Thursday, March 20, 1997

No magic needed in spikers win

By ANDREW DEBES
Collegian Sports Writer

Penn State fans didn't need a magic eight ball to guess who was going to win last night's men's volleyball match in Rec Hall.

The spikers' David Gealey spikes the ball in mid air against St. Francis. The spikers destroyed St. Francis in three sets 15-4, 15-2 and 15-5 at Rec Hall last night. (Collegian Photo/Ilan Sherman - click for full size image)

The No. 2 Nittany Lions (20-1, 6-0 EIVA) destroyed St. Francis (10-9, 2-3 EIVA) in three sets, 15-4, 15-2, 15-5.

The Red Flash could not find a way to put points on the board, as they seemed to be completely overpowered by Penn State.

"We didn't have to try to be tricky," Lion coach Mark Pavlik said. "We just physically outmatched them."

St. Francis's main nemesis was Penn State middle blocker Brad Miller. He led the Lions with 12 kills, and posted four blocks.

Penn State's Jason Kepner and Adam Whitescarver contributed to the Lion effort with nine and six kills respectively.

For the Red Flash, only middle hitter Tom Mraz was able to reach double digits in kills, with 11, but his .033 hitting percentage made even his performance seem inadequate.

St. Francis knew its match against Penn State would be a difficult one, but it had hoped to play better.

"I don't ever think I have a chance not to win," Red Flash coach Gary Evangilisto said. "Why coach the game if we're not going to win?"

"We had to play our best game, we didn't," he added. "They had to have a bad game, they didn't."

As St. Francis tried to find ways to stay afloat, Penn State was trying to find ways to stay awake.

"You go into a game knowing you have the better guys," Lion Sergio Pampena said. "It's just a matter of going in there and doing what you are supposed to do."

And that's exactly what Penn State has been doing all season.

The victory allowed the Lions to finish their conference season undefeated, and it brings their win streak to 14 games, just two short of the school's all-time record.

"The streak probably means more to the fans then it does to us," Pavlik said. "But it is nice, because it shows how well these guys consistently perform."

The team's focus is still on the upcoming post season, but it would like to add the all-time record to its list of achievements.

"I haven't really thought about the streak much," Miller said. "But it would be nice to have our team remembered in the record books."