Men’s Volleyball Splits Saturday AMCC Matches

Men’s Volleyball Splits Saturday AMCC Matches

GREENVILLE, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's volleyball traveled to Thiel College on Saturday to play a pair of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference matches at the Beeghly Gymnasium, and the Lions finished the day with one win and one loss.

Penn State Altoona (11-13, 3-7 AMCC) posted a 3-2, come-from-behind win over Penn State Behrend in the Lions' first match of the day. Later, the team suffered a 3-2 loss to host Thiel.

Match One: Penn State Altoona 3, Penn State Behrend 2

Penn State Altoona staged a thrilling comeback, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat their conference rivals. Penn State Behrend (13-10, 5-2 AMCC) won the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-13. However, the Lions rallied to win the next three by 25-19, 25-20, and 15-12 decisions.

Dan Downs (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) tied for the team-high in kills with 16 to go along with three block assists. Downs had a very efficient day offensively, posting a .636 attack percentage, which is the second-best attack percentage by a Penn State Altoona men's volleyball player in a single match.

Brian Sheddy (Shrewsbury, PA/Susquehannock) also had 16 kills, and he added 12 digs and one solo block. Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona) had 11 kills, five digs, one block assist, and one service ace. Jon Ramsey (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) posted six kills, four digs, and two block assists, and Daniel Jordan (Pittsburgh, PA/Thomas Jefferson) finished with five kills, five block assists, two digs, and one ace.

Ben Beaver (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) put up a match-high 47 assists, tying for the second-most assists in a five-set match in team history, as well as tying for the fourth-most assists in any length match in Lions history. In addition to his assists total, he recorded a season-high seven total blocks (two solo blocks, five block assists) to go along with seven kills and five digs.

Tyler Chan (Framingham, MA/Framingham) totaled a team-high 13 digs. Kyle Whiteman (Northampton, PA/Northampton) added five digs, and Tanner Yaw (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) contributed four digs.

Match Two: Thiel 3, Penn State Altoona 2

Penn State Altoona came out on the losing end of a hard-fought match with Thiel (14-9, 8-2 AMCC). The Tomcats won the first set 25-17, and the Lions responded by taking the second set 25-19. Penn State Altoona pulled out a 26-24 victory in the third, but Thiel answered by battling to a 28-26 win in the fourth. In the fifth set, the Tomcats prevailed 15-12.

Sheddy led the Lions in kills with 17, and he also tied for the team lead in digs with nine. Perehinec tallied a season-high 15 kills to go along with a team-high three aces, five digs, and two block assists.

Ramsey totaled seven kills and two block assists, Downs had six kills, two block assists, and one solo block, and Jordan posted six kills, three block assists, and two aces.

Beaver finished the match with a team-high 36 assists, and he also had nine kills, seven digs, three solo blocks, and two aces. Danny Dry (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone) chipped in 13 assists.

Chan tied Sheddy for the team lead in digs, finishing the match with nine digs.

The Lions totaled nine aces during the match, ranking as the second-most total of aces in a five-set match in program history.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball has its next match on Wednesday, April 3, when the Lions will travel to Beaver Falls, Pa. to take on AMCC opponent Geneva College at 7:00 p.m.

Notes: With his blocks against Penn State Behrend and Thiel, senior middle blocker Downs moved into first place on the Penn State Altoona men's volleyball program's all-time blocks list. Downs now has 225 total blocks in his Lions career, passing former standout Justin Bannister and his previous record of 222.