University Park, Penn. – No. 14 UC Irvine won the first set, but could not hold off No. 10 Penn State as the Nittany Lions won the match 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-17) at Rec Hall Monday evening.
Senior Kyle Russell led UCI with eight kills followed by senior Jason Agopian with seven kills. Michael Saeta, Karl Apfelbach, Phillip Freidman and David Parker each added five kills. Saeta also fired four service aces and had 27 set assists. Dillion Hoffman continued his solid defense with a match-high 12 digs. Senior Marty Ross hit .500, with four kills in eight attempts.
The Nittany Lions owned the net with a 12.5-4 block advantage and 36-28 edge in digs. PSU out-hit the Anteaters .327 to .154.
Penn State was led by Aiden Albrecht with 12 kills and Spencer Sauter with 10 kills, hitting .600 (10-1-15). Matt Seifert hit .700 (7-0-10) and had a match-best six block assists. Seven different Nittany Lions recorded two or more blocks.
Penn State strung together four straight points to take an early 8-4 lead in the first set. The Anteaters chipped away with a pair of kills by David Parker and a PSU attack error to tie the score at 15-15. UCI went on a 6-0 run which included a kill by Jason Agopian and Phillip Friedman and two aces by Karl Apfelbach followed by another Friedman kill and a Nittany Lion attack error to give UCI set point, 24-21. PSU would score the next two until Agopian ended it with a kill in the middle, 25-23.
UCI led 16-15 in the second set on an Apfelbach kill before the Nittany Lions scored four in a row to jump in front 19-16. Three straight mistakes by UCI gave Penn State its first set point, 24-19. Following a Friedman kill, Kevin Gear gave the Nittany Lions the win, 25-20.
Penn State went on a 7-2 spurt to take control of the third set, 14-8. The Nittany Lions out-hit UCI .481-.179 to win the set 25-16.
With the score tied 4-4 in the fourth set, three consecutive Anteater errors started a 6-1 run for PSU as the Nittany Lions would build a 10-5 lead. After falling behind 14-6, UCI had two kills and an ace by Michael Saeta plus two PSU errors to close within 14-11. PSU would record kills on four of the next five points to build back an 18-12 advantage. A Nittany Lion block would end the set 25-17 and the match 3-1. UCI was its own worst enemy, hitting -.045 (7-8-22) in the final set.
The Anteaters fall to 7-15 overall, while PSU goes to 13-6.
UCI will play its third match in three days as it travels to George Mason Tuesday (Mar. 22) for a 4:00 p.m. PT first serve.
