Penn State left no doubt where the best volleyball was played in 2007-08.

Almost five months after the Nittany Lions’ women’s volleyball team edged Stanford for the national title in December, the men grabbed their NCAA championship trophy by defeating Pepperdine, 27-30, 33-31, 30-25, 30-23, May 3 in Irvine, California.

It is only the second time in NCAA history that men’s and women’s teams from the same institution have won national titles in the same academic year. Stanford accomplished the feat in 1996-97.

Top-seeded Penn State (30-1) was led by the tournament’s most outstanding player Matt Anderson, who finished with 29 kills and a .451 hitting percentage.

One of Anderson’s biggest kills came on one of his softest touches of the night as he tipped a ball from the back row that Pepperdine couldn’t handle. The kill was the deciding point in the second game of the match and completed a momentum-turning comeback for the Lions, who staved off two Pepperdine game points to avoid an 0-2 hole.

The Waves (17-11) had their own comeback in the first game of the match by overcoming an early 15-7 deficit before taking a 1-0 lead. So, winning the second game became crucial turning point.

“If we had won game two, who knows what would have happened,” said Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy, whose program was seeking its sixth national championship.

Anderson received offensive support from Max Lipsitz and Max Holt, who finished with 17 and 12 kills, respectively. The balanced attack gave setter Luke Murray options.

“We just had to remain calm and get back to the game plan of feeding the ball to (Lipsitz and Holt),” said Murray, who finished with 63 assists. “That was pretty much our main point in our scouting report – run the middle down their throat.”

The third game followed the script of the first two in that it was hotly contested. The Lions held a 26-25 edge before scoring four straight points to take a 2-1 advantage.

Pepperdine’s Paul Carroll had carried his team to this point until Penn State’s block managed to slow down the Waves’ top weapon. The Lions managed to stuff two straight Carroll attacks en route to winning the third game.

“Our blocking defense once again allowed us to score some points,” said Penn State coach Mark Pavlik, whose program captured its second national title.

The Nittany Lions finished the match with a season-high 19 total blocks. Murray had a part in 11 of the stuffs. He added a career-high 12 digs to register volleyball’s version of the triple-double.

“I pretty much knew Pepperdine was going to try to go over the top of me and feed their outside hitters,” Murray said. “I didn’t want them to abuse me too much, so I think I did my job.”

Slowing down Carroll, who finished with a match-high 35 kills for Pepperdine, was the significant statistic in the outcome according to Anderson, who assisted on three blocks.

“Any time you can block a player, it takes them out of their offense and takes them out of their flow,” the 6-10 Anderson said. “Carroll was really beating us early in the match.”

Former Penn State coach Tom Tait, who founded both the men's and women's programs at the school, was on hand to watch this year’s crowning moment. His presence provided some extra motivation for Penn State.

“It was a great way to pay him back for everything he’s done for all of us over the course of the early years,” said Pavlik, who was a former student-athlete on Tait-coached teams in the 1980s. “It all culminated into an outpouring of emotion from those who have been in the program for so long.”

Semifinals

Penn St. def. Ohio St., 30-21, 26-30, 30-22, 30-17; Pepperdine def. Long Beach St., 30-26, 30-21, 30-26.

Championship match

Penn St.           27        33        30        30

Pepperdine      30        31        25        23

Pepperdine                     K          E           TA          Pct.     SA          D         TB

Tyler Jaynes               2          1          5          .200     0          1          7

Cory Riecks                9          6         18         .167     0          2          1

J.D. Schleppenbach     15         4         34         .324     2          7          4

Paul Carroll                35        15        74         .270     3          8          4

Jonathan Winder          2          1          6         .167     0          8          4

Mark Hulse                  2          1          7         .143     2          2          2

MattMcKee                   5          0        10         .500     0          3          0

Sean Grubbs                0          0          0         .000     0          7          0

Totals                        70        28        154      .273      7          37        22

Penn St.                         K            E            TA          Pct.      SA           D           TB

Max Lipsitz                 17       3          28        .500      1          1          6

Max Holt                    12       2          24        .417      2          2          9

Ryan Sweitzer             10       7          24        .417      1          6          2

Matt Anderson            29       6          51        .451      0          3          3

Jay Stauffer                 2        0          3          .667     0          9          4

Luke Murray                4         1          5          .600     0          12        11

Travis Foltz                 0         0          0          .000     0          0          0

Dennis Del Valle          0         0          0          .000     0          16        0

Jon Sherrick                0         0          0          .000     0          0          1

Totals                       74        19        135      .407      4          49        36