ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Altoona men's volleyball team wrapped up its weekend in the AMCC/PAC Crossover at Penn State Behrend on Saturday afternoon, posting victories over Geneva College and Thiel College in the Junker Center.

The Lions (3-1) started their day with a 3-1 win over Geneva, then capped it with a 3-2 triumph against Thiel to go 3-0 in the two-day event.

Match One: Penn State Altoona 3, Geneva 1

by Casey Burinskas

Men's volleyball played their second out of three matches in the AMCC/PAC Crossover stretch against Geneva (1-3), and Penn State Altoona prevailed in a four-set match to pull out a win. The Lions won the first two sets by matching scores of 26-24, dropped the third 25-15, then took the fourth 25-23.

The Lions got a match-high 22 points from Owen Pratt (Pennsburg, PA/Upper Perkiomen) on a career-high 21 kills to go along with two block assists. Caleb Fries (Altoona, PA/Altoona) added 11.5 points on eight kills, three block assists, and a pair of service aces.

Mason Grover (Penfield, NY/Penfield) led all players in both assists and digs, finishing with 33 assists and 13 digs.

Fries and Adam Chan (Framingham, MA/Framingham) chipped in five digs apiece.

In the first set, Altoona was quick to pull ahead with a block from Fries and Michael Hansen (Palatine, IL/William Fremd) that preceded a kill from Hansen which put the Lions on top early in the set. A service ace from Lucas Petrones (Oxford, PA/Avon Grove Charter) and two attack errors from the Tornadoes led the Lions to a score of seven. Geneva then pulled ahead, but Altoona responded with a block from Fries and Landen Fisher (Altoona, PA/Altoona) and a kill from Fries to help bring the Lions back into the lead, 13-10. A kill from Pratt brought Altoona down to the wire near the end of the set, leading by just two, 22-20. The Tornadoes tied the score 24-24 later, but an attack error from Geneva and a kill from Petrones allowed the Lions to pull away with the first set by a score of 26-24.

Coming into the second set, Altoona quickly made its mark with the first point on the board with a kill from Fisher. Three kills in a row falling in from Grover and Hansen later tied up the set at 9-9, and three kills from Pratt helped put Altoona back in the lead, 14-13. Another attack error from the Tornadoes, a service ace from Fries, and kills falling in from Hansen and Pratt brought the score up to 23-20. Tied at 24-24, two final attack errors from Geneva gave up the set for the Tornadoes and let Altoona win the second set with a score of 26-24.

In the third set, the Lions quickly put up three points with a kill from Fries and two errors coming from the Geneva side. Geneva pulled ahead quickly early in the set with a 7-1 run that gave the Tornadoes a five-point lead, 10-5. Kills from Pratt and Fisher gave Altoona a quick turnaround to try and catch up. Jack McKenna (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) and Pratt both put up kills late in the set, assisted by Grover, to have the Lions trailing by six, 22-15. But Geneva was able to take the third set by a score of 25-15.

Hopeful in the fourth set to pull out the win, Altoona was first to score with a kill from Pratt, but Geneva responded quickly with six points in a row to create a big lead early in the set. Trying to come ahead, Altoona got four errors from the Tornadoes to close the gap to only four, 9-5. Kills from McKenna and Pratt, along with several more Geneva attack errors, tied the set up at 14-14, and Fries and McKenna each put up service aces to keep the score close, 20-20. Down 23-22 later, Pratt placed three kills in a row to win the set 25-23 and give the Lions their second win of the weekend.

Match Two: Penn State Altoona 3, Thiel 2

The Lions clinched a 3-0 record on the weekend with a five-set win over Thiel (2-3) in their second match of the day Saturday. Penn State Altoona won the first two sets by scores of 26-24 and 25-23, before the Tomcats answered with a 25-22 victory in the third and a 25-12 triumph in the fourth. But the Lions nabbed the match after taking the fifth set 15-6.

Fries recorded a team-high 23 points for Penn State Altoona on 17 kills, three service aces, four block assists, and one solo block. Fisher had 8.5 points on six kills, three block assists, and one solo block, and McKenna added eight points on seven kills and an ace.

Pratt chipped in seven points on seven kills, and Petrones had six points on five kills and an ace.

Grover again posted match-high totals in assists and digs, recording 38 assists and 13 digs. Chan contributed 10 digs.

Trailing 21-19 late in a tightly contested opening set, Penn State Altoona scored four points in a row to seize the lead, including getting kills from McKenna and Fries. Another Fries kill later put the Lions up by one, 24-23, and a Fries kill and ace ended the set at 26-24 in favor of Penn State Altoona.

The Lions held a 13-12 advantage midway through the second set, only to see Thiel reel off five straight points to jump ahead, 17-13. Kills from McKenna and Pratt helped move Penn State Altoona back to within two points of the Thiel lead, and a four-point run consisting of kills from McKenna and Fries, a Fisher solo block, and a Jacob Sandowski (Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg) ace put the Lions ahead, 20-19. Kills from Fisher and Fries, along with a Thiel service error, gave Penn State Altoona a 23-21 advantage, and after the Tomcats tied the score at 23-23, Fisher and Fries notched back-to-back kills to end the set at 25-23 and give the Lions a 2-0 lead in the match.

Thiel got on the board after pulling out a win in a back-and-forth third set. Down 15-13, Penn State Altoona scored three points in a row on a Tomcat service error, a Petrones kill, and a duo block from Grover and Sandowski. But Thiel outscored the Lions 7-2 over the next nine points to work its way into the lead, and despite a late kill from Petrones, Penn State Altoona suffered a 25-22 loss in the set.

Thiel took the fourth set by a more commanding margin. The Tomcats opened up with a 6-1 lead and steadily grew it over the rest of the set. Kills from Grover, Fisher, and Pratt, as well as a block from Fisher and Fries, got the Lions within seven, 18-11, of the Thiel lead in the latter stages of the set. But the Tomcats scored seven of the next eight points to win the set by 13, 25-12, and force a fifth set.

Penn State Altoona turned the tables on Thiel with a dominant performance of its own in the fifth. Kills by Fries, Pratt, and McKenna helped the Lions to an early 5-2 lead, and after  service error, Penn State Altoona used a 6-0 run to establish an 11-3 advantage, getting kills from Fries, McKenna, Sandowski, and Grover along the way. A McKenna ace got the Lions to set point, 14-4, and a Fries kill put the finishing touches on a 15-6 victory in the fifth that gave Penn State Altoona a five-set win over Thiel.

Penn State Altoona men's volleyball returns home for its next match on Tuesday, January 28, when the Lions will kick off an eight-match homestand in Adler Arena. The team will host non-conference opponent Wilson College on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.