Lions end the Raiders' eight-match winning streak
Friday night at Rec Hall proved to be a real spirit lifter for the Nittany Lions as they secured a much needed victory over the Rutgers-Newark. The number nine ranking Penn State men’s volleyball team had suffered losses in two of the last three games they
played. One of the defeats was delivered by Ohio State as they made a clean sweep over the Lions.
Even though Penn State was not able to make a clean sweep over their arch rivals of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, the Lions defeated the Rutgers-Newark by 3-1. The victory was hard earned and well deserved as the Raiders is a tough
team to beat and has an impressive season record to their credit. Until Friday, the Scarlet Raiders had not suffered any loss. With the defeat against the Lions, they now stand at an overall season statistics of 8-1. In the EIVA, the Raiders have won one and
also lost one match. In contrast to this, the Nittany Lions have had eight victories at the expense of three defeats. Penn State’s performance in the EIVA so far has allowed them three wins with no losses.
The match played on the 11th February ended with the score board showing the final set scores of 25-19, 28-26, 29-31, 25-19, in favour of the Lions.
The Raiders did not put up much of a fight in the first set of the match. The Lions easily dominated the game and posted a hitting percentage of .393 and registered a total of eight team digs.
However, the Raiders pulled themselves together after the initial set back and started giving the Lions a tough time. Both the teams were neck to neck during the entire match. The second set reached set points thrice, which the Lions eventually overcame
to secure a win. The third set of the match went on along similar lines. The Rutgers made Penn State contest five set points, at the end of which the game has grabbed by the Raiders.
Mark Pavlik, the head coach of Penn State who has been with the program for 17 years now, commented on the game in the following words: “I thought there were times in the match where we were real close to letting it get away from us in a couple of those
games. We fought back and tied it. It was kind of a match of streaks.”
The fourth set came towards the Lions easily, who seemed determined to take the game from the start. The Raiders were not able to overcome the skilful play of the Lions.
Prominent amongst the Lion team players was Peter Russell, a freshman at his team. Russell was able to post a total number of 10 kills supported by a dig and service ace.
Next in line for the Lions is the Princeton team, whom they will be playing Saturday at 4 p.m.
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