Spikers top Loyola-Chicago, lose to Ohio State at Golden Dome Classic

By JOSH DAECHE
Collegian Staff Writer

It was a bittersweet weekend for the Penn State men's volleyball team.

During the weekend, the No. 14 Lions (5-9) traveled to Newark, N.J. for the Golden Dome Classic, hosted by Rutgers-Newark. At the event, Penn State split its two matches, beating Loyola-Chicago Friday and losing to Ohio State Saturday.

The Lions were coming off a victory last Thursday that gave coach Mark Pavlik his 100th career win at Penn State, and they used that momentum Friday against No. 10 Loyola. In a three-game victory (17-15, 15-9, 15-12), the Lions received a strong performance from middle blocker Brad Miller, who had a match-high 23 kills and a .568 hitting percentage. Miller has played solidly in the last couple matches by improving his serves and playing strong defense.

The Lions shut down the Ramblers all night by holding them to a dismal .254 hitting percentage overall. Loyola's top player, Dan Schults, was held to 15 kills and a .195 hitting percentage.

Having lost all eight of their matches against ranked competition prior to Friday, the victory over the No. 10 team was especially rewarding for the Lions. But Penn State's hopes of sweeping the weekend were dashed Saturday against No. 8 Ohio State, a task it knew would be difficult from the outset.

The Lions were swept by the Buckeyes earlier this season, and despite Penn State's momentum coming in, Ohio State, which has played in several marathon matches this year, was prepared for another one if needed to outlast the Lions.

In a match that lasted two hours and 30 minutes and saw more than 220 kills on 418 attempts between the two teams, a sparse crowd witnessed Ohio State defeat Penn State in four games (15-11, 15-13, 12-15, 15-13).

Ohio State was led by Jose Periera, one of three Buckeyes to have more than 20 kills. Periera also had a match-high 12 digs and team-high .531 hitting percentage.

Penn State also had three players with more than 20 kills. But Miller, setter Jose Quinones and middle blocker Adam Whitescarver were the leaders for the Lions Saturday.

Miller, who hit .568 Friday, responded by hitting .500 and chipping in with 21 kills Saturday. Quinones added a career-high 94 assists and two service aces, and Whitescarver was huge coming off the bench.

"I thought Adam Whitescarver was excellent in the match against Ohio State," defensive specialist Dan Schall said. "He was the spark we needed and he did everything."

The Lions were up 13-8 in the fourth game, but could not finish off the Buckeyes to force a fifth game.

"I think the match could have gone either way against Ohio State," Schall said. "There was a sense of disappointment. We should have won the match."

Penn State's next task comes Friday when it travels to Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne. The Lions then travel to Ball State Saturday before wrapping up the weekend Sunday with a rematch against Ohio State.

"It's going to be tough road trip," outside hitter Jason Hawkins said. "It would be great to go 3-0 or 2-1."