Men's Volleyball: End of the Road

By Broadside Staff Writer Fernanda Ferreira

Penn State University hosted the 2009 EIVA Men’s Volleyball at the Rec Hall this past week from Thursday to Saturday.

After defeating Springfield College at the quarterfinals of the EIVA Championship Tournament, the Patriots fell to the top-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions, ranked fifth in the nation, in the semifinals match in three sets (19-30, 22-30, 21-30).

With the win, Penn State improved their record in 26-3 and advanced to the EIVA Championship.

The top-seeded and defending national champion Nittany Lions faced the second-seeded Juniata on Saturday.

Led by outside hitter Joe Sunder with 15 kills, the Nittany Lions offense was extremely efficient. Penn State hit .458 against .154 from the Patriots.

Middle blocker Max Holt hit .818 followed by Sunder with .650. Senior opposite hitter Kyle Gramit led the Patriots with 11 kills; no other Patriot had double-digit kills.
The Nittany Lions opened the first set with a 6-0 lead and managed to keep a comfortable difference on the score. With a kill by opposite hitter Will Price, Penn State took the first set in 30-19.

During the second set, the Patriots kept the score, trailing 16-14. Two errors by the Patriots, followed by two kills by the Nittany Lions allowed Mason to fall behind in the second set.

Penn State wrapped the second set winning 30-22 with a kill by Holt. Penn State maintained consistency throughout and ended up winning the match by taking the third set 30-21 with kill by Holt.

The loss concluded the Patriots’ season with the team finishing 14-16.
The match against Penn State was the last for the seniors Kyle Gramit, Brandon McLaughlin and Erik Lanham.

Gramit ended the 2009 season as the team leader in attack, points, kills and aces. Gramit was also nominated First-Team EIVA for the third consecutive season.
McLaughlin led the team in blocks with 1.48 blocks per set.