March 21, 2009

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 7 Penn State avenged its five-game loss at Loyola last month with a 3-0 (21-30, 23-30, 24-30) defeat of the fifteenth-ranked Ramblers Saturday night at Recreation Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 17-3 on the year, while Loyola drops to 10-8.

The Ramblers fell behind early in game one, as Penn State went up by as much as nine, 17-8, before Loyola began chipping away at the lead. A 5-0 run keyed by kills by Mike Bunting, Michael Morice and several Nittany Lion attack errors eventually brought the Ramblers within two, 18-16 and again at 20-18. But the hosts answered with a 5-0 run of their own to extend the lead to seven, 25-18 and held off Loyola the rest of the way to claim a 30-21 opening game win.

Loyola battled back in the second game and held a late 18-17 advantage after a kill by Nick Lamoureux, before Penn State went on a 6-0 run to take a 23-18 lead. The two teams exchanged points back and forth, but the Ramblers were unable to get closer than four and dropped round two, 30-23.

The third game was much like the first, with the Nittany Lions racing out to a quick lead they would not relinquish, though Loyola again fought back, cutting the deficit to four at 24-20. But it would prove to be too little too late for the Ramblers, who ultimately fell 30-24.

Krisjanis Berzins tied the match-high with 10 kills and also added five digs, while Bunting contributed nine kills, Lamoureux tallied seven and Morice recorded six for the Ramblers. With three service aces tonight, Lamoureux moves up to seventh all-time with 83 for his career at Loyola. Michael Hutz led the team with 30 assists and eight digs in the loss.

The Ramblers return home for their final non-conference matches of the season next weekend, beginning with George Mason on March 27 in Alumni Gym at 7 p.m.