Penn State vs. Pepperdine

[NET]

I ran into some of the Pepperdine men's players sightseeing in Washington, DC earlier today. In talking with a couple of the guys I learned that they had been in the east this weekend to play 2 preseason exhibition matches at Penn State & were looking at some of the sights in DC before catching a plane home to LA this afternoon. Penn State was not a gracious host, beating the Waves in both meaningless matches. I don't know the scores, just that the guys I saw told me they lost twice.

The Pepperdine players were nice guys - happy to be seeing some of the sights in the nation's capitol & confident that they will have a good season in the spring. Good reps for the university. Props to the Pepperdine coaches for making sure the players saw some of DC history along with playing some ball this weekend.

[Mickey]

Anybody know how this match went? Who played good? Who played bad? Anything at all. Thanks.

[Zurich]

From and email Pavlik send out


This past weekend the Nittany Lions hosted the Pepperdine Waves for two matches in Rec Hall. Any time you can compete against a Marv Dunphy-coached team early you can be sure to find them taking advantage of any weakness your team may show.

The Nittany Lions were fortunate enough to come away with two wins. Friday evening was 27-30, 30-24, 30-26, 21-30, 15-9 while Saturday was 30-26, 30-22, 24-30, 30-28.

Dennis and I went into the weekend with the goal of getting an even better handle on our squad from top to bottom. We wanted to get everyone into action and see how they handled it. We achieved our goal as everyone played and everyone did something well enough for them to feel quite good about themselves and the team. With the wins, everyone did contribute.

Pepperdine returned AVCA Player of the Year, Brad Keenan and AVCA Newcomer of the Year, Sean Rooney and All-American Fred Winters. They are going to round into shape as the new guys get mixed in with the older guys on that team and they will be good this year.

PSU managed to play some very good defense and...gasp...serve pretty well. We missed only 14 serves in the five game match on Friday!! Our offense was led by both Nate Matthews and freshman Dan O'Dell as they alternated throughout the weekend. The PSU leaders for Friday evening were Guerra (Kills - 23, Points - 23), Kowal (Blocks - 7), Slenker (Aces - 2) and Mattei (Digs - 11). PSU hit .258 to Pepperdine's .260; served 7 aces to the Waves' 6; dug 33 balls to Pepperdine's 32 and blocked only 8 to Pepperdine's 18.5. We did register 74 kills to their 61.

Saturday evening was played similarly to Friday. Just about everyone contributed and the Nittany Lions seemed a little more comfortable with each other no matter the lineup on the court. PSU leaders were Guerra (Kills - 21; Blocks - 3; Aces - 2; Points - 20); Slenker (Blocks - 3; Aces - 2) and Rojas (Digs - 10). PSU had 70 kills to the Waves 58 (and hit .375 to their .250); both teams had 5 aces; PSU stuffed 11.5 balls to Pepp's 8; and PSU dug 39 to the Wave's 34.

We now settle in for a couple more weeks of training to prepare for the Preview to the Final Four tournament in Buffalo and Rochester the weekend of November 22 and 23. We will take on the Springfield Pride in Buffalo on Friday, November 22 and then head to Rochester to meet the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday, November 23 in the afternoon and USC Saturday evening. Information on the tournament can be accessed at www.pacebootlegger.com.
Both the Eden Mizuno VBC and PACE VBC have been playng host tothei event for 11 years.

Great Action