WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team came away with a win and a loss on Saturday, when the Lions competed in a non-conference tri-match hosted by Wilkes University in the Marts Center.

Penn State Altoona (2-4) suffered a 3-0 sweep to host Wilkes in the day's first match, but the Lions bounced back to defeat Manhattanville College 3-1 in the second match.

Match One: Wilkes 3, Penn State Altoona 0

Penn State Altoona started its day with a 3-0 loss at the hands of host Wilkes, as the Colonels won on their home court by set scores of 25-18, 25-14, and 25-18.

Avery Farabaugh (Ebensburg, PA/Cambria Heights) totaled a team-high 15 points for Penn State Altoona on 13 kills, two block assists, and one solo block. Connor Ebersole (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) had five points on three kills, two block assists, and one solo block.

Willem Del Priore (Seven Valleys, PA/Dallastown) and Jared Kish (Columbus, OH/Hilliard Darby) contributed four points apiece. Del Priore finished with four kills, while Kish had two kills and a pair of service aces.

Mason Grover (Penfield, NY/Penfield) put up a team-high 22 assists while chipping in a service ace, and he also tallied a team-best five digs.

In the first set, the two teams battled through a tight score before Wilkes pulled away in the latter stages. Penn State Altoona worked its way out to a 5-3 lead, helped along the way by kills from Del Priore and Farabaugh. Wilkes came back and jumped ahead by three points, 11-8, before Penn State Altoona used a 4-0 run that consisted of kills from Kish and Del Priore, as well as back-to-back Kish aces, to go up 12-11. Another Del Priore kill knotted the score at 13-13, and a Farabaugh kill put the Lions in front 14-13. But Wilkes embarked on a 7-2 run to establish a 20-16 lead, the Colonels ultimately pulled out a seven-point victory, 25-18, to conclude the first set.

Wilkes never trailed in the second set, as the Colonels scored the first three points of the set and never looked back. After the home team built a lead of 13-5, Penn State Altoona was able to pull back to within three, 14-11, with a 6-1 run that included kills from Kish and Ebersole, an Ebersole solo block, and Grover's ace. But Wilkes did not allow Penn State Altoona to get any closer, as the Colonels prevailed in the second set by 11 points, 25-14.

Penn State Altoona and Wilkes found themselves in another close set in the third, only to have the Colonels again pull away late. Down 11-9, the Lions scored three straight points on an Ebersole and Farabaugh duo block, a Farabaugh kill, and a Wilkes attack error to get on top, 12-11. An Ebersole kill kept Penn State Altoona's lead at one, 13-12, but Wilkes scored six of the next seven points to grab an 18-14 advantage. The home team continued to put space between its total and the Lions' total, and Wilkes eventually won the third set 25-18 to clinch the sweep.

Match Two: Penn State Altoona 3, Manhattanville 1

Penn State Altoona bounced back from its loss to post a 3-1 victory over Manhattanville (0-1) in the Lions' second and final match of the day. Penn State Altoona won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-12, before Manhattanville answered with a 25-22 triumph in the third set. But the Lions responded with a 25-19 win in the fourth set to seal the victory.

Farabaugh led all players in the match with 21 points for Penn State Altoona, finishing with 17 kills, two service aces, two block assists, and one solo block to go along with seven digs. Kish totaled 11.5 points on eight kills, two solo blocks, one block assist, and one ace, and he also notched six digs.

Ebersole recorded 9.5 points on seven kills, three block assists, and one solo block, Del Priore totaled six points on six kills, and Xavier Vang (Rogers, MN/Rogers) contributed four points on four kills while finishing with a match-best nine digs.

Grover tallied a match-high 38 assists, and he also scored seven points on a match-high six aces while adding two block assists. Grover's total of six aces ties for the second-most aces in a match in team history, and it is the highest ace total in a four-set match.

Penn State Altoona surged out to a 6-1 lead to start the first set, including getting kills from Farabaugh and Del Priore, a duo block by Ebersole and Farabaugh, and a Grover service ace. Kills from Ebersole and Farabaugh helped the Lions increase their lead to 9-3, and kills from Farabaugh, Vang, and Ebersole helped extend Penn State Altoona's advantage to eight, 15-7. An Ebersole solo block upped his team's lead to nine, 17-8, and Penn State Altoona got kills from Farabaugh, Kish, Vang, Ebersole, and Del Priore over the remainder of the set to win it 25-18.

Penn State Altoona capitalized on Manhattanville miscues to start the second set, getting out to a 3-0 lead, and the Lions never trailed for the rest of the set. Two Grover aces and a Farabaugh kill helped put Penn State Altoona's lead at 16-8 midway through the set, and another Farabaugh kill later gave the Lions an 11-point lead, 19-8. Two Farabaugh kills late in the set helped Penn State Altoona close the set out at 25-12.

The Lions led 6-5 early in the third set, only to see Manhattanville overtake it and establish a 15-9 advantage midway through the set. Penn State Altoona tied the score at 15-15 with a 6-0 run that included two Grover aces, two Kish kills, and one Ebersole kill. One point later, another Kish kill and a Farabaugh ace put the Lions back in front, 17-16. But Manhattanville scored the next three straight points to reclaim their lead, and they never relinquished it for the rest of the set, dealing Penn State Altoona a 25-22 loss in the third.

Penn State Altoona pulled out a victory in the fourth set to win the match. After leading 9-4, the Lions saw Manhattanville go on a 9-4 run of its own to tie the score, 13-13. Penn State Altoona scored the next three points on a Farabaugh kill, a Manhattanville attack error, and a Kish solo block to get back into the lead, 16-13. Later, kills from Del Priore and Vang expanded the Lions' advantage to six, 22-16, and a Farabaugh kill ultimately provided the clinching point for Penn State Altoona, which took the fourth set 25-19 to claim victory in the match.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball returns to action next Saturday, February 3, traveling to Pittsburgh to face Chatham University at 1 p.m.