March 26, 2008

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (UWIRE) -- Halfway through Game 1, freshman libero Dennis Del Valle dove well outside the court to come up with another amazing save that sent the crowd to its feet.

The No.1 Penn State men's volleyball team racked up a handful of highlight plays to outhustle Division III Juniata College in its final EIVA regular season match, defeating the Eagles, 3-0 (30-16, 30-17, 30-20) in Memorial Gymnasium.

"That play set the tone for the match," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said.

"Going into Game 2 I told the guys, 'Lets not have a letdown, you have this team on the ropes. Let's not let them back in it.' "

The Nittany Lions (22-1, 11-1 EIVA) outhit the Eagles (8-10, 4-5) .631 to .140. It was the Lions' highest hitting percentage in any match since 2003.

Junior outside hitter Matt Anderson led the Lions attack with 13 kills while hitting at a .733 clip. Junior opposite Ryan Sweitzer tallied 10 kills while Max Lipsitz notched eight kills and Max Holt added eight kills while hitting .889 and .800, respectively.

"It shows the kind of work we put in at the practice gym," setter Luke Murray said.

"It's kind of demoralizing for the other team when they think they have us on the ropes and we end up getting tough points. It's valuable for us to come away with those big points in a match."

The Lions scrappy defense totaled 21 digs while outblocking the Eagles 10-2.5. Murray led the Lions with a season-high five blocks, while Sweitzer, Lipsitz and Holt added three each.

In Game 1, the Lions constantly silenced the Juniata crowd with diving attempt after diving attempt that led to another point.

Del Valle's diving saves that had the crowd in awe of his performance almost had them expecting him to come through for the Lions on every attack.

His performance caused one fan to say "oh, Dennis didn't get that one" after a ball bounced off his leg in a dig attempt in Game 2.

"[Those kind of plays] motivate the team," Del Valle said. "They see the effort from me and they want to work harder to get the point. It's fun, I think that's my job."

The Lions dictated the match answering every Juniata run with a run of their own that featured an exciting play that saw Del Valle or Murray diving to the floor.

Penn State spent much of the match outhustling Juniata on its own court.

The Lions used another dominating performance to outhit, outblock and outdig the Eagles to close out the EIVA regular season.

After another EIVA sweep, Pavlik liked what he saw from his team.

"I like where we are, I like what we did and I like how fresh we looked," Pavlik said.

"That's the sign of dominance we look for from a team exerting their physical dominance over another team."

(C) 2008 Daily Collegian via UWIRE