BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – In this week's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Match of the Week, the Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to conference foe Geneva College on Saturday afternoon in the Metheny Fieldhouse.

Penn State Altoona (5-9, 1-2 AMCC) got off to a strong start, winning the match's opening set 25-18. But Geneva (13-6, 2-0 AMCC) answered back, reeling off 25-20, 25-23, and 25-14 wins in the next three sets to earn the four-set victory.

Ben Beaver (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) led Penn State Altoona in kills and digs, accumulating 14 kills and 17 digs. He also finished with two solo blocks and two block assists, as well as one service ace. Frank Perehinec (Altoona, PA/Altoona) added 11 kills, six digs, and three block assists, and Nikolas Ferraro (Toms River, NJ/Donovan Catholic) totaled a team-high five total blocks, notching five block assists to go along with four kills.

Tyler Sheaffer (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) totaled a match-high 28 assists, and he also posted nine digs, three kills, and one block assist. Daniel Jordan (Pittsburgh, PA/Thomas Jefferson) added three kills and three block assists, and Mirko Pandini (Milan, Italy/Greater Latrobe) chipped in two kills and two block assists.

Matthew Vandeveire (Washington, D.C./West Springfield) was second on the team in digs, finishing with 13. Micah Brinker (Lock Haven, PA/PA Cyber) added five digs, and Eric Cassaday (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air) recorded one ace.

Penn State Altoona pulled away in the first set to stake out a 1-0 lead in the match. With the score tied 10-10, the Lions used four straight points on kills from Jordan and Perehinec and combination blocks by Ferraro/Jordan and Perehinec/Ferraro to go up 14-10. Several points later, back-to-back attack errors by Geneva helped the Lions to a 21-13 lead, and Penn State Altoona proceeded to score its last four points of the set on Geneva errors.

Geneva started the second set on a 6-0 run, but Penn State Altoona closed the gap, ultimately tying the score 17-17, helped by four consecutive points on two Perehinec kills, a Cassaday ace, and a Geneva setting error. But the Golden Tornadoes outscored Penn State Altoona 8-3 the rest of the way, finishing the set on a block for the 25th point.

The Golden Tornadoes pulled out a tight win in the third set to take the lead in the match. Leading 23-18, Geneva yielded three straight points to Penn State Altoona, including a block by Beaver and Ferraro that cut the home team's lead to 23-21. After a Geneva kill, Beaver answered with a kill of his own, and Penn State Altoona picked up another point on an attack error to make it 24-23. But Geneva earned the next point on a kill to win the set.

Geneva utilized a big run over the second half of the fourth set to win with an 11-point cushion. Leading 10-8, the Golden Tornadoes were able to outscore Penn State Altoona 15-6 over the remainder of the set.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball will look to snap its four-match skid on Tuesday, February 25, when the Lions host non-conference opponent Elizabethtown College for a 7:00 p.m. home match.