Nittany Lions upset the Cardinal in the Ken and Dave Dunlap Invitational – Volleyball news
The Ken and Dave Dunlap Invitational men’s volleyball tournament is underway in Ohio State.
On Friday night, the 8th ranked Penn State and No. 4 Stanford University teams came into contest. The Nittany Lions played to its full potential and stunned Stanford team with 3-1 (26-24, 16-25-25-17, 25-17) victory. It marked Penn State’s first triumph
during the 2012 Ken and Dave Dunlap Invitational. The Lions are now 6-3 all-time versus the Stanford.
The Penn State started off slow and trailed behind in the first set. On contrary, the Cardinal of Stanford picked up early lead with the help of nice delivery of powerful shots and spikes. It seemed as if Cardinal would easy beat the Nittany Lions.
However, the situation became evident when the Lions came up with convincing counter attacks. Aaron Russell of Penn State showcased his wonderful tactics and put Lion in lead at 16-15.
Senior Joe Sunder also joined hands with Russell and took the score to 20-18. Cardinal attacked via Steven Irvin and Brad Lawson but it did not prove helpful. The Nittany Lions kept moving ahead and eventually sealed first-set win, 26-24.
The Cardinal opened the second set in the similar fashion and promptly earned 4-point advantage at 7-3, which forced the Nittany Lions to call an early timeout. The red-shirt sat down during the vital timeout and discussed the areas of improvement. The play
resumed but Stanford firmly held the lead and further stretched the gap of points.
Penn State jumped on every little opportunity to score points but face utmost resistance. The Cardinal squad locked them at 16 points and achieved set points. Hence, the game score levelled at 1-1 as Cardinal captured second set, 25-16.
The Stanford team was out of the shock of early loss of opening set but could not carry the momentum into third set. Penn State hitters showed no mercy and added consecutive scores.
The Cardinal lagged behind, while Nittany Lions continued at great pace. Penn State remained on the winning course and rallied from 7-2 to 17-11. Nothing could hinder their performance and Lions secured third set, 25-17.
PSU entered the fourth with an ambition of victory but Stanford team tried its best to save the set. The opening phase of the fourth set was incredibly close, where both teams regularly traded lead.
Meanwhile, PSU managed to go higher on the scorecard and crushed the opponent’s hopes with fourth set win. They captured the final set with identical score of 25-17.
John Kosty, the head coach of Stanford team said, “Penn State made some good adjustments. And we had trouble getting the ball to the net.”
Speaking of his own players, he stated, “I thought they played well tonight, but didn't take advantage of opportunities.”
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