SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team's regular season came to an end on Sunday afternoon, when the Lions lost 3-1 to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opponent Wittenberg University.

For Penn State Altoona (13-15, 5-9 AMCC), the Lions finish the season in fifth place in the AMCC standings and will miss the conference postseason tournament. Meanwhile, Wittenberg (20-10, 11-3 AMCC) earns a share of the AMCC regular season title with the victory.

The Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match after 25-18 and 25-21 wins in the first two sets. The Lions struck back with a 25-21 victory in the third, but Wittenberg secured a 25-18 win in the fourth set to take the match.

Dan Downs (Douglassville, PA/Daniel Boone), Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona), and Brian Sheddy (Shrewsbury, PA/Susquehannock) tied for the team-high, accumulating 10 kills apiece. Downs also finished with three block assists, Sheddy had seven digs and two block assists, and Perehinec posted four digs, one service ace, and one block assist.

Jon Ramsey (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) added six kills, four digs, and one block assist, and Nathaniel Reinert (State College, PA/State College) also had a block assist.

Ben Beaver (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) totaled a match-high 26 assists to go along with eight kills and five digs. Kyle Whiteman (Northampton, PA/Northampton) tallied 15 assists and five digs.

Tyler Chan (Framingham, MA/Framingham) led all players in the match with 16 digs.

Penn State Altoona found itself in a close set in the opener, before Wittenberg pulled away with a late run to win the set. The Lions trailed by just two points, 19-17, before the Tigers embarked on a set-ending 6-1 run that was helped by five Penn State Altoona errors.

Wittenberg was able to battle for a win in the second set. The teams were tied 14-14 midway through the game, and a pair of kills by Beaver helped keep Penn State Altoona within one point, 21-20, of the home team's lead. But Wittenberg proceeded to score four of the set's last five points to grab a four-point win.

The Lions came from behind to take the third set. Down by as many as four points, Penn State Altoona used a 10-3 run to jump ahead 18-15. During that span, the Lions got three kills from Sheddy and two apiece from Downs and Perehinec. Later, Downs and Sheddy combined for a block to make it 23-21, and back-to-back Wittenberg attack errors helped the Lions win the set to stay alive in the match.

But Wittenberg won the match by triumphing by seven points in the fourth set. A kill by Perehinec late in the set brought Penn State Altoona to within four points, 21-17, but Wittenberg ended the set on a 4-1 run to claim victory.