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Stanford Tops Penn State in NCAA Men's Final

Information for this release was taken from from releases from both Stanford University and Penn State University.

Final Stats

STANFORD, Calif. (May 8, 2010)  – The Stanford men's volleyball team swept Penn State in the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship final on Saturday at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif.

Brad Lawson had 24 kills and only one hitting error to lead top-ranked Stanford (24-6), the tournament’s top seed, to a 30-25, 30-20, 30-18 victory over the No. 12 Nittany Lions (24-8) before a crowd of 6,635.

Lawson's 0.82 hitting percentage came on 28 attacks, and his only error was on an apparent kill that was nullified when his foot was on the line for a back-row attack violation.

Lawson and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Player of the Year Kawika Shoji were named co-Most Outstanding Players of the tournament. Shoji had 47 assists, 10 digs and three blocks.

Stanford became the first team to win the NCAA men’s volleyball championship on its home floor since UCLA in 1996. Penn State will host the 42nd NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship, May 5 and 7, 2011 in Rec Hall.

As a team, the Cardinal hit 0.49, with Spencer McLachlin notching 12 kills and Evan Romero adding 11. Libero Erik Shoji had 10 digs and joined Kawika, Lawson, and Romero on the All-Tournament Team. Garrett Werner led Stanford in blocks with six.

Will Price led Penn State with 15 kills, while redshirt sophomore Joe Sunder put down 12 and senior Max Lipsitz had 10. Redshirt setter Edgardo Goas tallied 38 assists and libero Dennis Del Valle led the lions with 12 digs. Three Nittany Lions posted two blocks apiece, including Lipsitz, Price and Sunder.

Sunder, Lipsitz and Lawson were also named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team.

Much like it did in Thursday's semifinal against Ohio State, Stanford broke away late in what had been a tight first set, when a Penn State attack error broke a 19-19 tie and created the opening for a deciding 5-1 run. An Evan Romero ace pushed the momentum along and finished it off with a set-point kill.

But the story in the first set was the near-perfect hitting of Lawson, who had eight kills and no errors in nine attacks for a 0.889 hitting percentage.

Lawson continued his torrid hitting in the second set, matching his first-set totals and giving him 16 kills in 18 attacks, with no errors (0.889) to that point. The difference was that Stanford was forced to play from a 10-5 deficit. Stanford caught and passed the Nittany Lions with a four-point run for a 17-15 lead. Lawson and Romero each had kills in the run and the Cardinal never let up, winning the set going away.

Unlike the first two, Stanford blasted to an early lead, and the match turned into a clinic, ending appropriately with an Erik Shoji dig, followed by a Kawika Shoji crosscourt set, and Lawson kill.

Teams Set for NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 7, 2010) – Stanford, the nation’s No. 1 ranked college men’s volleyball team, will face No. 12 Penn State at 4 p.m. PT on Saturday in the final of the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Cardinal (23-6) reached the final by defeating No. 10 Ohio State (22-8) in Thursday’s semifinal, 30-25, 30-26, 30-17.

Stanford’s Evan Romero led all scorers with 19 points on 15 kills, two aces and four block assists. His kill percentage was 0.5. Brad Lawson added 18.5 points on 14 kills, three aces, one solo block and one block assist. His kill percentage was 0.32. Gus Ellis totaled 10 points on six kills and eight block assists.

Stanford setter Kawika Shoji, the 2010 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Player of the Year, was credited with 44 assists for Stanford. He also scored four points on three kills and two block assists.

Libero Erik Shoji was credited with 12 digs.

Shawn Sangrey led the Buckeyes with 12.5 points on 12 kills and one block assist. His kill percentage was 0.15. Kevin Heine added 11 points on nine kills, one solo block and two block assists with a kill percentage of 0.53. Ohio State setter Steven Kehoe was credited with 38 assists.

Libero Mik Berzins was credited with 11 digs.

Ohio State converted 22 percent of its kill attempts into points while Stanford converted 37 percent. Stanford out-blocked the Buckeyes 12-7.

To view box score and play-by-play, click here.

In the first semifinal of Thursday evening, Penn State (24-7) defeated No. 3 Cal State Northridge, 30-21, 30-23, 30-28.

The Matadors, who were the wild card pick for the tournament out of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) finished the season with a 23-10 record.

The Nittany Lions’ Will Price led all scorers with 21 points on 18 kills, two aces and one solo block. His kill percentage was 0.35.

Joe Sunder added 19.5 points on 18 kills, one ace and one block assist. His kill percentage was 0.33. Max Lipsitz had 14.5 points on nine kills, two solo blocks and seven block assists with a kill percentage of 0.53.

Setter Edgardo Goas was credited with 49 assists along with seven points on four kills, one ace, one solo block and two block assists. Libero Dennis Del Valle was credited with 17 digs.

Jacek Ratajczak paced Cal State Northridge with 20 points on 15 kills, two solo blocks and six block assists with a kill percentage of 0.36. Mike Guadino was the next highest scorer with 7.5 points on seven kills and one block assists with a kill percentage of 0.28.

Setter Matt Stork was credited with 32 assists and two points on one kill and two block assists. Libero Ali'i Keohohou was credited with eight digs.

Northridge’s team kill percentage was 0.19 as compared to 0.35 for Penn State. Northridge out-blocked Penn State 12-11. Penn State had five aces as opposed to none for the Matadors.

To view box score, click here.

To visit Stanford’s NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship page, click here.