BYU Overcomes Penn State in Four

LONG BEACH -- In the first match of the Active Ankle Classic, the No. 4 BYU volleyball team defeated No. 9 Penn State Friday at Walter Pyramid. The Cougars’ 3-1 (30-26, 33-31, 25-30, 30-24) victory improved their record to 11-7 on the season.

Penn State opened scoring in the first set but BYU answered quickly. The two teams traded points until a three-point run put the Cougars ahead 21-16. The Nittany Lions rallied to bring it back within two, but a service error eventually gave BYU the first set at 30-26.

The second set began the same way as the first, and Penn State held onto the lead until a Robb Stowell kill put the Cougars ahead at 11-10. The Nittany Lions got back on top with a kill by Max Lipsitz and BYU fought off two match points before taking the set 33-31.

In the third set, the Cougars were the first to strike with a Kevin Sagers kill. Penn State came back with a four-point run but BYU kept it close, pulling within one midway through the set. Another crucial four-point run came at the end of play. The Nittany Lions were one point from victory and Joe Sunder finished things off with a kill. Sunder and Will Price led Penn State, with 21 kills each on the night.

Like much of the match, back and forth play characterized the fourth set. This time it was BYU’s turn to have a key three-point run near the end. A three-man block by Reed Chilton, Rusty Lavaja and Jeff Robinson finished the match at 30-24. Defense played a big role in the Cougar win. BYU recorded three times as many blocks as Penn State, 18-6. Offensively, Stowell and Stewart led the Cougars with 23 and 20 kills, respectively.

BYU will continue tournament play Saturday against St. Francis (PA) at 5 p.m. PT. The match will be played at Walter Pyramid.

                              Volleyball Box Score
          #9 PENN STATE vs #4 BYU (Mar 12, 2010 at Long Beach, Calif.)
   PENN STATE             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7  Goas, Edgardo.......  4|  0   1   2 -.500| 68|  1   2|  0| 11| 0  1  0|  0
9  Lipsitz, Max........  4| 20   5  36  .417|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  1  1|  0
10 Turko, Nick.........  4|  6   2  14  .286|  1|  0   2|  0|  0| 1  3  1|  1
11 Price, Will.........  4| 21   8  53  .245|  0|  0   4|  0| 13| 1  1  0|  0
14 Wolf, Ryan..........  2|  0   2   6 -.333|  0|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
17 Sunder, Joe.........  4| 21   3  46  .391|  0|  0   5|  0|  5| 0  2  1|  0
4  Pereira, Thomas.....  4|  6   5  20  .050|  0|  2   2|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
6  Del Valle, Dennis...  4|  0   0   0  .000|  4|  0   0|  1| 16| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 74  26 177  .271| 73|  3  18|  1| 59| 2  8  3|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  8  56  .179   SET SCORES                1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  20  8  49  .245   PENN STATE.......... (1) 26 31 30 24  14-3
   3  21  4  38  .447   BYU................. (3) 30 33 25 30  11-7
   4  15  6  34  .265
   BYU                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  CHILTON, Reed.......  4|  1   1   3  .000| 61|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  7  1|  0
4  SILVA, Joel.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1| 12| 0  0  0|  0
5  LAVAJA, Russell.....  4|  9   4  20  .250|  1|  1   3|  0|  6| 1  6  1|  0
9  SOUZA, Otavio.......  4|  8   2  19  .316|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  7  1|  0
11 SAGERS, Kevin.......  3|  6   4  20  .100|  1|  0   3|  0|  4| 0  2  0|  0
15 STEWART, Andrew.....  4| 20   4  41  .390|  1|  0   0|  2| 16| 0  3  0|  0
1  TUTTLE, Kent........  2|  0   1   5 -.200|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
7  ROBINSON, Jeff......  4|  4   1   8  .375|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  3  0|  0
10 TAYLOR, Mat.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
13 STOWELL, Robb.......  4| 23   4  46  .413|  0|  0   4|  0|  4| 0  3  0|  0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  1|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 71  21 162  .309| 69|  1  11|  3| 57| 2 32  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 18.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  5  48  .188   Site: Long Beach, Calif. (Walter Pyramid)
   2  20  7  43  .302   Date: Mar 12, 2010   Attend:     Time: 2:12
   3  19  5  41  .341   Referees: Kim Pickering, Ron Stahl
   4  18  4  30  .467   Triple blocks: BYU 4
                        Active Ankle Classic Match #1