LANCASTER, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team competed in a non-conference tri-match on Saturday afternoon hosted by Lancaster Bible College in the Horst Athletic Center.

The Lions (1-3) came away with their first win of the season in their opening match, defeating Elizabethtown College 3-1. Penn State Altoona suffered a 3-1 loss to host school Lancaster Bible in the day's last match.

Match One: Penn State Altoona 3, Elizabethtown 1

Penn State Altoona overcame a first-set loss to earn its first victory of the 2024 season, defeating Elizabethtown (0-2) by a 3-1 decision. The Blue Jays took the first set 25-22, but the Lions responded by winning the next three by scores of 25-19, 25-19, and 25-22 to prevail.

Avery Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) finished with a career-high 22 kills for Penn State Altoona, leading all players in the match with 22 points while tying for the sixth-most kills in a match in team history. Willem Del Priore (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) added 11.5 points on 11 kills and a block assist, and he tied for the team lead in digs with 10. Connor Ebersole (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) and Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) tallied five kills apiece.

Mason Grover (Penfield, NY/Penfield) put up a match-high 39 assists while adding three block assists.

Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) tied for team-highs with 10 digs and three block assists.

Penn State Altoona found itself up 19-18 in the first set, but it slipped away from the Lions when Elizabethtown went on a 6-0 run to grab a 24-19 lead. Penn State Altoona scored three straight points on kills by Del Priore and Ebersole and a Grover ace to cut its deficit to 24-22, but the Blue Jays scored the set-winning point on an attack error to close the opener at 25-22.

In the second set, the Lions used a 5-0 run in the middle of the set to turn a 10-9 lead into a 15-9 advantage. Helped by some Elizabethtown errors, Penn State Altoona continued to hold a six-point lead, 19-13, and the Lions went on to close out the second set on a Farabaugh kill that made it 25-19.

Penn State Altoona carried its momentum into the third set, when the Lions worked their way out to a 5-1 lead. Kills by Farabaugh midway through the set put the Penn State Altoona lead at 14-8, and a Vang kill made it 17-11. Penn State Altoona iced the set by scoring four of the final five points, with Del Priore and Farabaugh recording two kills apiece during that span to propel the Lions to a 25-19 win.

The Lions rallied from a deficit in the fourth set to win it. Trailing 15-13, three Vang kills and two Farabaugh kills helped Penn State Altoona jump ahead, 18-16. Farabaugh, Ebersole, and Del Priore notched kills over the next several points to put their team ahead by three, 23-20, and Farabaugh finished things off with two more kills to seal a 25-22 win for the Lions in the fourth set.

Match Two: Lancaster Bible 3, Penn State Altoona 1

The Lions concluded their day with a four-set loss to the host school. Lancaster Bible won the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-15, but Penn State Altoona continued to battle and won the third set 25-23 to avoid the sweep. However, the Chargers bounced back with a 25-19 victory in the fourth set to end the match in their favor.

Farabaugh finished with a match-high 16 points on 14 kills, two block assists, and a service ace. Del Priore contributed seven points on five kills, an ace, and a solo block, and he tied for the team-high in digs with nine.

Kish and Vang totaled five points apiece, as Kish recorded four kills and a solo block and Vang had five kills to go along with nine digs. Ebersole chipped in 4.5 points on two kills, three block assists, and a solo block.

Grover tallied 28 assists while adding one block assist.

Penn State Altoona worked its way out to a lead early in the first set, going up by scores of 6-5 and 7-6 following Farabaugh kills and jumping ahead 8-7 on a Kish kill. But Lancaster Bible embarked on a 10-3 run to grab a 17-11 advantage, and the Chargers maintained a solid lead the rest of the way to win the set by seven points, 25-18.

Lancaster Bible established a 5-2 lead in the second set, before three straight Farabaugh kills knotted the score at 5-5. But the Chargers responded with five points in a row, then increased their lead to as many as 10 points to win the second set 25-15.

Penn State Altoona rallied late in the third set to win it and stay alive in the match. After falling behind by as many as six points, the Lions came back to tie the score 17-17. One point later, an Ebersole kill and Del Priore ace gave Penn State Altoona a 19-18 advantage, and an Ebersole solo block kept his team up by one, 20-19. Back-to-back kills from Grover and Farabaugh made it 23-21, and a Farabaugh kill eventually finished things off, helping the Lions win the third set, 25-23.

Penn State Altoona got out to an 8-7 lead in the fourth set, getting kills from Ebersole, Vang, Kish, and Farabaugh along the way, as well as a combination block from Ebersole and Farabaugh. But Lancaster Bible used a 12-4 run to turn its one-point deficit into a seven-point lead, 19-12. Penn State Altoona used Chargers' miscues to power a 5-1 run, bringing the Lions to within three, 20-17. But the home team scored five of the next seven points to take the fourth set 25-19.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball returns to the court next Saturday, January 27, when the Lions will compete in a tri-match hosted by Wilkes University. That day, Penn State Altoona will face host Wilkes at 12 p.m., then take on Manhattanville College at 2 p.m.