Pacific Tigers fails to break the ice at the Ken and Dave Dunlap Invitational – Volleyball news
The University of Pacific men’s volleyball received another burn from the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second match at the Ken and Dave Dunlap Invitational on Saturday, January 28.
The both teams met at the St. John Arena in Columbus in Ohio State. The Nittany proved to be better in every aspect of the game and held up Tigers for 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17) victory. The Pacific squad dropped its second match of the tournament
and failed to break the ice. On Friday, they were defeated by hosts Ohio State in a four-set match.
Tigers’ Florian Gornik helped the team with 13 kills, while Taylor Hughes and Adam Troy chipped in 12 kills apiece. However, it proved to be a failing effort as Penn State Lions refused to accept their better status.
The Penn State played with a strong team-line, which had players such as Nick Goodell, Peter Russell, and Joe Sunder. All of them came strong on the competitors and dominated the scene throughout the match. Goodell posted match-high 17 kills with a hitting
percentage of .382, while sophomore Peter Russell and senior Joe Sunder tallied 15 and 11 kills in the match. Furthermore, the red shirt junior Nick Turko recorded .600 hitting percentage and added 10 kills.
Overall, the Tigers registered 52 kills in the match, while Nittany Lions responded with 64 kills and went on top.
The start of the match was slow and both teams took some time to fully settle down in their positions. Meanwhile, the score shifted up with narrow margin. The momentum slowly building up and actually action started off.
Nittany Lions had slight advantage in the game but PSU stayed close on the scoreboard. As the first set neared the set points, Tiger picked up great pace and hit the Lions from different angles. The Tigers focused on the ball and managed to secure opening
set with two-point lead, 25-23.
After dropping the opening set, the Lions delivered four straight kills in the early few minutes and picked up lead. The Pacific opted for the timeout, in order to formulise better counter attack strategy.
Yet the Lions remained remarkably consistent and took the score to 14-9. Tigers fought bravely but failed to match their performance with the Penn State. Second set came successful for Nittany Lions and game score tied at 1-1.
The Nittany Lions carried the momentum in to third set and extended their lead to 2-1 by winning another set in row. The Tigers, who had a great start in match, seemed kind of disturbed after the loss of two sets.
On the other hand, the Lions maintained their dominance in the fourth set and built a strong lead. The captured fourth set and settled for 3-1 victory in the match.
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