Volleyball: Men's

After taking a break from EIVA conference play, No. 6 Penn State returned to Rec Hall Friday night to take on the Division II Pfeiffer Falcons of Conference Carolinas.

While the Nittany Lions came out sporting a new wardrobe - gray shorts instead of the traditional blue - their play on the court was far from taboo as they bested the Falcons in straight sets and moved to 7-1 on the season.

“Game two we got sucked in by their rhythm, and I think we made a lot of hitting errors,” said Penn State head coach Mark Pavlik. “By game three it looked like we were in total control and we got used to seeing what was on the other side of the net.”

Penn State took the opening set 25-15 behind the play of Nick Turko and Aaron Russell, who logged four kills and four digs, respectively.

Setter Taylor Hammond recorded 10 assists in the first set, which is in line with his season average.

Pavlik elected to sit the majority of his starters for the second set as the only regulars to see time in the second frame were Hammond, Turko and Connor Curry.

Pavlik’s band of super subs were able to dispatch the starters of Pfeiffer in a grueling back and forth set that saw Penn State win 25-22.

“Coach Pavlik has a great bench and guys are able to come off the bench and easily jump right into the game,” said Pfeifer head coach Greg Walker, who is a Penn State alum. “One video we watched in our preparation was Penn State’s game against Harvard when they rotated in a lot of guys so we were very familiar with all of their personnel.”

Nittany Lions highlighted in the second set were Nick Goodell, who had four kills, and Kyle Mars who tallied three kills.

Mars is coming off a productive weekend that saw him log a considerable amount of playing time and record seven kills in the previous match against Harvard.

Penn State was able to win the third set by a score of 25-18 and claim the match.

One member of Penn State appeared to have claimed something other than victory with his play against the Falcons.

“Somebody in the crowd kept calling me Scotty Locks,” said Kegerreis, whose head of hair rivals former Penn State quarterback Shane McGregor. “I was digging it man. I was really feeling it to be honest.”

Kegerreis led the home team with 11 kills and led all players with a .769 hitting percentage.

The Nittany Lions return to Rec Hall Saturday night at 7:00 pm against Mount Olive.