) advanced to the championship match by crushing Lewis (9-5) on Friday (15-1, 15-9, 14-16, 15-3). Penn State was led by Contreras' team-high 28 kills, 12 digs and eight blocks.

Josefoski was suspended by Lion Coach Mark Pavlik for kicking a chair after Game 4 of the Lions' five-game win over Ball State last week.

Despite his absence, the Lions outhit the Flyers .328 to .179. Three Lions finished in double digits in kills and hit over .400 for the match -- Kepner (19 kills, .429), Hourican (18 kills, .452) and Matheis (13 kills, .417).

Lewis opposite Jeff Sauck was the only Flyer to hit better than .250 for the match. He finished with 14 kills and a match-high 13 digs, but committed six of his team's nine pass-receiving errors.

Lion Brent Lapp filled in for Josefoski against Lewis on Friday and contributed three kills, 11 digs and four blocks. Although Lapp committed five hitting errors on 15 attempts and saw limited action against Rutgers-Newark, Pavlik praised his play.

"Forget about hitting numbers -- Brent certainly did everything he was asked to do," Pavlik said. "What we needed against Rutgers was a little bit more mobile hitters, so we got (David) Gealey on the court."

After a day of rest, the Lions will resume practice tomorrow and Wednesday before heading out to Springfield, Mass., on Thursday for a major test in the Hall of Fame Classic.

Barring a huge upset, the Lions will likely face No. 1 UCLA on Saturday after playing unranked Springfield on Friday. UCLA will take on Ball State in the other first-round match.

"I'm really loking forward to (UCLA) -- I think they are a beatable team, and we'd like to be the first team to do it," Contreras said. "We played very well this weekend, and now we just have to bring Eddie back to the group so we can be one again."