Jan. 27, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The last time Stanford and Penn State met in men's volleyball, a national championship was at stake.
Stanford won in a sweep that day - May 8, 2010 - and rocked near-capacity Maples Pavilion to create a moment that few in attendance will ever forget. The match remains one of the highlights in the school's rich athletic history, no matter the sport.
The memories remain, but time continues, which was evident Friday when No. 8 Penn State gained a small measure of revenge with a 26-24, 16-25, 25-17, 25-17 victory at the Ken and Dave Dunlap men's volleyball invitational at St. John Arena.
The title match featured an incredible performance by Brad Lawson, who had 24 kills and an .821 hitting percentage - still the highest ever by a Stanford outside hitter in the rally-scoring era.
Lawson was one of seven returning starters from that match - four for Penn State (3-1) and three for Stanford - and led the Cardinal with 12 kills.
But it was a different veteran hitter who made the biggest impact, and that was Penn State's Joe Sunder. He had 10 of his match-high 17 kills in the final two sets and hit.714 with no errors.
The final two sets were in contrast to Stanford's fine performance in the first two.
"Penn State made some good adjustments," Stanford coach John Kosty said. "And we had trouble getting the ball to the net."
Stanford's defense and passing negated much of its success hitting, which came at a .309 clip. Steven Irvin had 10 kills and Gus Ellis knocked down all seven of his attacks.
"I thought they played well tonight, but didn't take advantage of opportunities," Kosty said.
No. 4 Stanford (4-2) continues tournament play on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT against No. 10 Ohio State (6-3).