They were the underdogs, but they came out swinging. In the end, however, the Nittany Lions men's volleyball squad proved too much for an out-manned and overmatched visiting Warrior team from East Stroudsburg. Penn State emerged from Rec Hall victorious in straight sets (30-27, 30-14, 30-15) last night, extending its winning streak to eight matches.
East Stroudsburg (3-6) brought everything it had throughout the evening, but in the end could not hang with the No. 5 Lions (9-2). Jose Quinones opened the match for Penn State with a service ace, but the Warriors fought back. Unforced errors coupled with solid play kept the Warriors in the first set. They were excited to play and were certainly not intimidated, which may have taken the Lions a bit by surprise.
"There was no lack of focus," said Penn State men's volleyball coach Mark Pavlik. "We were surprised by how well they were playing. We just had to wait them out."
The blockers for Penn State were out-jumping East Stroudsburg's hitters, allowing for balls to get beneath Penn State's arms. This allowed East Stroudsburg to stay competitive in the matches. Penn State eventually pulled out a 30-27 first set victory and cruised the rest of the way. Zach Slenker, Carlos Guerra, and Zeljko Koljesar paced the Lions with eight kills each while Slenker led Penn State with four blocks.
The Lions jumped out early in the second set and did not look back from there. East Stroudsburg was playing on its heels for the remainder of the night. This allowed Penn State to substitute freely throughout the rest of the night and allowed bench players to gain valuable playing experience.
"We get quality playing time," Pavlik said. "It's an actual game with a whistle and crowd."
The third set provided more Lion domination. They again jumped out to an early lead at 11-4 and rolled to a 30-15 victory.
"We've had a stretch of matches where we've just had to come out and play physical," Pavlik said.
The Lions will look to continue their physical play tomorrow night when they visit New Jersey Institute of Technology. Last night their physical play provided the Lions with another victory.
