by Christina Roukas

SALEM, Va. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team lost its second match of the season on Saturday evening, when the Lions fell 3-2 (24-26, 25-22, 25-16, 23-25, 15-10) to Roanoke College.

The first set was tight until Willem Del Priore's (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) kill broke a 6-6 tie, putting Penn State Altoona (0-2) in front. Later, Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) scored a kill to lower a Roanoke (2-2) lead to 17-16. Kish once again recorded a kill to tie the match, 23-23, and a block from Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) and Alex Ferry (Warren, PA/Warren) closed the set 26-24 in favor of Altoona.

In the second set, Kish's tip helped the Lions to a 7-5 lead. Roanoke jumped ahead, however, and the home team maintained a narrow advantage for much of the set. Del Priore scored a kill to keep the Lions within two, 23-21, but Roanoke held its lead to win the second set by three, 25-22.

In the third set, Roanoke opened with a 3-0 lead until a block from Connor Ebersole (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) and Avery Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) put Altoona on the board. Del Priore scored on a set over to lower a Lions' deficit to 10-6, and Ebersole and Del Priore combined for a block to keep Altoona within six, 15-9. Kish's hit off the block trimmed Roanoke's lead to eight points, 22-14, later in the set, but Roanoke prevailed once again, taking the third set by a score of 25-16.

In the fourth set, the Lions played a better serve receive and were ultimately rewarded with a win. Ebersole tipped the ball over for a kill to help his team to a 2-0 lead, and Farabaugh's back row kill put Altoona up by three, 7-4. Del Priore's kill kept the difference at three points, 11-8. Roanoke came back to tie the match at 12, then took a 13-12 lead. Trailing by three later in the set, Ebersole's kill got the Lions to within 18-16, and Altoona was able to tie the match 20-20. Farabaugh's tip over broke a 23-23 tie, and Ebersole and Vang's block provided the Lions with set point, 25-23, to tie the match at two sets apiece.

However, the Lions struggled with miscues in the fifth set. The score remained tight, but many of Altoona's points came from service and hitting errors by Roanoke. Down by five late in the set, Del Priore's kill kept Altoona alive at 14-10. But Roanoke ended the set with a kill on the next point to win the match.

Farabaugh led Penn State Altoona in points with 14.5 on 14 kills and one block assist, and he also totaled nine digs. Kish had 14 points on 14 kills while contributing seven digs.

Ebersole had a team-high four block assists to go along with nine kills, as he finished with 11 points. Del Priore accumulated 10 points on eight kills, a pair of block assists, and a service ace, and he also recorded a team-best 10 digs.

Vang led the Lions in assists with 36, and he tied Ebersole for the team lead in total blocks with two solo blocks and two block assists.

Jeremy Winter (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) finished with eight digs for Penn State Altoona.

The Lions volleyball team continues its season on the road next weekend, when the squad will travel back to Virginia for two matches hosted at Eastern Mennonite University on Saturday, January 28. Penn State Altoona will face host EMU at 12:00 p.m. to start the day, then finish against Arcadia University at 2:00 p.m.