Despite mistakes, Spikers shut out East Stroudsburg

The play of this year's Penn State men's volleyball team has been an unfamiliar sight when compared to past years.

The dominant powerhouse of the East, that was the Nittany Lions, is now struggling against small, non-threatening teams. Last night the No. 15 Lions defeated the East Stroudsburg Warriors 3-0 (15-10, 15-9, 15-12) at Rec Hall.

"I don't think we played that well tonight," middle blocker Adam Whitescarver said. "Coach told us to take a business-type attitude and that's what we did. That's all we did."

Coming into the third game of the match, though, Penn State put the pedal to the medal. Before the Warriors could blink, the Lions were on top 10-0. But the Lion offense stalled, leaving the door wide open for East Stroudsburg.

Smelling a possible shut out, the Lions started to get careless, making many costly mistakes. The Warriors took advantage of Penn State's lackadaisical play and pulled within one point, 13-12. The Lions closed out the match with a final score of 15-12.

Penn State swing hitter David Gealey attributed the slant in Penn State's offense to the many errors made by younger players.

"We started making subs and then we started making errors," Gealey said. "(East Stroudsburg) built their momentum up and they started to raise their level of play when our level dropped a bit."

The spirit of the Penn State players seemed to be below average from the start of the match. Although it was senior night, the players did not appear to be very lively and their play reflected it. In the first game, Penn State struggled to score and an unending string of side-outs prolonged the match.

Penn State started off with a small 2-0 lead but quickly fell behind 3-5. After tying the game at 5, the Lion offense took charge and finished the game 15-10.

The Warriors caught the Lions sleeping in the second game and jumped ahead 3-0. But the Lions, led by swing hitter Eric Houston took the lead, 11-4. East Stroudsburg struggled to stay alive and Penn State was able to finish the Warriors off 15-9.

The Warriors' confident attitude is what kept the match as close as it was. East Stroudsburg coach Santiago Restrepo said he was expecting the loss, but was pleased with the valiance his team displayed against the Lions.

"In the third game we played too late," Restrepo said. "We never gave up though. It is very hard to go through them, but when we did it was a good job."

Last night's win gives Penn State an overall record of 7-12 with a 3-1 record within the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Tait division. Although the team realizes that wins are always positive, it doesn't believe this win will help much in the long run.

"It was a league match and you want to win those, but I don't think this win does anything to boost our confidence," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. "With this type of game you have more of a workman-type attitude and that's really all it was."