By snoadmin
The visiting No. 4-ranked Penn State men’s volleyball team outlasted No. 3-ranked Long Beach State in five games in the final Active Ankle/Long Beach Guesthouse Classic match Saturday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The Nittany Lions (21-1) took the five-game thriller 30-18, 27-30, 30-28, 29-31 and 15-12, in what could be a preview of the NCAA Championship in May.
After Penn State jumped off to a 6-1 run in the deciding game, LBSU (17-3) was able to make it competitive by closing the gap to 14-12, but a 49er hitting error sealed the game and match for Penn State.
Lotman recorded 29 kills and also was named to the All-Tournament team along with junior libero Dustin Watten, who led the 49ers with seven digs. LBSU also received a strong effort from sophomore opposite Dean Bittner, who returned from an ankle injury and tallied 27 kills.
Outside hitter Matt Anderson had 24 kills and seven blocks to lead the Nittany Lions.
Penn State blitzed The Beach with a .708 hitting percentage while holding the 49ers to .100 to take the first game.
“We really weren’t loose enough to be good enough passers,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “We missed a lot of serves and played tight, so I asked them to try to relax, take a deep breath and not press so much. I thought they did a nice job of relaxing and started playing with a lot more composure.”
LBSU responded by taking the second game, 30-27, behind seven-kill efforts from Lotman and Bittner. Game three saw the 49ers jump off to a 13-6 lead at one point, but the Nittany Lions roared back to take the set 30-28.
“We had a decent lead and then gave up a long scoring run and that cost us game three,” Knipe said.
In the fourth game, the 49ers also saw their lead evaporate when Penn State came back to knot the game at 29-29, but they were able to hold off the Nittany Lions on a kill by Bittner that sent the match to game five.
“[Penn State] is a very good team,” Knipe said. “Those guys are in the Final Four every year out of the East and they’re going to be there again this year. We had our opportunities to win the match tonight and there were a lot of things that we’d like to do differently.”
The Nittany Lions had a .375 hitting percentage for the game, while holding the 49ers to .289. The Beach also committed 24 service errors and was out-blocked, 14-10.
Despite the defeat to Penn State, Knipe said his team can improve from this game and hinted at the possibility of the two teams meeting again in the NCAA Championship.
“The good thing for us is hopefully we’ll get another chance,” he said. “If we played this match in May, then maybe we’d be a little more disappointed in it.”
LBSU, however, defeated Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne in four games (30-26, 30-22, 26-30 and 30-23) Friday night behind Lotman’s match-high 22 kills. Senior opposite Adam Schlesinger had a career-high 16 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Dan Alexander hit an astonishing .588 for the match and tallied 11 kills.
Schlesinger and freshman outside hitter Josh Riley made key contributions in the absence of starters Bittner and sophomore outside hitter Tommy Pestolesi. Bittner sat out with an ankle injury and Knipe chose to sit Pestolesi to give Riley more playing time. Riley’s presence was evident throughout the later games in the match, as he made a few awe-inspiring blocks with his head and chest.
Riley let out a huge roar during game three when a spike by an IPFW player bounced off his chest and back to the Mastodons’ side. The play eventually led to a kill by Lotman. Another block by Riley bounced off his head and across the small bleachers, which gave IPFW a point and drew several cheers from fans of both teams. Riley finished with eight kills and made the match-clinching block in game four.
The 49ers return to face No.1-ranked Brigham Young University, on Thursday and Friday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.
